[schristy]

We are looking for battery recommendations for a Ford Think. We are a high school engineering program working on converting one of our three Ford Thinks into an autonomous vehicle. None of vehicles we have, have batteries. We have just under $1800 to spend on batteries and charger. At this point, our only goal is to get the motor running so we can begin to test basic functions such as our steering, braking and power control. Long term, the vehicle will never be expected to drive over 5mph (safety concerns) and will never leave our campus. With these criteria in mind, I would appreciate any suggestions for batteries and criteria for selecting batteries. Thanks!

 

[remy_martian]

Ford Th!nk City or Neighbor?

 

[schristy]

Ford Think Neighbor

 

[remy_martian]

So, as a guess, it needs to run at around 5 or 6kW for an hour between charges?

This points to using a pack from a hybrid car...something with around the same pack voltage as the original, as the motor controller may alarm an undervolt if too far below.

 

[MattsAwesomeStuff]

Contact a scrapyard or wrecking yard that has junk hybrids, tell them you're high school students, and ask if they'd be willing to sponsor your project with a free Prius battery.

Honestly, for 5mph... you might get that off of two 12v junk car batteries for $20 core charge at NAPA. Just ask them to leave two aside for you that still test to have okay voltage. Save your $1800. Depends if you need the higher voltage (you won't to go 5mph, but, you might for the controller to wake up and be okay with what it thinks is a dead battery).

 

[remy_martian]

I was taking into account they'd keep all the stock electrics except the battery & charger.

Two 12V batteries won't do - an EV conversion is a dilution of their goals.

The sponsorship or donation to the school is a great idea. But the hybrid donor should have a battery voltage near tye stock Th!nk Neighbor configuration. Is that a Prius?

 

[floydr]

72VDC from what I have read/ Seen at work years ago we had a Ford Think Neighbor part of a pilot program the city leased 4 Think Neghbors split between us and the police department. The neighbor is an LSV had 6 12V gel/flooded LA batteries It uses a 5000W motor. They only want it to be an on campus vehicle speed of up to 5mph. Jennifer Peringer's 2002 Think Neighbor
110 2170 M50LT 3.6v 5000mah 36v 1.95kWh two of these modules in series would most likely be adequate for there needs. They would need a BMS I have an extra 300A 8s-24s ANT Smart BMS they could have. I doubt if they would need an automotive quality BMS.
The Battery modules are premade just link in series and add a bms and some programing of BMS settings.

Ford Think Neighbor

It is not a Ford Think City.
The Ford Think City had a Nominal System Voltage: 114 VDC https://avt.inl.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/uev/thinkcityueva.pdf this is the NiCad model


Later floyd

 

[MattsAwesomeStuff]

110 2170 M50LT 3.6v 5000mah 36v 1.95kWh two of these modules in series would most likely be adequate for there needs.

Bingo, there's your best bet.

I strongly recommend Batteryhookup. Great folks there.