Nov 202011
 

Settling back in after the honeymoon took longer than anticipated. Who knew it would take so long to open gifts and write thank-you notes. The generosity from everyone was overwhelming. Thank you all for everything.

Now on to the EV update. I had done a quick layout of the batteries once they arrived and I confirmed the dimensions, but I kept ignoring the height. I knew these were taller, but I also knew that I was using some thin interconnects and did not think the extra height would be a problem. I thought wrong. Once I started detailing the layout and included height, I found that I needed about an inch (perhaps 3/4″) more height. The rack is constrained between the motor and the engine lid, so there was not even an inch to spare.

Plan B is perhaps a better way to go. I’m building three separate enclosures in the engine compartment. One on each side of the motor and one smaller one on top of the motor and the other two enclosures. By moving the cells alongside the motor I’ll be lowering the center of gravity which should help handling. The top cells will now be laying on their side which also lowers the cg for them as well. The same problem existed in the front batter box, so I’m moving it from the old gas tank compartment to the front trunk. this will lower the rack a few inches and move the weight forward, both of which should help to balance the car and lower the cg.

Moving the battery box to the front compartment also means that I’ll have to redesign the layout of the air conditioning system. I was going to build a system similar to what renegade hybrids does for 914 v8 radiator systems. It is a good setup, but does take up the entire front trunk. My new system will be similar to the way the factory did the A/C by cutting a hole in the floor of the trunk. I’ll be building a floor to capture the air between and force it through the condenser.

Now that the design has been redone, its time to get fabricating. I think I’ll start with the A/C system since it is going to go below the battery racks, and that will also force me to finish installing the system in the cabin. Right now it is just hanging by a few screws.

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