My lips are sealed: Batteries squeeze into rear box

June 3, 2007 by Rob.

Yesterday EV work was happily interrupted for a tubing trip on Barton Creek. Water levels were perfect!

Before that, Alex and I worked to vent and seal the rear battery box. Venting required drilling 6 holes in the wafer thin floor for escaping H2. We used duct tape for it’s original purpose and sealed the inside and outside of the panels for the rear box. The front boxes are not in a passenger area and will have plenty of exterior air flow without forced fans.

After that, a friend stopped by to help me get 2 more batteries into place. We discovered that I had not been generous enough with my tolerances: the batteries just barely fit into the box. I had used 7″x4+1/2″for 28.5″ width. Future RAV4 boxes should leave 1/2″ more side-to-side space.

That brings the total to 4 in back and 6 total. Half of the batteries are in location!

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