E-Rickshaw Bluetooth Hack: How the Viral BAT-BMS App is Stopping EVs

Have you seen the BAT-BMS viral video where pranksters are using their smartphones to stop the three-wheelers to a complete halt? This is also called the E-rickshaw Bluetooth hack, where a simple smartphone application is causing havoc on roads, exposing the dark truth of the electric vehicle system.

Let’s explain why the E-rickshaws are getting dead on the roads and why EV battery security is suddenly getting a major concern for everyone these days.

The Viral Video Explained: What’s Happening? 

In a widely circulated video, we have seen many content creators using their phones and using an application near moving e-rickshaws. Just in the matter of a few seconds, the e-rickshaws lose all the power to pull themselves. 

The digital instrument cluster is going completely blank and the driver is left stranded on roads, unaware that a bystander has hijacked their vehicle’s power supply. 

How is this App Stopping E-Rickshaws? 

The app used here is primarily BAT-BMS (A monitoring application used for EV diagnostics). So how is it misused? 

The issue is not the advanced hacking, but it’s the poor hardware security as many affordable e-rickshaws use cheap lithium-ion battery packs which come with Bluetooth-integrated Battery Management System (BMS). What’s the flaw here? Zero Password Protection. 

These low-cost batteries lack authentication, so anyone standing within 10-15 meter range can use this app to scan for nearby available batteries. After that, they connect with the batteries and turn on the “Discharge” switch. What it does is it immediately cuts the power sent to the motor. 

What’s even more disheartening is that drivers cannot restart the vehicle using the ignition key until the pranksters turn the discharge switch back on through this app.

The Real Cost of a Digital Prank

While people filming this remote vehicle shutdown think it's a harmless joke, it’s severely affecting the daily wage of the workers who can’t access their e-rickshaws and also creating a risk of road accidents. Thus it is mandatory to further develop the cybersecurity standards in the rapidly evolving EV industry.