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OK so a new development, the same guy that offered the free nicd cells has a contact with free nimh cells here in Melbourne, so I wouldn't even have to pay shipping.
As they are sealed and come in plastic cases rated to hold the mass of the batteries, we only need to bolt them in. This also means they can fit neatly in the back seat area with no vented box needed.
There are some which will have to be thrown out, and I'll have to test ALL of them for capacity before using them, which will be a real mission, but again they're free. So I'm happy to put in the work to keep to our budget.
Usable capacity is around 20ah, maybe more, which I've estimated will get us around 15 miles/25km range and get me to work and back. If not, there are enough cells to add another set in parallel later on (I haven't yet worked out if this is a good idea or not).
Also, I got an offer for 7 sealed lead acids with around 90% capacity left that may or may not be good enough. Ideally this would be a back up option to run a 72v pack if the nickel offers fall through. They are only $20 each. Had I got this offer a month or two ago I would have taken it straight away but I'm willing to see through the nimh's for the extra speed and range we could get.
Other things, looking at running an accessory battery under the bonnet to even out the weight of the batteries in the back (the individual cells are too tall to fit in the engine bay), and rather than using a dc-dc converter.
Also purchased a second hand inertia switch ($13) for emergency cutoff in case of a crash - My first purchase since I got the motor.
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