I recently took the plunge to the dark side and converted my Gem to lithium. After a lot of research, input from @LithiumGods & help from @MikeKC I have finally got the project completed. The power, torque and range so far has been amazing. So far I have gone 11 miles and used 4.1 volts.
The lithium setup I went with is 23cells with one in parallel. Per specs this would give me 128amp Hr. These packs are made by Bosch came out of a Fiat. The cathode material in these cells is LiMn2O4 with LiNiO2. The pack measured very close to the stock batteries and if I would have only gone with 4 packs instead of adding a second pack in parallel this would have been almost a drop in and go. The individual cells in the packs are Samsung SDI with 63AH. The voltage range per seller is 3.0 to 4.2 max. However @LithiumGods advised to not charge over 4.05-4.1 per cell to be safe. This worked out great because I was using the DQ profile that charged the pack to 93.38 and each cell charged to 4.06v. Here are some pics of the install.
First test fit of cells after purchase
Had to fab new alum plates to go in battery well. All thread pieces are to create mounting for second parallel battery
All the batteries mocked up on the bench ready to start making cables.
Had to install bottom row and connect the parallel cables before adding second row of batteries on top.
Here is what all 8 packs look like under the rear seat of my 2000 four seater. I was really pleased with how the project turned out. I was able to hide almost of the cables. In the end with the cost of the 8 packs, cabling, lugs, plate alum, all thread and shrink I am into this conversion for just under $1,800
I also moved the battery to run the stereo and other electronics that was under passengers seat to one of the front battery wells. In the second well I mounted my stereo amp and some other goodies. After some calculations I was able to dump 292 pounds of weight with this new setup.
@LithiumGods those modules come in both 5s & 6s configurations. 5s module is 21v (max) and the 6s module is 25.2v (Max). These modules also come with the polarity flipped. Making them very easy to work with and configure. You could use 4 of the 5s modules which would be 20 cells and dq profile #128 which cuts off charging at 82.04v (4.1v per cell which would be the max I would go). If you went with two 6s & two 5s modules and used dq profile #123 that would charge your string to 4.05v per cell (89.1v). Mine I used three 6s, one 5s module and dq profile 135. This charges to 93.38v (4.06v per cell). Safety was my #1 concern with these lithium batteries. With the configurations and dq profiles above the charger cuts off way before you are at risk of over charging. As a second backup the Bms is also set to cut off charging if for some reason the delta-q charger fails and starts to over charges the cells.
Curtis gets the award for overkill . Look close at the battery cables , Those aren’t 2Ga. they are 2/0 ! Factory is 4ga. His cables have 4 times the current rating . Talk about no voltage drop .
Here is a few pics on those monsters. The cable is 2/0 tinned marine cable, the Lugs are tinned, and the shrink is adhesive lined. With this combo the cable connection is totally sealed and there is no way it can corrode. You want some more overkill? What I did not tell you I also did while doing this is I also glued rubber to the aluminum plates the batteries sit on, covered the all-thread with rubber hose so the threads do not grind on the cables and everywhere metal would touch metal on this install I added rubber washers so when the 10” subwoofer under the drivers seat hits the car is not a rattle trap. Lol. My grandpa always told me “Do it once and do it right, don’t let skipping a ten cent part end up costing you a hundred dollars in the long run”
@bundcur - The cables might have been a little my fault… LOL He asked what size cables and I said 2. Opps…
It was a fun project, I am glad it came out well. He did a great job in the install !!!
