10) 08/10/2011 The Long Pull and a Few False Starts
Jack Rickard pointed out that "he's got more EV in that car than he should be able to put in that car"! And he's right - finding room for everything has been a challenge. The elegant "Birdhouse" I built to house the fuses and sensors for the rear pack was designed to share the platform behind the seats with the charger while two battery packs would be housed in the former gas tank beneath the floor of the boot. Well ...
After cutting the top off the gas tank, grinding out the baffles, polishing off the rust, painting the tank and putting door edge trim all around the sharp cut edges, I discovered that while the batteries fit perfectly, there was no room to attach the 2/0 cables to tie them in with the rest of the pack. Anybody need a beautifully restored Sprite tank with no top? So on to plan "B".
The charger was relocated to the top of the six pack in the boot, secured by the same ratchet straps that hold the rear battery packs in place. You can't see it in the darkness of the boot, but there is roughly a half inch of clearance at the rear of the charger.
The birdhouse was replaced with a much smaller control box on the left section of the shelf to allow room for the two batteries where the charger was originally planned. Relocating the fuses to the front of the shelf allowed room for the BMS hub board and Zeva2 sensor in addition to the BMS sensor.
With the cover installed, it's a tidy installation. Notice the aluminum channel used to secure the batteries to the shelf. On the opposite side, the most negative cable is protected by flexible PVC where it passes by the steel angle on the shelf. Next step, wiring the controls and the dashboard.