dry2die, i used the walmart deep cycle batteries, in me ev neon and have great sucess with them, yes to almost everything stated in this post, but iv had my ev on the road for 2 years, and just had to replace the pack, i bought all the batteries from walmart so i got a prorated warrentee for them. but keep in mind that i dont do a lot of highway travel on my commute. i dont think the batteries would hold up as well if i were getting on the highway everyday to go to work, but if your commute is around town they will work just fine, my car is operated at 96v and has a 300ah pack of walmart deep cycle batteries, the top speed on my car is 65, so i can get on the highway but range is greatly reduced. you need to figure out a realistic build plan on what you want your car do do then build it accordingly.here is the link to my car should you want to look at it.
Bill Hackney's 1996 Dodge Neon
i am currently building EV#2 and will still use the walmart batteries to power it as well.