E-Lorean Electric Conversion

[bitMuse]

Thanks for the update! What are you using for cells, and how many kWh are you targeting? The battery looks smaller than I expected, but mostly because my future plans (someday...) aim for 200-300 mile range, which suggests something into e 80-90 kWh range like a Mach-E or Model S. I expect to fill the entire engine compartment and then some, although I want to avoid putting anything in the trunk if possible.

Also, are you building a cooling/heating system for the batteries?

-- Joe

I'm using SPIM08HP cells. Their characteristics are 8AH 3.7v. String configuration of 4P96S. Nominal voltage of 355.2v. At 32A that's 11366.4Wh, or 11.3Kwh. Max discharge rate is 400A (60C) Tesla motors use (on average) around 234Wh per mile, so it's an estimate range of 48 miles. Peak voltage is 403.2V, 32A 12902.4Wh or 12.9Kwh for 55 miles of range (est).

In my first post I originally called out this is mostly a 'temporary' battery pack while I wait for better technology, and the delorean isn't my primary vehicle. That remains true. I'm not using any cooling besides forced air. If you want a lot of range, plan to drop about 30-40k on battery, charger, electronics, etc. Which is totally fine -- I just wanted to save money and I went with the literal cheapest $ to Kwh option that was out there as I had an intent to later return to this.

You will end up needing to cut up the trunk. There is no way around it for that much power.

[jangell]

Cool, thanks. I was looking into LFP cells, mostly for stability and long life at the expense of energy density. But they're relatively small; I'd need 220 of them in a 2p110s configuration for 352v nominal. My plan was to fill the engine compartment as well as the transmission and fuel tank area, and possibly the pontoons if needed, although this puts a lot of extra weight in the back, and various custom battery boxes for the odd shapes. I haven't done any CAD of the design yet, so I don't know how much I can squeeze in those spaces before resorting to the trunk. I can drop the pack by 50v if needed to save space. I plan on designing a cooling/heating system for the batteries too, but I'm in the very early stages of all this.

In 10 years solid state batteries should make all this easier (half the size for the same range), but I figure I should design for what exists now and upgrade later.

Thanks again!

-- Joe

[r00b]

The pontoon in the rear is mostly empty, have you considered filling the space with batteries?

[bitMuse]

The pontoon in the rear is mostly empty, have you considered filling the space with batteries?

I did not, no. but it wasn't a design concern for me, as my batteries fit neatly in the butt.