Guru
Joined: 15/07/2006
Location: AustraliaPosts: 676
| Posted: 11:31pm 04 Feb 2008 |
There is some battery problems. I had done about 50 km of driving and at the destination discovered that the 2 batteries in the rear box had become so hot that the plastic case had softened and swelled like footballs. The top is no longer sealed. The worst one was removed and replaced with the 13th one purchased at the same time. This swelled one is still working connected in with the wind and solar setup. The other swelled battery is still in the EV and still working.
I have emailed several times to the supplier and importer with no satisfactory answers why this has happened. They simply don’t know, but say it is likely to swell in charging. The swelling occurred in discharge while driving the vehicle.
I do not expect that these 2 swelled batteries will last very long, due to dry out. The batteries are just over 1 yr old with a 2 yr warranty and it appears that they are questioning and refusing to honor the warranty. I will no longer recommend these batteries as suitable for EV use, even though they still claim they are. There is no problem with the other 10 batteries all tightly packed together in the front box. To me, it seems to be a manufacturing fault. If they do honor the warranty I will make a posting to say so.
If any one has any clues why the heat and swelling, I would love to hear.
Now we have a range of about 70km at 80km/hr.
Trev @ drivebynature.com