Upgrade to 72 Volt Electric Jeep

This is the battery update from Lead Acid to Lithium battery

Tools: Hand tools, electrical tools and a multi meter.

Supplies: 3 - 72 volt Chevy Volt modules

My lead acid batteries started to die soon after I put them in. At their newest I could not go far but that was ok with me as my work was only around three miles away and the roads was flat. I drove my car to work and back for around a year. My work moved to a location further away and the lead acid batteries could not make it there and back so my Jeep was relegated to short trips to the store.

I started to look at building battery packs and found out a few things. I bought some 18650 batteries and started testing them. I found out that the cheap ones sucked and the good ones worked fine. I also found if you buy new old stock you can get some good ones for under a dollar each, if you take them out of there originally enclose. I found some modem battery back-up packs that had 3 18650 batteries in each. I used this to create a 12 volt battery for my jeep that runs the lights.

To build a large battery pack you would need a battery welder that can weld tabs on the batteries. I really did not want to build a giant battery pack of 18650 like Tesla did. I think it would take someone who has more advanced abilities then I had

I chose to use a used battery pack from a Chevy Volt. My son and I picked it up from Craig’s List. I did not buy the whole pack but enough for what I needed. I simply removed the old lead acid batteries and put in then new battery modules. I bought an e-bike charger for 72 volt e-bike and I use that to charge the batteries. It works great and I am happy with the results. I have been using this battery for around 3 years and it works the same as when I put it in.