This Electric Fiero to have Pb/Acid cells replaced with LionEV LiFeP04 cells.

The new LionEV cells have arrived

16 of the LiFeP04 cells are installed in the back

16 of the cells installed in the front.

The Electric Fiero with solar panels raised

A Tribute to Farmers Everywhere!

The sequence of photos below shows a battery upgrade being done on a
LionEV Ford Ranger Truck, in San Augustine, TX.
This is farm country.

Our Fearless leader is also farm born and raised, and went to perform this upgrade in Texas.  Faced with a lack of available concrete, he decided that the only path to pursue would be to do it in the dirt. 

 In this photo you see the large battery pack ready to be installed in the Ranger.  Ken purchased a bunch of things to make this upgrade happen.  I recognize the floor jack.  The other lift thingy seems to be related to R2-D2 from Star Wars.  One thing is for sure, I don't see any concrete.

 This photo shows the small battery pack harnessed and ready to go in the Ranger.  I still haven't figured out what that contraption is but it seems to be at home on dirt, or in the grass.

 

The small pack is now in position to lift in place.  You can see that the large battery box has already been installed.




And true to our word, free puppies with every battery upgrade in the month of April.




The battery upgrade installation is now done, and it looks like a truck again.


Next time we feel like complaining about the cost of eggs, or flour, or butter, remember that a farmer sacrificed time, and convenience, and comfort, to make sure that it got to your table. 

Michael brought me the modular (20 ah) scooter batteries today. I checked them out when I got home
and found that they were all charged except for the last (most negative) cells. I put about 6 amp hours
into the last cells. I was going to hook them up and do a load test with my 500 watt (20 amp)
resistor, but my daughter walked by and wanted to ride. Well I thought "what the heck" I might as
well go for broke.

After a short ride down the alley to make sure the connections were good I let her ride. She and I rode it up and down the street with no problems. The batteries were holding at around
3.27 volts. Under load they would sag to around 2.9 volts. The controller didn't have a problem with any
of it. I'd say they still have a bit more sag than the LA cells, but not to the point where it's causing a problem. I rode some again tonight and I'd think between the two rides we probably rode as long
as we did with the LA cells. So I'm pretty happy with these first results. After my ride tonight I checked all of the cells and they are all within .01 volts at 3.31 volts per cell. I have to work tomorrow and next week is
going to be busy so I won't be able to do a real load test until next weekend. I'll let you know the
results.

Regards,

Paul

Paul's scooter with the original LA battery box.  This scooter is now running on LiFePO4 packs.  New pictures will posted as we receive them.