The sad story of the batteries

Battery boxes came next, and so did may first set back. The TIG welder decided to pack it in, and the repair bill was just less than a new unit. Funny how they make that workout. The intent was to build aluminum boxes that would seal the batteries from the elements and provide a level of psychical protection.
The first design was for 100 CALB CA60 batteries. I went ahead and ordered 6 batteries to use as models to size the boxes. As soon as I finished construction of the last of the 7 boxes, I tried to placed the order for the remaning batteries only to find out that they where nolonger available. The next larger size however was still being manufactured. And here is where it went south. Each dimension of the larger battery was different the CA60 battery the boxes had been designed for. As hard as I tried, cut an little here, add a little there, it was no use. New boxes would be needed to house the batteries.

So this time I purchased all the batteries that would to be used in one order up front. CALB CA100 batteries this time around. The capacity of each cell had increased by 40%, but so had the size. As the car has limited space, and I am unwilling to give up cargo space, the number of batteries was reduced from the original plan of 100 cell, to 75 cell. Range will actually increase, as the pack kWh is has increased, but sad to say acceleration performance will suffer a little as the weight has also increased.

Building the box lip for a box that is to be fitted where the gas tank was.

The floor of the trunk was opened up and prepared for a pair of boxes. A single box would have been ideal, but a structural brace for the rear bumper was in the middle of the space.