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I officially own a lithium insight! Probably the cheapest and roughest build around, but lithium nonetheless.
I'm using the Mystery Ford cells I found on battery hookup.com.
Being that I don't have the full specs of these batteries, I didn't want to take the time to do a clean install. They may not be sufficient for the insight or my driving habits.
The batteries came already compressed in housings. I wish I would have left them that way. Curiosity got the best of me and I took one apart to get a closer look. They were compressed much tighter than I had assumed. I tried to get them back together using ratchet straps. Not only did this not work, it damaged 2 cells in the process.
I'm obviously not going to be putting damage cells in my car. I used allthreads and poplar board (eventually to be replaced with aluminum plates) to compress the undamaged cells back together.
I am usually hesitant to make permanent changes. Instead of cutting the harness to make a BCM Fooler, I bolted resistors to the orange end board from the stock pack. I then wrapped the end board in cardboard to prevent shorting.
For HV wiring, Walmart had 4-gauge 24-in ground wires for 5.99. They leaves a lot of excess wiring, but it saved a lot of time cutting, stripping, and crimping.
Cost breakdown:
Batteries $290.43 shipped
Resistors $5.99
HV Wires $23.25
Hardware $18.69
Misc wires and hardware ?$10
Total 328.36$
The total install time was around 7 hours (plus countless hours of research). About 2 hours of which was spent recompressing cells. Probably around another hour to figure out why I was getting a P1445 IMA code. It turned out to be the relay starter mod I had done previously.
after removing that little piece of wire everything is working great.
Currently I am unable to afford a BMS for this system. To minimize risk (in my completely nonexpert opinion) I'll be keeping the batteries as close as possible to 50% SOC, monitoring pack voltage, and frequently checking cell voltages to see if any are drifting.
DISCLAIMER: using lithium batteries without a BMS can cause injury or even death!!! You could even end up burning your car to the ground!!!
I would love to hear y'all's thoughts, comments, and concerns.
I'm using the Mystery Ford cells I found on battery hookup.com.
Being that I don't have the full specs of these batteries, I didn't want to take the time to do a clean install. They may not be sufficient for the insight or my driving habits.
The batteries came already compressed in housings. I wish I would have left them that way. Curiosity got the best of me and I took one apart to get a closer look. They were compressed much tighter than I had assumed. I tried to get them back together using ratchet straps. Not only did this not work, it damaged 2 cells in the process.
I'm obviously not going to be putting damage cells in my car. I used allthreads and poplar board (eventually to be replaced with aluminum plates) to compress the undamaged cells back together.
I am usually hesitant to make permanent changes. Instead of cutting the harness to make a BCM Fooler, I bolted resistors to the orange end board from the stock pack. I then wrapped the end board in cardboard to prevent shorting.
For HV wiring, Walmart had 4-gauge 24-in ground wires for 5.99. They leaves a lot of excess wiring, but it saved a lot of time cutting, stripping, and crimping.
Cost breakdown:
Batteries $290.43 shipped
Resistors $5.99
HV Wires $23.25
Hardware $18.69
Misc wires and hardware ?$10
Total 328.36$
The total install time was around 7 hours (plus countless hours of research). About 2 hours of which was spent recompressing cells. Probably around another hour to figure out why I was getting a P1445 IMA code. It turned out to be the relay starter mod I had done previously.
after removing that little piece of wire everything is working great.
Currently I am unable to afford a BMS for this system. To minimize risk (in my completely nonexpert opinion) I'll be keeping the batteries as close as possible to 50% SOC, monitoring pack voltage, and frequently checking cell voltages to see if any are drifting.
DISCLAIMER: using lithium batteries without a BMS can cause injury or even death!!! You could even end up burning your car to the ground!!!
I would love to hear y'all's thoughts, comments, and concerns.