As you would know from our earlier posts, we are using A123 pouches for this conversion. We thought long and hard about how to best mount 360 A123's! We decided, no welded boxes. Instead, we used these "Joey" trays for each battery. These trays lock-in together so you can have them in any configuration you like.
So, we are assembling 30 (96v) packs of 12 cells (240ah). We shall be placing most under the bonnet (hood for you Americans) and some where the fuel tank (gasoline tank) used to reside. We should end-up at around the same weight as the original vehicle and similar weight distribution. Here is the look under the bonnet at this stage, The trays have no batteries in them. So they are light and as a result, easy to configure..........
Once I have the layouts worked-out and the mounting brackets manufactured, I shall then populate the trays with A123's. Very neat indeed.
Oh, the challenges of having a Citroen DS Pallas as a donor vehicle are plentiful. You would remember that we are utilising the 5 speed gearbox with no clutch. This vehicle has "5 on the tree", better known as column shift. So, the linkage was right in the way of the battery location; so we had to remodel it. Here it is...
Ready for the battery trays to go-in as per above. I am smiling, this conversion is taking shape, and those trays (Joey) work a charm...........
Watch this space.
