# Switchable series/parallel battery banks



## BHall (Aug 1, 2007)

If some of you do not know Oklahoma passed a retarded law about DIY EV conversions limiting them to 80 volts. Higher voltages require "state" training and a yearly license. This got me very upset and of coarse, got my creative processes all stirred up.

For my project I wish to have around 144v. So, I was wondering if a switchable battery bank would be beneficial not only to get around the 80 volt limit during inspections but also in increasing driving range. Two 72volt battery arrays could be switched from series(144v @ ~150Ah) to parallel (72v with ~300Ah). Would it work to run in the 144v mode and when/if the DOD gets below an acceptable limit switch to the parallel to double whatever is left at that time to get to where I am going and to a charger?

Please feel free to comment....

Brian


----------



## Coley (Jul 26, 2007)

Sounds do-able to me.
But I would make it so it would be the higher voltage whenever you wanted to drive and parallel when you visit the test station.
DOD would not be a good time to switch, unless both packs were about the same.
In a series, you wouldn't need to switch anyway....


----------



## Mr. Sharkey (Jul 26, 2007)

Any law that a state legislature can pass can equally be repealed. I suggest you apply your efforts, and those of any other EV's in your state you can rally to help in effecting a repeal of arbitrary laws that politicians have no business creating. Does OK also limit the number of horsepower an ICE vehicle can have? Do they restrict how many gallons of poisonous and flammable gasoline that a non-CDL driver can carry on their vehicles? Is there a restriction on running an ICE generator or DC-AC inverter in a moving RV? State lawmakers should not be in the business of deciding how an individual technology is applied to private property.

If you manage to skirt the law by splitting your battery pack, you will release yourself from a stupid bit of lawmaking. If you are successful in repealing that stupid law, you release ~all~ of your state's EV'ers from the idiocy.


----------



## Alex Everett (Dec 26, 2007)

This brings up another question. What about travelers from other states that are the higher voltage E/V's. Like in Atlanta--they can pull over *ANY* I.C.E. vehicle for emissions testing and failure of THAT test is very expensive no matter what state the vehicle is tagged in. Will Oklahoma be able to pull any E/V traveling through there from say a neigboring state and (no pun intended) ZAP them?


----------

