here is my system. i have 144v of NiMH batteries hooked up to the power inlet side of a power supply, (where you would normally plug it into the mains). you can put DC into these even though they usually work on AC. the other side it comes out at 15.5v. i selected 15.5v with the trimmer pot because it was closeest to 14.5v that the alternator tops off at yet still gave enough voltage difference to get a decent amount of power. the power supply is from ebay and is for a computer or something? its rated at 350watts. i have a watts up meter in the line to tell me whats going on. i didn't drill through the fire wall yet i just tapped into the cigarette lighter port.
the car drew about 130watts, 8amps whenever the engine was running. when full lights were switched on this went up to 170watts. the voltage settled at 15.2v. weird thing was i couldn't EOC with it plugged in. the engine wouldn't switch off. this is why i will probably wire it straight to the battery.
i was pretty pleased with this first attempt. ill test it at the weekend when i need to drive somewhere.
