Got a buddy running four of these in his 2002 - runs like a bat our of hell and he has drained them down to 2.0v per cell twice - still running five years later.
1 Like
The 2010 eL I bought from you about 3-4 years ago with the custom 2p or 3p volt pack you rewired, is still going strong. It was my daily driver for over 2 years until the point I took a new job out of town.
IIRC, you put that pack in the truck back around 2015 or 2016. so 7-8 years its been going,
Iāve NOT settledā¦ā¦ā¦mostly because I doubted that they would have the reserve potentialā¦ā¦and worried that they might not like getting hammered by the GEM.
Most of the old time cart guys Iāve polled say it is about as mean to a battery as I can beā¦ā¦ā¦and summers at 120deg are death.
I need Dave to take Pity on me! The Volt kit is looking like my only option.
Yeah, 100Ah lead based batteries will likely only get you 12-15 mile range. Maybe less.
72V gems use around 200 watt-hours/mile, give or take a little, depending on driving style (speed, how hard you accelerate, etc) terrain, and service condition.
Examples:
Running at 22-25 mph, I use about 170Wh/mile in my eL
At 35-38mph, itās 240Wh/mile
A dragging brake on just one wheel will add an extra 100 Wh or more.
Thatās all with just one person and no cargo to speak of.
Lead batteries you can only use about half the rated power, so very roughly since the equation changes with the voltage, so 100ah lead will only give you about 3.6 KWh useable.
BTW, I donāt think Dave is the seller on that ebay volt pack. He lives a long way from the sellerās claimed location of Arizona
1 Like
I have a line on getting a set of new gel batteries that are group 27 for about $1400, with limited range not being too much of an issue for me at this point in my life,
Are there any potential problems I might have?
Iāve bought a bunch of full packs from junkyards in SoCal. Itās been hit or miss, especially considering the age of the volts. Just make sure you stick a meter in it to make sure theyāre holding charge before taking delivery. That said, once Iāve gotten a good packā¦ no issues. I bought a full pack from a 2012 for $1200 that will power 2 cars @ 94ah. So for $600 + bms + yellow harness from dave and cables, youāre into it for $1k. Canāt beat that!
The pack I have in my 2016 was a temporary bridgeā¦ 2+ years ago. Iām still running them now and havenāt had any issues. I even have a set of ID4 batteries sitting in my garage that I havenāt bothered to install because the Volts have been trouble free (knocking in wood).
On the newer cars, theyāre great because you have a ton of space in the rear, can run all-thread through the water jackets, into 90 degree aluminum pieces and easily secure them to the car. the early 2000-2004, you have to cut off the water jackets and I never found a solid way to secure them.
Iāve even put a couple in golf carts -
Only time Iāve run into an issue with the Volts is when someone drains them down all the way past recovery. When we were using Chargery BMS-esā¦ they werenāt inline and if you let them keep balancing unattended, they would balance them to empty. The newer ANT and JKs wonāt do that. My buddyās 2002 is sitting in drive since he did thatā¦ i need to find him some batteries. Might entertain splitting a full pack with you. Iām in SD by SDSU
1 Like
I just checked car-part.comā¦ there are a bunch of them in the $1200 price range within 150 miles of SD. I like the Gen1s over the Gen2s. Think you get more 12s packs and they donāt have fuses for the bms wiring.
1 Like
Where about were finding these battery packs and how old can you go with the batteries? Iām between Temecula and Riverside
Of COURSE thatās where you guys would be! I bought mine in SDā¦ā¦.kinda by the airport. Iām over in Yuma.
Weāre all local! Iām not afraid of fab and mech workā¦ā¦but I have no shop, and most of my tools are pretty winnowed down. Never messed with pack building, but I read a lot, and follow instructions well.
$1400 is right around the entry point for a small li-ion pack.
I think Dave and Michael might have one now that drops right into the spot above the motor & diff on the 00-04 years.
Its higher voltage and lighter, so itāll give you way better performance in the accelration and top end department too.
As for the gel 27ās. you may have to make custom brackets or find a way to secure them as they may be smaller than the installed hold downs. Range will be about 10 miles. Make sure they can handle 200-250 amp load without melting because thatās what a gem can pull on a hard launch.
Thanx, checking with them now
1 Like