Could Your EV Be Turned Off by the Government?

You cannot hide from the government unless you go completely off the grid. What’s worse is they could turn off your EV using a universal kill switch.

Anyone that owns a cell phone but tries to tell you they are hiding from the government is only fooling themselves. Some people are so paranoid by the potential of government overreach they actually try to live off the grid, but it’s truly difficult to accomplish. Nearly everything we own now has at least one computer installed in it that can be accessed remotely by government agencies.

Could universal kill switches become a positive device?

Without spouting out a doomsday scenario, there could be good reasons to have universal kill switches installed in new vehicles. These switches could be used to shut down a vehicle when police encounter drunk or sleepy drivers crossing the middle lane lines on the road or during high-speed chases. The advancements of connected cars with electronic devices could make shutting down these vehicles much easier than would have been the case with older vehicles. Using these switches to turn off the car for a driver that has become impaired or attempting to evade police during a chase.

Why would police need a kill switch?

It seems pretty obvious that drunk, impaired, or criminal drivers create a dangerous situation that could harm themselves or the police. Another reason for the government to insist on these kill switches to turn off your EV is public safety. High-speed car chases are dangerous to other drivers on the road, while drunk or impaired drivers are also unpredictable and could create problematic situations on the road. To prevent some collisions and diffuse a potentially dangerous situation, equipping vehicles with remote kill switches that can be accessed by police sounds like a good idea.

Could this be too much control for the government?

Does equipping new electric vehicles with universal kill switches give police and government officials too much control? Many might say “yes,” and argue that these switches are unconstitutional in the United States. Although stopping a drunk driver or a diver that’s either injured or fallen asleep behind the wheel could help save that individual, is this the type of control you want police to have? Many people would argue they don’t want anyone to be capable of shutting down their vehicle from a remote location, which makes this challenging.

There’s a new bill that could change your driving freedom

A new infrastructure bill has a law written within it to allow police or other government agencies to shut down a vehicle with a universal remote kill switch. This means the police could turn of your EV when deemed necessary, but this is a huge part of the problem. This new bill would require automakers to install these kill switches in all new vehicles, which makes for a seriously problematic situation. Is this government overreach, or should this item be considered a safety device in our vehicles?

Our recent history isn’t on the side of government trustworthiness

Abiding by the law and enforcement of the law are two completely different things. Since the beginning of the current decade, we’ve seen how some police respond to situations and how others do. Some officers diffuse situations and maintain control and calm while protecting the people around them, while others tend to make things worse. Most Americans are intelligent enough to understand those officers that make things worse are the small minority, but they could also be the officers with the ability to turn off your EV by pushing a universal kill switch.

GM vehicles have had remote kill switches since 2009

While a remote universal kill switch is certainly a new idea, GM vehicles with OnStar mobile communications systems installed have been capable of being shut down remotely since 2009. Officers in pursuit of a GM vehicle with OnStar could simply request the vehicle be turned off, and the company complies to diffuse a dangerous situation. Strangely, we haven’t heard much about this until now. Does this mean a remote kill switch could be less worrisome than it sounds like on the surface? Possibly.

Should we worry about hackers gaining access?

Yes, we certainly should be worried about hackers gaining access to our vehicles. Adding another level of control for a hacker to access only makes things worse. If remote universal kill switches are installed in all vehicles going forward, we should absolutely be concerned. It’s possible a hacker could be the one to turn off your EV because they’ve hacked the system. So far, there hasn’t been an automotive system that’s unhackable. Adding extra layers of connectivity certainly doesn’t change this. Hackers might find their way in through your cell phone connection or in-vehicle Wi-Fi hotspot.

Shouldn’t automakers simply add more active safety devices?

If a driver is drunk or impaired, wouldn’t their driving show this problem while on the road? Wouldn’t it make more sense to have the vehicle monitor the driver and safety slow down and pull the vehicle over when the driver shows specific levels of impairment? Considering police with kill switches will need to witness poor driving by those who shouldn’t be behind the wheel, the vehicle should easily be able to detect these problems as well. As long as drivers don’t have the capability to turn off some of these safety devices, the car could bring the driver safely to the side of the road.

Actual safety or government overreach?

Should any level of government be callable of turning off your EV with a universal kill switch? The simple fact is there aren’t enough protections and assurances for drivers to make this something most of us would want to be installed in our vehicles. It’s bad enough to know that GPS devices can locate us anywhere we go and remote computer techs and take over our laptops without much trouble.

The last thing most of us want is a computer shutting down our vehicles because a police officer determines we aren’t driving as safely as they might like.