# HiPower LiFePO4 100AH in Ford Think Neighbor



## kscotay (Aug 13, 2011)

I'm pretty active with the 2002 Ford Think Neighbor, and own a few of them. I was able to buy several packs of the 100AH cells, and chargers (with a basic BMS both internally mounted, as well as built in a custom aluminum enclosure) from a company in Oregon that went out of business almost a year ago.

I installed 24 cells, for a nominal pack voltage of 80 volts, and I've been very happy with the Think. Battery weight is about 190 lbs for the Li pack, versus about 470 lbs for the Deka 8G31's that were in it. The controller works fine, and there's no problem with a higher nominal pack voltage (Actually, my Think runs like a scalded cat ... simile.... no cats were harmed!). The Think instrument cluster gets it's voltage information from the motor controller, and when it drops from 5 bars (full) to 3 bars, it's getting close to the time to charge. The BMS system is the one that came in the off-board 240VAC charger. It doesn't monitor for low cell voltage, but I'm ading that feature. I get more than 35 miles from the Think, and it's been reprogrammed to run at 40 mph (GPS) by virtue of the reprogram, and 15 inch Mini Cooper Tires and Rims. Each pack of 12 cells sits in a custom made stainless battery rack that sits on each side of center. Each rack sits exactly where the 2 inner batteries sat, leaving the outboard battery spot on each side free. I'm also looking at changing this so a 922-7200 charger sits in the front where the 910-7201 Ford version of the Delta-Q sits, and I'm looking at permanently mounting the BMS, with forced air cooling when charging. This would still allow me to use the 240VAC HiPower charger for faster charging, if 240VAC is available.

Before the company went out of business, I was able to buy a Delta-Q 912-7200 charger, as well as several 922-7200 chargers with the integrated DC/DC Converter. I also have the QuiQ programmer and the algorithm for either 23 or 24 cells.

Didn't know if anyone was interested in this, but the battery package sure makes the car a much better NEV, in my opinion. 

Scott


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## u139462 (Mar 22, 2012)

I know this is a while back, but I have just acquired a Think that the batteries are dead in. Are you willing to sale any of these battery packs and if not can you tell me the best/ cheapest place to acquire these type of batteries.


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## Ravishankar (Jan 26, 2009)

u139462 said:


> I know this is a while back, but I have just acquired a Think that the batteries are dead in. Are you willing to sale any of these battery packs and if not can you tell me the best/ cheapest place to acquire these type of batteries.


Contact Mr William on [email protected]. We are using HiPower batteries for our Matiz.


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## Ravishankar (Jan 26, 2009)

gottdi said:


> I have some of those 100 AH cells from the very same guy. I used them in my MG and will be using them in my Bug project. Sold some and kept some. They are good batteries but others would be better. For the NEV's and carts and light weight vehicles the cells are great. For heavy fast cars they are not the best but should still last some time. I have 4 boxes left of the cells plus a bunch extra some good some not.
> 
> Be careful with the BMS that came with those cells. They were responsible for about 5 boxes of batteries to be drained while sitting to nearly zero. Ruined some in some packs because they drained a few cells and they were run with out knowing that some cells were drained and drove a bunch of cells to death. They make good show and tell by taking them apart and showing the internals.
> 
> Pete


Hi Pete,

Thanks for that info. I think if we stay below 3C discharge, then the cells should work fine right ? Good thing we didnt order the EHug or Ligoo BMS along. We are going to order the Orion BMS (www.orionbms.com) . Hope this BMS does no harm to the cells. If so we would need to disconnect the BMS while stationary..


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## u139462 (Mar 22, 2012)

How do you go about reprogramming the ford think motor to increase speed?
Do the mini cooper wheels fit or are there some alterations that have to be made?


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## kscotay (Aug 13, 2011)

The motor controller is reprogrammed for higher speed by plugging the handheld programmer into the programming port. There is also a PC interface cable and software that can also be used. The speed limiting parameter can be changed, or higher performance, additional parameters can be changed. Most people tend to keep the actual values of these parameters a bit close to the chest, and out of general circulation. The motor controller can be reprogrammed while installed in the vehicle, or out, if it's powered up (like in my test jig).

The 15 inch Mini Cooper tires and rims are 4 x 100mm, whereas the Ford Think Hubs are 4 x 4 inch. I have spacer/adapters made locally, using aircraft grade billet aluminum and Dorman studs. They bolt onto the hubs, and the rims bolt onto them. They also provide the necessary offset.

I've posted some pictures (lithium pack, my Think with Mini Copper tires and rims) on my website WWW.EIM-LLC.US

Scott


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## TexasThinker (Apr 2, 2016)

kscotay said:


> I'm pretty active with the 2002 Ford Think Neighbor, and own a few of them. I was able to buy several packs of the 100AH cells, and chargers (with a basic BMS both internally mounted, as well as built in a custom aluminum enclosure) from a company in Oregon that went out of business almost a year ago.
> 
> I installed 24 cells, for a nominal pack voltage of 80 volts, and I've been very happy with the Think. Battery weight is about 190 lbs for the Li pack, versus about 470 lbs for the Deka 8G31's that were in it. The controller works fine, and there's no problem with a higher nominal pack voltage (Actually, my Think runs like a scalded cat ... simile.... no cats were harmed!). The Think instrument cluster gets it's voltage information from the motor controller, and when it drops from 5 bars (full) to 3 bars, it's getting close to the time to charge. The BMS system is the one that came in the off-board 240VAC charger. It doesn't monitor for low cell voltage, but I'm ading that feature. I get more than 35 miles from the Think, and it's been reprogrammed to run at 40 mph (GPS) by virtue of the reprogram, and 15 inch Mini Cooper Tires and Rims. Each pack of 12 cells sits in a custom made stainless battery rack that sits on each side of center. Each rack sits exactly where the 2 inner batteries sat, leaving the outboard battery spot on each side free. I'm also looking at changing this so a 922-7200 charger sits in the front where the 910-7201 Ford version of the Delta-Q sits, and I'm looking at permanently mounting the BMS, with forced air cooling when charging. This would still allow me to use the 240VAC HiPower charger for faster charging, if 240VAC is available.
> 
> ...


I know this is old, but I'm very interested in converting my Think over to Lithium. Could you provide a general overview of the steps required to do so? Also they batteries that you used? Did you have to change the motor and motor controller? Is the BMS part of the charger? Will the deltaq QuiC 7212 support lithium? Do you have a good algorithm list? Did you need to change the cluster at all? How much did it cost you?


Thanks,


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