DC-DC Converter

Steps the high-voltage pack down to the fourteen volts or so a conventional electrical system expects, supplying the lights, wipers, radio and computers. It replaces the alternator — a hybrid does not have one — so a hybrid whose 12 volt battery keeps going flat has a converter problem rather than a charging one, and there is no alternator to replace. Its other consequence catches people out regularly: with a flat 12 volt battery the car is completely dead however full the main pack is, because the small battery is what wakes the computers that connect the big one.

Also known as: dcdc converter, dc to dc converter, voltage converter, step down converter, 12v converter

Referenced by 99 codes

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Codes involving this component (99)

Other components in Hybrid Propulsion

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