[QUOTE=MetroMPG;104376]Sounds reasonable to me. The answer to what kind of battery to use seems to be: what kind of money do you have to spend?
Most people who use gel batteries seem to go with Optimas, but I'm no expert on the brands. I think you can search the EV Album for battery type - might be worth looking around there for more info.
Thanks for the reply. I am also not an expert on batteries either, and that's why I sought some input form those who know. It just seemed to me that if I am putting batteries in the vehicle, keeping them low (like under the back seat) made some sense by maintaining a lower centre of gravity. The problem was that it made it difficult to get at them for watering. If I used a good gel - as long as it will work properly - it made more sense to put out a few more $$ to keep the installation tidy and not worry about the off-gassing issue. I use gels now in my solar power system at home and they have been performing very well now for over 2 years. The home system does not make huge current demands on the batteries like an EV would, so I just wanted to make sure that they would stand up to the test. These Trojans seem to be the ticket, at least from the specs. The fellow who I dealt with at the battery place seemed to be convinced that these were perfect for the application, as long as I wasn't worried about the extra bucks. I will just cheap-out somewhere else on the vehicle (like paint) and spend the added dollars on the fuel tank
