rav4 ev battery Pack Opened! Space for Battery Cells INSIDE!

Always wondered if there was any extra space in the case. From the looks of it in this picture from http://99mpg.com/blog/somanybatteriessolittletime/

My depth perception is not that good. Am I seeing 5 bumps with batteries inside of them and space between the humps? or is it humps on top of the pack and then more cells on the bottom? Hard to tell. It almost seems to be like it is 5 humps with batteries then the bottom of the shell pack under them. If so this could mean that there is extra space in there for more battery cells.




Ok, I feel that there IS extra space inside the battery shell of our RAV4 EV to put in more battery cells. Though, it does not seem to be a lot of extra space with the battery shell cover. HOWEVER, from the cutaway of our RAV4 EV below I see that the hard shell has a metal cover up top. I guess that is there for safety reasons? There is also space between the Tesla Battery pack and the floor of our RAV4 EV Body. I personally would say that if the hard shell on top of the Tesla Battery pack is removed there would be extra space for more battery cells to be stacked. I'm not sure how thick the top cover of the Tesla Battery pack is... but that is certainly taking up space.

I feel that we could stack a few extra cell modules from another rav4 ev on top of the current cells.

Further more I think we could even create more space if we were to lengthen the bolts that hold the shell on the rav4 ev by a inch and add metal sub frame to take up the space on the edges.

I found a picture of the RAV4 EV Battery Shell cover. I know I had seen it posted by another member in the forums: http://www.myrav4ev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=765



So I do see the irregularities on the top shape that hold the battery cells inside. This does lead me to believe that if the top battery shell cover is removed... it would create more space for additional battery cells... plus the extra space between the rav4 ev floor and the battery shell (With out the cover) would allow us to place more battery cells in there.






Here is a Tesla Model S 85 kWh pack cracked opened



https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/pics-info-inside-the-battery-pack.34934/



The cover is sooo smoooth when compared with the cover on our pack. Ours looks like it has mountains going up and down. Model S looks to be really nice and flat... plus the front of the pack has slight arcing which I think is for the front wheels? Meaning they really went all out trying to get more cells in there moving them forward as much as possible.

I guess ANOTHER OPTION if we want to get some more cells in to our RAV4 EV we might as well snatch one of those Model S battery Shell Containers and see if it can fit under our car? If it could and if we could mount it some how under the rav4 ev then I am sure we could definitely get a good KWH upgrade going.

Thoughts on that? I'd guess the biggest issue would be how wide is the pack. I think the RAV4 EV is narrower than the Model S. The difference is 5 inches. Not sure if that would be too huge of a difference.... Pack Shell Wise.

Model S 40 RWD

Weight: 4647.3 lbs
196″ L x 77″ W x 57″ H

Rav4 EV FWD

Weight: 4,032 lbs lbs
180″ L x 72″ W x 66″ H

Here is a 60 KWH pack opened.




Here is an empty pack

Note: 85 kWh Model S battery pack differs: has 8 modules per side for total of 16

Click to expand...

That is an error. The flat section still has the same 7 modules per side for 14 modules. The 85 kWh and other larger batteries have two more modules at the front of the battery pack, stacked two high to get the 18 total modules and higher pack voltage. You can see them in the wk057 teardown picture(s) you included above from TMC.

Hi Miimura,

How come our pack is so oddly shaped as opposed with the Model S pack being so flat and smooth? It looks to me like there is extra space in there for some more battery modules. Can we not do battery pack module stacking with our pack? It looks like there is some stacking going on if there are more battery cells on the bottom of those 'lumps'. We would have to remove the top of the pack and if that is a hazard then likely have to develop some other way to shield it.

If not then what do you think the chances are of getting a model s battery pack shell and seeing if we could mount it under neath?

I also wondered if lengthening the bolts on our pack is an option to create extra space?

