Extra Large Fake Batteries

I thought it would be fun to create extra large fake batteries for my electric vehicle.

1. 24" PVC Pipe (cut in two 12" sections)
2. Access to color printer
3. Access to 3D printer
4. Paint
5. Glue

I chose to use a 3 inch PVC DWV pipe that is 2 feet long. The DWV is not rated for pressure as it has a foam core, but its cheaper than standard PVC.

First cut your PVC pipe in half so you have two 12 inch pieces. I used a mitre saw for this but any cutting tool will work.

For the caps on each end of the "batteries", I created simple STL files using Stetchup Free. Both top and bottom caps (the fake Anodes and Cathodes) use the same PVC-cap.stl file attached below. The battery-top STL file is for the small nub on the cathode side of the battery.

Print 4 PVC-cap.stl objects, and 2 battery-top.stl objects.

I super glued the nub to the cap, and then painted all of the objects gray. Once the paint dried, I super glued the caps to the PVC pipes.

I created the labels for the batteries using GIMP. The logo may look familiar to another popular battery brand. The images are very simple designs, but so is this project.

Because of the size of the PVC, I printed out two copies of the black "Brand" name of the battery on legal size paper and to minimize costs, I printed the brown color on a single ledger size paper. I used my local Staples print shop for printing which cost me about $2 and has great quality.

Trim the white outline on the prints and cut the brown sheet in half to use for both batteries.

First glue the black piece to the PVC. Once dry, glue the brown piece at the other end, slightly overlapping the black piece.

To make the batteries a bit more resilient, I put clear glue (Mod Podge) on the whole outside.

With the batteries complete, place them in a location that will attract attention. I put mine in a Frunk of a car to give the mechanics a fun surprise at the next yearly inspection.

I hope you find a good use for these batteries. Share your ideas in the comments!