[ElectrifiedMonteSS]

Hello to all the current and future EVers out there..

I ran across an article/video about a guy named Al Bullock who lives in Cal. He built/converted a 70 VW to EV.. Well with batteries being a key component I looked on line for the batteries mentioned in the video, lithium ion 18650 cells which he used 6000 made in to packs of 8..
The cheapest I could find those cells was for $9.75 each. That comes out the something like $58,500.00..

What kills me is that they mention you can get "his" kit for $18K..

Any comment?

Here is the video on You tube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVlsSAZPvU8&feature=player_detailpage

 

[frodus]

Did you search for his exact brand and model of the 18650?

I've seen LOTS of 18650's for under $2 each.

 

[ElectrifiedMonteSS]

I did a search from what was posted in the artical. and all they has info wise was "lithium ion 18650 cells". I did notice that there were alot of thoes floating around.. From the look of the packs he had they looked to be roughly 4" tall, but there again that could be two stacked together..

If you have some links let me know! I wish they would have gone into deeper depth on the cells.. For a component of an EV that is that important I would want all the info I can get.. and you know batteries are a huge topic in this forum..

Thanks,
Kevin

 

[frodus]

18650's are 18mm diameter and 65.0mm long, so it would've had to be a couple together.

IMHO, they're a complete pain in the ass to build a pack, I'd look for something else if I were you. I've built packs of 18650's BTW, for two different motorcycles. It was very time consuming and lots of tab-welding. It's almost impossible to remove a battery from the pack without damaging cells.