Hi everyone,
I’m sharing a simple basic safety procedure I follow before doing maintenance on ZhiDou cars (especially ZhiDou D1) around any electrical components.
Important: EV high-voltage systems can be dangerous. If you’re not confident working around HV parts, please use a qualified EV technician.
Note: On many newer ZhiDou cars there is no dedicated maintenance/service switch (no red HV disconnect button). In that case, the main practical step you can do is the 12V disconnect + waiting procedure below.
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1) Disconnect the 12V battery
- Access the 12V battery and disconnect it (at minimum disconnect the negative terminal).
- This helps prevent control modules/contactors from waking up while you work.
2) Older ZhiDou D1: big red HV disconnect button
Some older ZhiDou D1 cars have a big red button located between the seats, near the window regulator/switch area.
- Pressing this red button will disconnect the main HV (traction) battery.
- Newer cars may NOT have this button, so don’t worry if you can’t find it.
3) Wait ~20 minutes
- After disconnecting the 12V (and pressing the red HV button if your car has it), wait around 20 minutes.
- This allows time for the system to discharge HV bus voltage through internal circuits.
4) Quick sanity check: confirm the car stays “dead”
- After waiting, try turning the ignition key to see if the car remains inactive (no normal startup behavior).
- This is not a replacement for proper HV measurement, but it’s a quick extra check that the vehicle isn’t powering up.
If anyone knows which exact D1 model years/trims definitely include the red HV button (or has photos), please reply—would be useful to document.