This is exactly what I have been thinking. I was hoping someone with more skill would have tried retrofitting a larger tesla pack into our Rav by now. This is the first I have seen photos but I too had been thinking there would be a way to sandwich another battery under our car, we have plenty of ground clearance. You would just need to make some new plastic or fiberglass under panels for aero.

I dont know if the voltage for the Tesla Packs are the same though. Im pretty sure you would need to keep it the same or below our current pack voltage of 386 volts.

jimbo69ny said:

This is exactly what I have been thinking. I was hoping someone with more skill would have tried retrofitting a larger tesla pack into our Rav by now. This is the first I have seen photos but I too had been thinking there would be a way to sandwich another battery under our car, we have plenty of ground clearance. You would just need to make some new plastic or fiberglass under panels for aero.

I dont know if the voltage for the Tesla Packs are the same though. Im pretty sure you would need to keep it the same or below our current pack voltage of 386 volts.

Click to expand...

There does seem to be a little bit of space in there for some extra cells, but does not seem to be that much. Not for another whole pack I would think, but maybe enough for a small auxiliary pack of some size. For example if you could re-arrange the 3 front humps to fit in a few more humps that can add as a back up pack range extender. Another option could be to somehow drop the current pack a bit lower, essentially make more depth, then fit in there another pack or just more cells. We have some good ground clearance so that can be an option. I think the better thing to do would be to check just how much of an empty tesla model s battery case could fit under the rav4 ev then use that form factor. Of course for that you'd need an actual empty pack. Perhaps contacting some of those companies that sell the tesla cells pulled from wrecked teslas could be a start. I wouldn't be able to do it just because I have no garage or space do even try. It still is a nice idea for anyone who could consider it.

Other options aside from bigger pack are also weight reduction and aerodynamic improvements like a boat tail, 4 wheel skirts, lower height, full wheel tire fairings, and maybe block off some parts on the front of the rav4 ev as long as nothing over heats. The most benefit is in the full size boat tail. From what I have read in ecomodder you can get about the same benefit of a full size boat tail by just doing 80% of full size length. The last 20% doesn't offer as much benefit as the rest. Google @ ecomodder phantom boat tail.

I just found these videos from their dissection of the Rav4 EV battery. I'm watching them now. Pretty cool!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM6WRSU7WoQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF8Lz3o3CtE

In this video the top of the pack looks like its right up close to the floorpan of the car. I dont think your theory would work Cashcow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XstWdvDWsc

jimbo69ny said:

I just found these videos from their dissection of the Rav4 EV battery. I'm watching them now. Pretty cool!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM6WRSU7WoQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF8Lz3o3CtE

Click to expand...

Wow, that was really cool to watch. Thanks for sharing. I love seeing new videos about the RAV4 EV well after the initial few introductions of it. Sucks about the water damage on that battery though.

Interestingly these videos have been removed by the user. I would have loved to see these. Intellectual property protection?

I was also hoping to get to the end of this string and find someone had taken a Tesla pack and installed it into a RAV. My feeling is that it can be done and that there are forces at work trying to prevent this from happening....

yeah, I dont know why they removed the videos. but they reposted it. here is the repost

https://youtu.be/7ZLst_4N4Sw

I can't see how there is space to insert more cells. The odd (variable) shape of our battery pack is because the Rav4 chassis was not purposely designed to integrate an EV battery, unlike a Tesla Model S/X/3 design.

Even if you could get fit a few more cells in there, you would not be able to add enough to provide a significant increase in battery capacity and driving range, which in my opinion, would not be worth the level of effort required.

Jonathan_UK said:

I can't see how there is space to insert more cells. The odd (variable) shape of our battery pack is because the Rav4 chassis was not purposely designed to integrate an EV battery, unlike a Tesla Model S/X/3 design.

Even if you could get fit a few more cells in there, you would not be able to add enough to provide a significant increase in battery capacity and driving range, which in my opinion, would not be worth the level of effort required.

Click to expand...

There isnt. The only option would be batteries in the rear of the vehicle and/or a trailer.