Thundersky battries on there side?

Post by **Readtkilowatt** » Fri, 03 Dec 2010, 17:26

I drive a 1994 Toyota Celica that I am getting 190 Km out of to 80% dischage.

Now have a Mercedes A Class , A160 apart in the workshop.

I understand that Thundersky make a variation of there battery that can be laid on its edge, has anyone had any experience with this ?
Would make it easy to fit the cells in if it is possible.

Peter

Post by **coulomb** » Fri, 03 Dec 2010, 18:38

See also LiFePO4 mounted on there sides.

The consensus seems to be now that there is nothing special required to mount at least recently manufactured Thundersky brand cells on their sides. I suspect it's still slightly preferred to mount them vertically if possible.

BTW, both posts should read "their" instead of "there".

- your friendly spelling Nazi.

Post by **EV2Go** » Fri, 03 Dec 2010, 19:54

The spelling Nazi missed the e in battEries in the title

Post by **Readtkilowatt** » Fri, 03 Dec 2010, 22:21

Thanks for the info.

Well spelling has never been my strong point!

Post by **roddilkes** » Fri, 03 Dec 2010, 22:28

Hi Peter,

I don't know that you would call it a "variation".

I have been running TS cells on edge for a year now with no problem at all.

TS standard cells can be mounted on their edge or flat but if there is any fault in the system that causes the cell to vent it will vent juice instead of vapour. Thats all.

Post by **Thomas** » Wed, 15 Dec 2010, 03:00

Hi everyone

I'm looking at getting a Nazia Ria as a donor, otherwise known as a Kia Carnival. Got ground clearance of 171mm, but if I remove the exhaust I would like to try putting some batteries in the empty space underneath. These China HiPower 100ah need 218mm. Can I clamp the batteries with the short sides together to prevent swelling, or only with the long sides together?

Thanks a lot!

Post by **seligtype3** » Wed, 15 Dec 2010, 05:09

Readtkilowatt wrote: I drive a 1994 Toyota Celica that I am getting 190 Km out of to 80% discharge.
Peter

What's your 190km pack involve - cells, how many, capacity?? That's the kind of range I'm keen on getting.

Post by **Readtkilowatt** » Thu, 16 Dec 2010, 23:09

I have 90 x 90 Ah thundersky cells.

Also have thundrsky cells for the 12V system, so the onboard charger for that battery rarely comes on.

Have been running on those new Bridgestone Ecopia tires for six weeks now and the range is now 215 Km.

Peter

Post by **EV2Go** » Sat, 18 Dec 2010, 02:11

>10% increase in millage, how much dearer than the tyres they replaced?

Post by **Readtkilowatt** » Sat, 18 Dec 2010, 22:21

The tires were cheaper than what was on the car.

$ 150 each.

Peter

Post by **7circle** » Sun, 19 Dec 2010, 02:31

Wow 23kWh (90x80Ahx3.2V-TS) is getting you 215km so that's only 107 Wh/km.
in a 1994 Celica.

Do you have 4x90Ah Cells for Aux 12V power or did you use smaller ones.

Would be good Idea to have them as spares that can be sawpped out for a lead Acid if you need them.

Are your Thundersky Cells on there side too?

Post by **EV2Go** » Sun, 19 Dec 2010, 06:50

Cheaper and better millage that's a win / win

What size are they?

Post by **Readtkilowatt** » Sun, 19 Dec 2010, 19:38

I had worked out that it is 109 Wh/km but we are close!

The underbody is 80% closed in and most of the front air vent closed.

For the 12V battery that is one of the reasons for lithium, having some spare 90Ah cells, might as well use them.

The cells in the Celica are mounted upright, 54 where the tank was, the rest just behind.

The tyres are... 185/60/R15 Bridgestone Ecopia at 32 psi

Post by **7circle** » Mon, 20 Dec 2010, 05:34

My Mum loves the "silly car" you might have helped convince her to go electric.

Post by **Readtkilowatt** » Mon, 20 Dec 2010, 11:49

Thats great !

It´s a good choice of car , light and low drag.

Nice to drive with the improved weight distribution , was rather light in the rear.

Post by **seligtype3** » Tue, 21 Dec 2010, 01:48

Readtkilowatt wrote:The underbody is 80% closed in and most of the front air vent closed.

Great! I've been considering covering the underbody on the VW. Could we get any more info on what sort of drive you're running. Motor, controller etc?

Post by **Readtkilowatt** » Tue, 21 Dec 2010, 12:26

Using the AC24LS and inverter from Azure Dynamics,

Bought a manual gearbox and took out the gears and syncros for reverse, 3rd, 4th and 5th.

