Create portable Lithium Power pack to use in golfcart, sailboat, camper?

[Artist Chic]

Greetings.

I recently changed my lithium batteries in my Prius. In talking with the gent who did this for me in Virginia and seeing the process, I wondered about creating a portable power pack that could be used in my golfcart, sailboat, camper...creating a part of a microgrid as part of my home.


Any thoughts, products you recommend?

Thanks in advance!

[Artist Chic]

https://greentecauto.com/hybrid-batt...battery-module is an example of what I imagined while seeing the Prius torn apart.

I volunteer in a non-profit group who is working on the microgrid area. What an exciting field.

[Artist Chic]

I found a battery pack similar to what I imagined, from a Chevy Volt.

I removed the link to it.

Each 2kWh pack is 48V, 47Ah.
Continuous current 240A
Peak current 350A

Repurposed EV Battery Use: Whether you want to do off grid solar, Golf cart conversions, EV build, electric conversion car, ATV, Motorcycle, Bicycle, RV solar, and anything else that needs a 48V battery these Chevy Volt Battery packs will put out a lot of power and long cycle life. Tired of Lead Acid and AGM battery not performing? These repurposed EV battery Lithium Ion battery packs with 2kwh of power will put them to shame.



MODULE SPECIFICATIONS
Number of cells 36
Construction 12 in-series x 3 in parallel
Length 9.5″
Width 9.5″
Height 10.5
Weight 45 lbs
Output terminal M6 nut
Amp Hour 47
Total Voltage 48vdc
Module voltage range
Maximum: 50.4V
Nominal: 45.6V
Minimum: 36V

[Jon Vermilye]

A couple of points -

A large (capacity) battery pack can be made from individual batteries from either Chevy Volts or Teslas, not sure about the Prius, but with any of them you will have to add a battery management system if you build from individual cells.

Using batteries to power resistance heating appliances (electric space heaters, water heater, etc) as well as the air conditioner would require fairly massive amp hour storage. Far more practical to stick with propane for the heating, and skip the AC.

A big consideration when dry camping - how do you put back what you take out? For the non heating appliances, a 100 watt solar panel & a 100 amp hours of batteries will work for most. Add an inverter to charge your golf cart or microwave use and you are going to need 400 - 500 watts of solar & 200 - 300 amp hours of battery storage. Add electric heating or electric water heating & you will be looking at 1000 or more watts of solar & 800 - 1000 amp hours of battery. Add AC & you are looking at many thousands of watts of solar & huge battery storage.

These are very rough estimates & I'm sure others will point out managing with less.

In my case I run a pair of 100 amp hour Battleborn lithium batteries and either 320 or 480 watts of solar (depending whether I add my portable panel). With this combination I can make a pot of drip coffee, use a 2 slice pop up toaster, my 950 watt microwave & lots of the standard 12V stuff (no electric heater or electric water heating or AC). I use 50 - 70 amp hours per day and usually manage to put most of it back using solar.

For our sized trailers, finding space on the roof (or storage for portable panels) becomes a problem once you get over 400 - 500 watts worth of panels. Those with large 5th wheels or motor homes have room for thousands of watts of solar - I camped with a guy that had 1000 watts on the roof of his motor home & 4000 watts on a enclosed trailer that held the equivalent of 12 100 amp hour lithium batteries. He was able to run a heat pump/ air conditioner, all his appliances including making hot water and charging his Chevy Volt. His trailer was larger than my Escape 21.

Not saying what you want can't be done, but it would be very difficult to put together a system that fits your trailers.

[Artist Chic]

[QUOTE=Jon Vermilye;776912]A couple of points -

A large (capacity) battery pack can be made from individual batteries from either Chevy Volts or Teslas, not sure about the Prius, but with any of them you will have to add a battery management system if you build from individual cells.

Using batteries to power resistance heating appliances (electric space heaters, water heater, etc) as well as the air conditioner would require fairly massive amp hour storage. Far more practical to stick with propane for the heating, and skip the AC.

