1989 Firefly - Student Built EV Conversion from 1994-1995 - 'Electricfly'

While I have had this puppy for some time - now 6 years, I am not sure I made an initial post in the welcome area!

The Car has a GE Motor, 20.9 Hp at 184 Amps x 90V; GE Enclosed Throttle & Micro Switch Pot Box, and GE Controller (EV-15, I think it is). With a Curb weight of ~2000 Lbs, I have seen speeds up to 108 Kph when I had to slow down for traffic. Calculations say the car should be able to top out at 145 Kph with a Motor Tachometer installed and enough good Power Batteries to deliver the needed power!

Build with a Lead Acid Power Pack - it was said to be able to deliver up to 60 Kms of Range - I never saw better than about 38 Kms, myself, and about 20 - 21 in near continuous local traffic laps!

In the plan to go to Lithium - I have instrumented the Car with PakTraker and Data Logger with a Woodward Logging Display. Data Logged since that install - says about 67 - 100 Wh/Km per Km driving very gently, and about 277-285 Wh/Km driving like a Wild Nut! Pre-Instrumenting Install - I used just Analog Gauges to note a use of about 185 Amps at 75 Volts for ~ 14 kW at ~ 100 Kph, or about 140 Wh/Km at highway cruise of 60 Mph/100 Kph!

So - for a Lithium Plan - the game was to go for a Battery Box Install in the Design Gas Tank Space - which has limits of about 7.5" - 8" Max Height. This determines the type of Cells to use - best possible cells being the Headway 15 Ah cells for fitting the Height Limits.

With approximately 17" x 29" working space [431.8mm x 736.6mm] - It seems I can reasonably fit 10 Cells x 16 Cells in their 42mm Holders, for a pack size or 420mm x 672mm, which fits in the above limits. This nets a 32S5P Net Pack (32 cells in Series, and 5 in Parallel).

Using the 3.2V x 15Ah rating of the cell = 48 Wh per cell, meaning I need about 3 Cells per Km at 140 Wh/Km noted above. Using 4 Cells = a 75% DOD per Km, instead of 100%. Since 10 x 16 Cells = 160 Cells total, and 4 per Km then means a target range of 40 Kms with reasonable planning.

From EV Assemble, LiFePO4, Electric Bike Conversion Kit, EV Charger, BMS, EV Components, EV Parts, All for EV! - these cells are rated at 480 grams each, and cost just $23.39 at last check. This nets out for 76.8 Kg, or 168.96 lbs for the pack, versus my Trojan SCS-150 Batteries at 400 Lbs for 8 of them!

The cost is on the flip side, though - at $3,742.40 for the set - US$ - Plus Shipping! The Trojans came in at about $1020.00 or so - so cost is up while weight is down! However - the 5P Headway Set delivers 75Ah vs. just 30 Ah in the 1 Hour Rating of the Trojans!

Now - the big problem is the Car Body - Dissolving away with Rust!!
Blog following can be done at NoGas96volts and other information from the website at Electricfly - MyElectricfly.com for those more interested.