Peugeot 106
I bought this car last year, barely running on dead Nicads. I replaced the battery with not-quite dead Nicads and ran it until..
During August - October 2009 I converted the car to use LiFePo4 (Lithium Iron Phosphate) cells, approximately doubling the stored energy while reducing the weight.
The cells reside in the front lower and rear battery boxes, which were appropriately modified to suit.
Each battery box has a cable connected to the centralised BMS, which is my own design. The two large cables can been seen in the photo below.
The BMS does fast cell scanning, balancing, and interfaces to the vehicle controller and charger to manage the cells safely.
An additional board is added to the vehicle controller, this provides a simple serial interface for the needed parameters (acceleration and regen limiting, charger control, and voltage limits) and gives a second level of protection.
Shown below is the evLite (still used for monitoring here), and an additional display with information from the BMS such as cell voltages. This isn't strictly necessary but was useful during development.
How does it perform?
I find it is easier to reach and maintain the top speed, due to a higher system voltage. The lower weight helps too. The performance in cold weather is also better compared to the tired NiCads.
100 miles has been achieved in steady driving (55mph) between Kinross and Aberdeen and back, 100 miles each way during one day.
I am currently working on improving the aerodynamics of the car (smooth undertray, blocked grill and wheel covers etc) to try to maximise the range even further at full speed.
Charging is fairly slow at about 10 miles per hour. I do intend to turn this up a bit, and add a fast charger for an estimated 2 hour charge from 80% discharged.