Charger Install

I have been making slow progress as parts arrive.  This week I got my charger from China.  I always planned to put it in back laying flat where the spare tire normally sits.  After looking at the large hump where the spare sits I had two choices, 1. get the cutoff wheel out and start some modifications or 2. find another location.  I chose the latter decided to mount the charger on the back sheet metal of the car.  The spare still does not fit but the jack and all the other tools that come with the car fit.  If I get a flat it will be a call home for someone to bring me the spare or a call to AAA for a tow.

I wired the charger through a 250V 30 amp plug and outlet in the car which gives me the option of using an extension cord and standard outlet rather  than a J1772 charge station.

The rear interior parts have been modified to fit around the charger.  The charger should be able to cool alright with half the fan above the floor and half below.

Having the full baggage area available to groceries or whatever else need to be hauled should make the car more practical that having the trunk filled with batteries.  I'm still going to have to do some interior work to cover the battery boxes, thinking some gray fabric will get them to match and blend into the rest of the interior.

I also got my J1772 charge station from Home Depot on-line.  I plan to hard wire it into the garage electrical at some point later when I have time to pull a permit and have it inspected.  For now I have it wired into an existing 240 Volt outlet and hanging on a spare 2X4.  

I like the look of the J1772 plug on the old gas cap hole.  The fight was a little close but everything clears without touching.  Note for anyone installing a J1172 plug in a car, the latch side need more clearance.

To test the charger I had to get all of the batteries strapped together   Since I bought the batteries from Jack at EVTV they came with the braided straps, stainless bolts and Nord-lock washers

With the pack all connected I was able to start testing some of the high voltage parts of the system.  I got the JLD404 meter programmed, but ran into a problem.  The shunt inputs and voltage inputs have a common negative input.  I wired the shunt to the most passive terminal of the battery pack so the volt meter reads negative.  Not sure what I will do, or if I will do anything. 

The second problem I ran into was the heater not putting out enough heat.  I reused the temperature switch that came with the heating element, but I think it has a shutoff temperature of about 115 degrees F.  I get heat but I think it would take forever for it to clear frost off the window.  I ordered a new switch that had 210 degree shutoff temp, that should get the water close to what the engine would have been putting out when it was warmed up.  If this does not work, the dash will have to come out and I will go to a ceramic heater element.