Carbon Fiber 3D Printed Battery Tray for Li Battery

[2morrow]

Hello fellow members,

In my quest for greater performance the biggest drawback to the s550 is its weight. Coming in at 3,500 - 4,000 lbs (Depending on which model), it's no lightweight. One of the easiest parts to address is the OEM battery. The Antigravity ATX-20 HD Li battery comes in at 4.6 lbs and deletes 19.8 lbs and is as simple as...installing a battery.

However one of the things about a Lithium-ion battery is that is smaller than the stock unit and does not fit in the battery box. That's where I come in.

I've designed/developed a 3D printed battery tray out of Nylon Carbon Fiber that weighs 160 grams (.35 lbs) and fits the battery and housing perfectly!

About the material: Nylon Carbon Fiber Filament is the perfect combination of tough and light. With a density about 33% lower than Nylon Flame filament and a tensile strength about 58% greater than ordinary nylon you get less mass and more strength.

I teamed up with a local business to prove and develop the concept. We went through 18 design iterations and 5 finished prints on top of several spools of filament. The latest one is currently installed in my Mustang.

My OEM battery weighs in at 24.4 lbs. Other brands may differ slightly.

The AntiGravity ATX-20 HD comes in at 4.6 lbs and a lot smaller.

Let me know what you think!

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[2morrow]

Side note on my car's weight loss journey:

• In the lightest trim I got my car down to 3638 lbs with a full tank and most of my interior intact.
• After adding Front/Rear Aero it is up to 3756 lbs on a full tank.
• With Antigravity ATX-20 HD battery installed I calculate a 3736 lb curb weight.
• S550 gas tank capacity is 15.5 gallons x 6.27lbs/gallon = 97.185 lbs full tank.

Note on the weight of fuel:
"The Science and Technology Desk Reference claims the weight of the U.S. gasoline gallon is 6.1 pounds. Fuel quality can have a slight impact on the weight of gasoline.

Gas stations in the U.S. sell three primary grades of gasoline based on the octane level: Regular (the lowest-grade octane fuel – generally 87), Midgrade (the middle range octane fuel – typically 89–90), and Premium (the highest-grade octane fuel – usually 91–94). Regular fuel is the lightest and weighs about 6.073 pounds per gallon in +59 F temperature, while Midgrade and Premium gas weigh 6.35 pounds and 6.27 pounds, respectively, in the same conditions.

Temperature heavily influences gas weight. For instance, a gallon of premium 93-octane fuel fluctuates between 5.93 to 6.42 pounds, depending on temperature and additives like methanol, water, and benzene. Volume is another heavily dependent factor, but it’s easy to make calculations. An increase of 1 F adds one ppm to the volume, meaning a temperature difference of 30 F may expand it by 3%. All this means that if you’re, for instance, refueling during winter, you will be pouring more gas into the vehicle."

 

[Flyhalf]

Todd how u secure it to the oem box?

 

[Wattsupk]

Hello fellow members,

In my quest for greater performance the biggest drawback to the s550 is its weight. Coming in at 3,500 - 4,000 lbs (Depending on which model), it's no lightweight. One of the easiest parts to address is the OEM battery. The Antigravity ATX-20 HD Li battery comes in at 4.6 lbs and deletes 19.8 lbs and is as simple as...installing a battery.

However one of the things about a Lithium-ion battery is that is smaller than the stock unit and does not fit in the battery box. That's where I come in.

I've designed/developed a 3D printed battery tray out of Nylon Carbon Fiber that weighs 160 grams (.35 lbs) and fits the battery and housing perfectly!

About the material: Nylon Carbon Fiber Filament is the perfect combination of tough and light. With a density about 33% lower than Nylon Flame filament and a tensile strength about 58% greater than ordinary nylon you get less mass and more strength.

I teamed up with a local business to prove and develop the concept. We went through 18 design iterations and 5 finished prints on top of several spools of filament. The latest one is currently installed in my Mustang.

My OEM battery weighs in at 24.4 lbs. Other brands may differ slightly.

The AntiGravity ATX-20 HD comes in at 4.6 lbs and a lot smaller.

Let me know what you think!

That is truly very impressive. I bought mine from Airwolf 3d as it was the only one offered, but yours is a very clean look and maybe lighter. Nicely done.

 

[RazzaRossa]

Hello fellow members,

In my quest for greater performance the biggest drawback to the s550 is its weight. Coming in at 3,500 - 4,000 lbs (Depending on which model), it's no lightweight. One of the easiest parts to address is the OEM battery. The Antigravity ATX-20 HD Li battery comes in at 4.6 lbs and deletes 19.8 lbs and is as simple as...installing a battery.

However one of the things about a Lithium-ion battery is that is smaller than the stock unit and does not fit in the battery box. That's where I come in.