A big consideration when dry camping - how do you put back what you take out? For the non heating appliances, a 100 watt solar panel & a 100 amp hours of batteries will work for most. Add an inverter to charge your golf cart or microwave use and you are going to need 400 - 500 watts of solar & 200 - 300 amp hours of battery storage. Add electric heating or electric water heating & you will be looking at 1000 or more watts of solar & 800 - 1000 amp hours of battery. Add AC & you are looking at many thousands of watts of solar & huge battery storage.

These are very rough estimates & I'm sure others will point out managing with less.

In my case I run a pair of 100 amp hour Battleborn lithium batteries and either 320 or 480 watts of solar (depending whether I add my portable panel). With this combination I can make a pot of drip coffee, use a 2 slice pop up toaster, my 950 watt microwave & lots of the standard 12V stuff (no electric heater or electric water heating or AC). I use 50 - 70 amp hours per day and usually manage to put most of it back using solar.

For our sized trailers, finding space on the roof (or storage for portable panels) becomes a problem once you get over 400 - 500 watts worth of panels. Those with large 5th wheels or motor homes have room for thousands of watts of solar - I camped with a guy that had 1000 watts on the roof of his motor home & 4000 watts on a enclosed trailer that held the equivalent of 12 100 amp hour lithium batteries. He was able to run a heat pump/ air conditioner, all his appliances including making hot water and charging his Chevy Volt. His trailer was larger than my Escape 21.

Not saying what you want can't be done, but it would be very difficult to put together a system that fits your trailers.[/QUOTE


Thank you for your thoughtful reply, Jon
I've been reading of your set up which rather inspired this thread.

My needs are rather low, I cook with a Dutch Oven, use a solar shower, porta-potty, have a 3-way refrigerator, and use the Mi-fi, TV, laptop very little, never a microwave. One item I would enjoy would be a small air conditioner.

I often like to escape to paint for a week at a time in Arizona and Montana. Solar would be perfect on all my vehicles. However, point taken of size requirements.

This battery pack I described is 48 pounds. It's rebuilt from a Chevy Volt and is 10x10x10. It is made to power golf carts and RV's. ( When I tried to post the link a pop-up appeared saying my post had to be approved. I took out the link and posted the rest. )


My brother (unfortunately now deceased at a young age) created a micro grid for 2 universities which power a fleet of electric carts, the campus, etc., with extra to sell to the local communities.

My family, by our nature are driven to create. I'm going to keep going in my quest.

Thank you for your response. I admire your setup.

[MelH]

Battery chemistry should also be a BIG consideration if you don't have a firewall like cars do.
When cell-to-cell shorts occur, all Lead Acid and almost all Lithium batteries will overheat, expand, and frequently catch fire and/or explode. That's why they're behind firewalls and NOT stored in RV's, or vehicle cabins.

Lithium Iron Phosphate -LFP- batteries like Battleborn and e-On -that I sell- have multiple protections: Chemistry, Electronic, and Physical. See attached slide showing safety ratings of different chemistries from Battery University.

Power Packs: Look in FiberglassRV, CLASSIFIEDS, PARTS FOR SALE on page 2 you'll find my LFP Power System. The pics show my INCLUDED removable Power Pack for powering Trade Booths, parties, trolling motors and other uses.

Also, the e-On LFP battery in my Power Pack can be monitored WHILE it is removed because the battery includes:
..On-board Bluetooth-to-phone monitoring
..State-of-Charge aka Percent Charge, Voltage, Amps, Number of 80% charge cycles
..Cell-by-cell automatic balancing to extend lifespan

Detailed data on my BoondockingPower website. Be sure to look at the specs in 'NittyGritty' page. Per rules, I won't provide the link here. Be sure to Personal message me if you can't find my website or I can be of further help.
KEEP ON BOONDOCKING!