Quote:
Originally Posted by TurnNBurn
Actually, I overlooked something. Battery management systems and chargers. If I'm going with Lifepo4 batteries, do they have integrated BMS or is there an external one you'd recommend?
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I don't know if you have resolved what you are going to do with your BMS yet, but I would suggest that you don't really need an expensive battery management system with LifePo4 to keep them safe. There is a lot of debate over at "DIY electric car" about this, but from what I've read, I'm inclined to think that by bottom balancing the cells first and carefully selecting your charger cut off voltage, it is unnecessary. If I ever get to do my build, that is what I plan to do. I think a simple battery monitoring system may still be a good idea, but that can be done for under $100 on a small pack. I just can't see paying all that extra money for a system to balance the cells, when the systems have been known to fail and cause battery damage. That's just my opinion though.
So, what cells did you decide to go with?
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Almost all my driving is done 1-5 miles at a time.
Best short trip: 2.4 l/100 km, 3.9 km