All of the batteries have now been removed from the eBugeye and are being fitted to the new evTD. The space available for the batteries is a luxury compared to the tight confines of the Sprite. Robert Juarez is welding up the base trays from angle steel. The battery top frames will be anchored to the base trays with threaded rod. The eighteen battery packs will be split into three sections with the packs in each section strapped together into a rigid unit.
Three packs will be positioned in the nose of the car behind the faux radiator grill. The mount platform previously held the ballast box with 100 pounds of sand. Now it supports approximately 85 pounds of batteries.
In the rear of the car, seven packs will occupy the parcel shelf behind the seat back.
Robert has fabricated a framework under the fiberglass that ties the battery support to the rear shock mounts with square section tube. This tray weighs approximately 200 pounds, so a solid structure is needed. Adding a sheet of plywood over the batteries will provide a package shelf approximately six inches deep - enough to store the side curtains when they're not in use.
The remaining eight battery packs (seen here on the cart in the background) will be mounted behind the front pack in the area where the gas motor would have been on an original MG. The frame will be anchored to the backbone with outrigger supports tied in to the floor pan to lend additional chassis stiffness.
Placing another plywood sheet over the center pack, we will have a very spacious trunk area about a foot deep. The center pack will weigh in at approximately 225 pounds, so we are looking at around 310 pounds of battery weight on the front end and roughly 380 in the rear including the motor and controller. The resulting 45/55 weight distribution is the same as a classic Beetle's so we should have a well balanced vehicle without resorting to added ballast.
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