I spent all weekend bolting down the rack, making new cables and installing the battery pack. The first picture is of my home made cable crimp. Basically, it is a scrap price of aluminum from my adapter plates that I drilled/cut out to form the appropriate shape for crimping. I place in the cable and lug on the crimp and proceed to smash it with a hammer until satisfied. It makes a strong crimp with the top getting flattened by the hammer and the bottom/sides getting indented to make a good crimp, which I then finish it off with electrical tape.
The actual battery installation wasn't bad. The batteries are 63 lbs, but not a problem to place into the trunk. I strapped the suckers down using four carrier straps from the old pack, and I have four left over so I am going to get creative on where I should use them. The longest part was by far the wiring. I spent about two hours planning out the best wiring pattern, then I went to it and spent another 30 minutes setting up the PakTrakr.
The first thing most people would do would to go out and drive the EV. But you can't! The batteries do not come fully charged, and they spent about 3 hours charging the afternoon before I went on my first test tun. 1 mile loop, keeping the current under 75 AMPs and then return home to check the connections and recharge. I also needed to play with my brake vacuum, it was harder to stop with the extra weight.
This week I will be breaking in my batteries, and testing the range out as a go. I have been reading through EV America's docs, and they have a great section on battery care and use, so I will follow those with this pack.
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