EZGO 2Five Lithium Conversion

[bernito]

I have a 2014 EZGO 2Five (4 x 12 volt configuration) and am interested in converting it to one of the Nissan Leaf based battery packs sold by EV Battery Center.com (http://evbatterycenter.com/HAC4/inde...-15&Itemid=605). The battery pack has a power output cable included with SB175 Andersen Connector and a charger output cable with 50A Anderson connector.

They sell an optional 4 AWG, red/black, 2 ft cable with 175A Anderson (red) to connect from battery to the solenoid and a 12 AWG cable with Anderson connector (grey) 5ft. is included with the on-board charger.

I have read multiple other forums regarding lithium conversions, but was hoping to get some specific questions answered:

1. Has anyone completed a 2Five conversion? If so, can you please provide as much detail and photos as possible?

2. The manual states that the cart has a 48V on board battery charger with DC to DC converter. Is the DC to DC converter built in to the on board charger, or is it a separate module that I can continue to use after replacing the existing charger with an on board lithium ion charger?

3. How exactly would the wiring work? I currently have three sets of wires attached to a positive battery terminal and three wires attached to a different negative battery terminal in the series. I want to ensure that I wire the new pack safely and correctly, so all of my accessories continue to work properly.

Any insight would be appreciated, and please include as much detail as possible. I can provide pictures of the existing connections if helpful. Thanks.

[BobBoyce]

Originally Posted by bernito

I have a 2014 EZGO 2Five (4 x 12 volt configuration) and am interested in converting it to one of the Nissan Leaf based battery packs sold by EV Battery Center.com (http://evbatterycenter.com/HAC4/inde...-15&Itemid=605). The battery pack has a power output cable included with SB175 Andersen Connector and a charger output cable with 50A Anderson connector.

They sell an optional 4 AWG, red/black, 2 ft cable with 175A Anderson (red) to connect from battery to the solenoid and a 12 AWG cable with Anderson connector (grey) 5ft. is included with the on-board charger.

I have read multiple other forums regarding lithium conversions, but was hoping to get some specific questions answered:

1. Has anyone completed a 2Five conversion? If so, can you please provide as much detail and photos as possible?

2. The manual states that the cart has a 48V on board battery charger with DC to DC converter. Is the DC to DC converter built in to the on board charger, or is it a separate module that I can continue to use after replacing the existing charger with an on board lithium ion charger?

3. How exactly would the wiring work? I currently have three sets of wires attached to a positive battery terminal and three wires attached to a different negative battery terminal in the series. I want to ensure that I wire the new pack safely and correctly, so all of my accessories continue to work properly.

Any insight would be appreciated, and please include as much detail as possible. I can provide pictures of the existing connections if helpful. Thanks.

The DC-DC converter is built into the onboard charger. If you go Lithium, you'll have to buy a seperate converter and use that because your onboard charger is not compatible with lithium batteries. There was a seller on eBay that had new RXV DC-DC converters for $35 + $10 shipping. I bought one of them from him 2 weeks ago for my road car project, and was tempted to buy another as a spare. He sold out a few days ago, so I missed it.

There's no reason that you could not convert to lithium, but keep in mind that you should not store or charge LiPo packs in your garage. There have been too many incidents of LiPo packs catching fire or exploding lately. This is why they are now warning people to charge them outdoors and away from structures.

Bob

[cgtech]

You can contact "fullriver battey" in CA. They are a authoized Delta-q distributor. And they can make you a profile for lithiums for your current charger. You could sent it to them for this servic and use the charger you have now, with it's built-in dc convertor.

[Rickochet]

Originally Posted by BobBoyce

There's no reason that you could not convert to lithium, but keep in mind that you should not store or charge LiPo packs in your garage. There have been too many incidents of LiPo packs catching fire or exploding lately. This is why they are now warning people to charge them outdoors and away from structures.
Bob

So, does the Nissan Leaf come with a warning not to park or charge the vehicle inside a garage?

[BobBoyce]

Originally Posted by Rickochet

So, does the Nissan Leaf come with a warning not to park or charge the vehicle inside a garage?

It's possible that they do now. This change is recent, due to all of the incidents with Tesla cars, cellphones, e-cigs, tablets, and laptops catching on fire and/or exploding due to LiPo cell/pack failure. I blame it on a profit-driven choice of battery chemistry and increasingly poorer materials quality control at the battery manufacturers. There is a very thin insulator film that can fail, and when it does the cell shorts. The chemistry of common LiPo cells is very unstable when heated by that short. One cell fails, it often cascades through the entire pack. These things have even been failing when stored, not just when charging. John Q Public does not know to only store at 50% SOC to reduce the amount of energy available to initiate a catastrophic failure. I like lithium battery technology, when done correctly. There have been shortcuts taken over the years that have increased the risk in order to increase profit margin. It's now coming back to bite them in the behind. We already cannot ship lithium cells or packs without hazmat precautions/cost. There may be a time in the near future that they may be banned unless installed in fire/explosion-proof compartments.

I was asked to supply my battery charging technology to Tesla in 2013. While it would have been a very nice contract, I wanted no part of that liability.

Bob

[PingEye3]

Bob,
I noticed that you did not mention all the fires caused by the Nissan Leaf cells that have been all over the news. Oh Yeah, there aren't any.

Check out this test trying to burn a Nissan Leaf cell. Done by the Hybrid Auto Center in Las Vegas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jz37WycW-7E

[bernito]

Originally Posted by cgtech

You can contact "fullriver battey" in CA. They are a authoized Delta-q distributor. And they can make you a profile for lithiums for your current charger. You could sent it to them for this servic and use the charger you have now, with it's built-in dc convertor.

If they can do that, will the conversion essentially be plug and play? Can I just trace the wires to their connection point on the cart and simply swap out the lead acid batteries for the lithium pack? I would think that would work for the cable with the Anderson connector going from the battery to the solenoid. Do you agree?



I am not sure where I would connect the other two wires that are connected to the positive and negative posts on my existing batteries since the lithium battery pack only has a SB175 Andersen Connector?

[cgtech]

I don't feel the sb175 is a adequate plug. 175 amps is not enough for the controller rating. Oh yeah, it won't quite be "plug & play" because you will still need a battery management system (bms protects against overcharge & over discharge).

[Rickochet]

Originally Posted by cgtech

I don't feel the sb175 is a adequate plug. 175 amps is not enough for the controller rating. Oh yeah, it won't quite be "plug & play" because you will still need a battery management system (bms protects against overcharge & over discharge).

I think the SB 175 is rated higher than that for wire to wire connections. Also the pack linked to from EV center has a built in BMS.

[Rickochet]

Originally Posted by bernito

If they can do that, will the conversion essentially be plug and play? Can I just trace the wires to their connection point on the cart and simply swap out the lead acid batteries for the lithium pack? I would think that would work for the cable with the Anderson connector going from the battery to the solenoid. Do you agree?

I am not sure where I would connect the other two wires that are connected to the positive and negative posts on my existing batteries since the lithium battery pack only has a SB175 Andersen Connector?

I got that plug with my pack. EV Center recommends a fuse in the "+" wire. I put a HDPE floor in my battery tray. I bought two ANN/ANL fuse holders and screwed them to the floor. On one stud I connected the "+" ring from the cord. On the other stud I connected the OEM "+" wire from the controller and put an ANN fuse between them. For the negative I used another fuse holder and connected the rings from the pack cord and the controller to the same stud. I also attached my DVM wires and reed switch bypass to these terminals. I could have also used these to run power to a voltage converter also but I opted for a separate AGM 12v battery for accessories.