An electric switch used in an electric device having a motor is provided. The electric switch comprises a switch housing, a plunger extending from the switch housing and switching from an off position into an on position of at least one contact of a contact system arranged within the switch housing via a movement, a circuit board; and a changeover device for changing a direction of rotation of the motor. The changeover device comprises a position encoder operated from outside, the position encoder is directly connected to a contact arm via two contact tongues; one contact tongue interacts with one conducting path to create a contact for the clockwise rotation of the motor in one position of the position encoder, and/or the other contact tongue interacts with other conducting paths to create a contact for the counterclockwise rotation of the motor in another position of the position encoder.

The invention relates to an electric switching device (10) for an energy accumulator in an electric vehicle, comprising a housing (20) inside which at least one switching section (30) that includes two input contacts (32a, 32b) and at least one output contact (34) is arranged, and a rotary component (40) which is mounted in such a way as to be rotatable relative to the housing (20) about a switching axis (42) between at least one OFF position (I), a series-connecting position (II), and an ON position (III); said rotary component (40) includes at least one conductor (44) which has at least two conductor contacts (44a, 44b) and which connects the first input contact (32a) in an electrically conducting manner to the output contact (34) in the series-connecting position (II) and connects the second input contact (32b) in an electrically conducting manner to the output contact (34) of the at least one switching section (30) in the ON position (III).

Switches with integrated overcurrent protection elements are described. The overcurrent protection elements can include a bimetallic structure which is configured to move between a first shape and a second shape in response to heating. The overcurrent protection element can be rotationally coupled to a rotary knob in some embodiments. In other embodiments, the overcurrent protection element can be fixed, and the rotary knob can be connected to one or more rotatable conductive structures within the rotary switch.