Leaderboard

It's not a flashlight. You can hurt yourself at these voltages. Do you still think, after all these years, that you can "just switch the hot line?" First, you'd have to get dressed for it. Then you'd need a second voltage matching circuit. Switching 200+VDC with mechanical contacts causes an arc every time you open and close the switch. The arc destroys the contacts, so the switch fails. You'd need to add a second voltage matching circuit to your added pack, to bring the contacts up to voltage before closing them. Now, where are you going to put it?

The answer to this thread's title is NO. I wouldn't think of trying this even though (sorry to say all this) I'm a professionally licensed engineer with a Masters Degree in EE and decades of engineering work experience including years with VFDs operating at twice the voltage and many times the power. These hybrid car systems are nothing like working with a couple of 12V lead-acid batteries in series or parallel. Theoretically, most anything is "possible" but this one isn't feasible - too many unknowns, too much complexity and too great a danger to both you and the car. Much simpler, safer, and likely cheaper to get a used Leaf or Volt.