Works out that I leave it in second all the time. Ratio is 8:1

Very pleased with the performance, I was more focused on a long range car when building but have got good performance as well.

The underbody is closed in with a tough plastic wall lining materiel used in showers.
It is about 3 mm thick, well worth doing if you are on the open road as I am a lot.

Post by **Johny** » Wed, 22 Dec 2010, 16:51

Readtkilowatt wrote:The underbody is closed in with a tough plastic wall lining materiel used in showers.

Sorry to ask a stupid question but where did you get this stuff? Is is acrylic or polycarbonate or something else. Clear or opaque?
I was going to use aluminium but this sounds better - and maybe cheaper/easier.

Post by **Readtkilowatt** » Thu, 23 Dec 2010, 00:11

Not sure what it is, white and very tough.
Used to line wet areas in the house.
Gets the odd scrape up and down my drive, barely marks it.

Ali would get dented rather quick.

I was given it by a builder friend, Bunnings would be the place I would think.

To fasten it I used rivnuts in the floor pan, makes it easy to remove.

Post by **bga** » Thu, 23 Dec 2010, 19:03

It could be PVC sheet. We used to make roll up stretchers for cave rescues out of 3mm PVC sheet. Fortunately they were not used in anger very often. It was certainly tough and scratch resistant.
This is usually a light grey colour.

Nylon sheet is available. it is usually white and really tough.

Polyethylene or polycarbonate sheeting is another possibility.

These sheet solutions tend to be a bit heavy and subject to shape control issues like waviness.

Fibreglass layed up over a thin peelable sheet (1mm) may be a good choice to allow the shape to be well controlled and the strength to be tailored by thickness, sandwich and ribbing variations. Several panels can be lapped so that each panel is small enough to install and remove easily. Inserts such as vent grilles can be inserted when the moulding is layed up.

Post by **Johny** » Thu, 23 Dec 2010, 19:08

bga wrote:Fibreglass layed up over a thin peelable sheet (1mm) may be a good choice to allow the shape to be well controlled and the strength to be tailored by thickness, sandwich and ribbing variations. Several panels can be lapped so that each panel is small enough to install and remove easily. Inserts such as vent grilles can be inserted when the moulding is layed up.

Good idea. I'll see when I have some freeway current-draw figures. If I can get my projected range I won't bother but it's good to have some variations to choose from.

Post by **PlanB** » Tue, 25 Jan 2011, 17:06

'scuse my ignorance but does s smooth underside make a big difference drag wise? Really interested in you Celica Readtkilowatt. I've got a Lexus transaxle on order from a wrecker, about the same rating as the AC24LS. I'd love to drop it into a '99 Celica but had dismissed it as too heavy at 1100kg kerb weight.
I also though I'd have to go to a different battery type to get the 200km range I need. What all up weight did you end up with on your conversion?

Post by **bga** » Wed, 26 Jan 2011, 20:11

The ecomodder forum has a lot of stuff about vaious hypermiler's minor and major tweaks: ecomodder.com

This page (underbody panel testing) indicates that sheeting the underbody front to rear reduces the aerodynamic drag by between 5 or 10 percent. I'd be expecting something like this.

However, depending on the driving duty, this may not be very effective. The sheeting only affects the aerodynamic drag component, so is only significant at higher speeds.

I had another thought while writing this: Some pieces of coreflute would probably be easy to use, it's stiff enough to hold a good flat shape, light weight and the OK for EV experiments because they don't get hot underneath.

Post by **Readtkilowatt** » Sat, 29 Jan 2011, 00:48

The Celica is about the same weight as original, 1260 kerb.

The smooth underbody is a help for me as a regularly do a trip that is 110 k on the open road. Actually most trips I do involve a fair bit of open road.
With before and after measurements over quite a few trips I would say it is about a 10% improvement.

As to the motor power that is used, I am quite happy with the amount of power the AC24LS provides.
I am using 2nd gear all the time, but for the ramps in parking buildings which I use first. 2nd gear is 8:1 , it would be better with 10 : 1 but that is the ratio I have.

Post by **photomac** » Sun, 06 Feb 2011, 03:16

Search the topic - LiFePO4 mounted on there sides - and you'll find a discussion on this very thing.

There is good info on this thread
viewtopic.php?keywords=Battery%2BOrient ... 612#p20142

And repeating
"I personally emailed Thundersky, and they recommend special order of batteries. There is a "vent" on the top between the terminals. This would be relocated for special orders. Another member was quoted an extra A$10 per battery some time ago."

Good luck
Matt