I often get queries from people wanting a car conversion that’ll take them for hundreds of miles between re-charges. While technically it is possible with the latest batteries, we’re not quite there yet when it comes to cost-effectiveness and space.
For day-to-day average driving, many folks do about 50-80 miles which is an achievable thing within a reasonable budget for EV conversion. Hybrids for now are cheaper when it comes to longer trips but even so, with my car on a nice leisurely trip down the coast I can stop over and charge in about four hours @ 16Amps or so (add a couple more hours on 10Amps).
Some of the new batteries in development can slash charging time but it is early days yet and price is prohibitive for most people. Still, a long distance EV is achievable, such as the Tesla but you can see that a lot of the cost with this car is in their batteries (and their AC motor). Below is a reply to a recent query…
‘Hi, yes it is possible to get a good range but you’d have to spend a LOT of money getting the right kind of batteries. I think the Thundersky 200Ah Lithium polymers could do the job but I don’t have all the specs on them, but they are much lighter than the ones I have for my car.
Polymers are relatively new to the scene and Thundersky have had some bad press about them in the past. Their quality control has much improved though. To maintain a sane weight for your car for the distance required, polymers are preferred over Lithium Phosphates which I have. It is not known how long their cycle life is but from what people have said, it could be less than the phosphates from which I expect to get a 3000 hour cycle life.
Other than projected testing and speculation, no one has really trialled polymers over time – and time is the only bash tester here.
The crucial thing is:
- battery management and
- not fully deep cycling them.
My fuel gauge will be set to ‘empty’ when in fact a 20% approx reserve will still be available. The key is not to drain them constantly and completely. Phosphates can sit idle with a minimum discharge; not sure about the polymers. But for your car (assuming it is not much heavier than mine at 1.25 tons),100 x 200Ah Lithium Polymers could do the trick.
Two problems:
- space, you’d lose your back seat most likely, and
- expense. Currently you’d be paying over $30,000 for the batteries, plus motor, controller, charger and ancillary on top of that which makes for an expensive conversion.
You could amortize over the life of components and make comparable savings (because who knows where gas prices will go in 5-10 years). If only Chevron released the patent they hold on the type of batteries used for the EV1, all those years ago, then battery competition by now would have been far more advanced and probably much cheaper.’
