Funny to see this topic tonight. At Cub Scouts tonight I was talking with one of the other parents that's a mechanic. We were talking about pretty much this same issue, and how one person I know crossed the jumper cables and totally screwed up his car. He also brought up how you used to could start a car then pull out the battery and everything would keep running, but that doesn't work now because of all the electrical components.
Civil War reenactment is LARPing for people with no imagination.