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I Put down this project for a while. I'd expended as much effort and then some as I'd expected to get it to the running stage, so I let myself get distracted.
But. I've started up again as of today, ready for round 2.
So, my current dilemma: battery location(s).
Option #1: Stand all 48 upright under the rear seat, where the gas tank used to be.
Pros:
Low center of gravity.
Almost perfect width and length for entire battery pack.
All cells are together, nice and neat, in one place.
Easy wiring for chargers and such in spare tire well.
Battery can come out in one big piece with an engine hoist.
Cons:
Fair distance to run heavy wiring to controller.
Have to cut the chassis, as cells are too tall.
Rear seat will have to be modified to be flat on top.
Lose structural integrity where seat belt buckles mount.
Cells are now inside the vehicle with passengers.
Translation: Back seat looks normal, but is pretty much ornamental.
Option #2: Stuff all the cells under the hood.
Pros:
Short power cables to controller.
All cells safely out & away from passenger cabin.
Frees up gas tank space for whatever else.
Cons:
No uniformity to cell packs/cells have to go wherever they'll fit.
Damned tight cramming everything else under the hood with cells.
Weight distribution heavier in front.
Option # 3 A bit of #1, a bit of #2; half cells under hood, half cells in place of gas tank.
Pros:
Two equal voltage/capacity battery packs (important part of my plans).
Even/good weight distribution.
Cells in place of gas tank will fit on their sides with no structural changes to unibody. (build t, bolt it, done).
Cells under hood will occupy a nice uniform rectangle directly over top of motor.
Comfortable space under hood for controller and everything else.
Space in front of motor/trans free for future expansion.
I can build the under-hood pack ASAP and start working on other things right away, get testing sooner...build rear battery pack at leisure. Or change plans and put remaining cells in front of motor & trans.
Can run wires up through drain holes at bottom of seat pans for cell monitoring.
Good use of space available.
Cons:
Long power cables.
Can't access/see/check directly batteries without dropping whole pack.
Most likely requires fan-forced cooling of cells if rear battery pack is going to be splash proof.
Lose use of gas tank area for any other purpose.
I'm leaning towards #3 at the moment. (the heck with SLA's) If I change my mind, it's the most compatible with changing to either #1 or #2 because I won't have to completely rebuild one of my two equal battery packs. And it will get me to the test stage sooner then #1 would, with less effort.
Thoughts? Experiences?
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