I've designed/developed a 3D printed battery tray out of Nylon Carbon Fiber that weighs 160 grams (.35 lbs) and fits the battery and housing perfectly!

About the material: Nylon Carbon Fiber Filament is the perfect combination of tough and light. With a density about 33% lower than Nylon Flame filament and a tensile strength about 58% greater than ordinary nylon you get less mass and more strength.

I teamed up with a local business to prove and develop the concept. We went through 18 design iterations and 5 finished prints on top of several spools of filament. The latest one is currently installed in my Mustang.

My OEM battery weighs in at 24.4 lbs. Other brands may differ slightly.

The AntiGravity ATX-20 HD comes in at 4.6 lbs and a lot smaller.

Let me know what you think!

I can't feel how rigid the part is just by looking at it, is it flexible? I think it would be, being a printed part. It's tough getting that in all directions by printing it, usually it is weak in an axis perpendicular to the print direction/ layers, but you can overcome that by stiffening the part with gussets, or horizontal "posts" at the top that will project over to the sidewalls of the existing battery compartment to keep it in place during hard cornering.
I tried to upload a mark-up of your picture, but it failed. Anyhow, printing is the only way to do the geometry you did to lighten the part, and I'm thinking that part probably took maybe 15 to 20 hrs to print. That cant be that cheap, maybe $500 (or way more)? Molding that would be extremely expensive due to all the openings on the vertical walls, even if done overseas, I don't think that is your aim though. As a one of, this is a cool approach to contain that small battery. Let us know how it holds up after a day on the track

 

[Wattsupk]

 

[Joshinator99]

Check out the one in AcceptableNebula’s build thread. Base is 3D printed with CF as well but looks a bit stronger, with billet aluminum hold downs (didn’t see any hold downs on this one?).

 

[Wattsupk]

This is AirWolf 3D version I bought for my Shelby. I works and as you can see the battery is put in from the bottom as you expand the split. I like your concept, if flexibility is an issue maybe a few angular gussets on the outside perimeter would help without going crazy. Wish you a lot of luck with the design. I paid $60 from Airwolf but it is now $150 I think. Price points are important!

 

[2morrow]

Todd how u secure it to the oem box?

The Batt holder is bolted to the box using the OEM post screw. The Batt is secured to the holder by the battery cables. The cables are pretty thick and the battery will not go anywhere. I suspect that even if the vehicle is upside down (don't do that) the battery will still stay in place due to the dimensions of the Batt holder and tension of the cables.

There's actually a decent amount of tension on the cables. I had to design the tray so that it's front facing to take into account the cable tension. Lastly, there's the batt box OEM cover to cover it all up.

Happy 4th my friend!

 

[Flyhalf]

The Batt holder is bolted to the box using the OEM post screw. The Batt is secured to the holder by the battery cables. The cables are pretty thick and the battery will not go anywhere. I suspect that even if the vehicle is upside down (don't do that) the battery will still stay in place due to the dimensions of the Batt holder and tension of the cables.

There's actually a decent amount of tension on the cables. I had to design the tray so that it's front facing to take into account the cable tension. Lastly, there's the batt box OEM cover to cover it all up.

Happy 4th my friend!

Wonderful idea. For mine i had to adapt tons of things. it took me lots of effort

This is A MUST for the ANTIGRAVITY BATTERY.


Happy 4th to you!

 

[2morrow]

That is truly very impressive. I bought mine from Airwolf 3d as it was the only one offered, but yours is a very clean look and maybe lighter. Nicely done.

Thank you sir! My goal is to be able to market it across many different Import and Domestic platforms.

 

[2morrow]

I can't feel how rigid the part is just by looking at it, is it flexible? I think it would be, being a printed part. It's tough getting that in all directions by printing it, usually it is weak in an axis perpendicular to the print direction/ layers, but you can overcome that by stiffening the part with gussets, or horizontal "posts" at the top that will project over to the sidewalls of the existing battery compartment to keep it in place during hard cornering.
I tried to upload a mark-up of your picture, but it failed. Anyhow, printing is the only way to do the geometry you did to lighten the part, and I'm thinking that part probably took maybe 15 to 20 hrs to print. That cant be that cheap, maybe $500 (or way more)? Molding that would be extremely expensive due to all the openings on the vertical walls, even if done overseas, I don't think that is your aim though. As a one of, this is a cool approach to contain that small battery. Let us know how it holds up after a day on the track

The base is not flexible at all. However there is a few mils of flex in the top part of the tower when squeezed hard. When the battery is in the holder that is non-existent. The fitment of battery to holder is very precise down to 2 mils.

We went through several iterations and even built a mega holder. We toyed with the idea of extra gussets and even buttresses but didn't want to add to print time and weight/material. Our solution was finding the right material in a higher temp PACF and experimenting with wall thickness.

This print is 6 hours with our brand new 3D printer and thank you for your feedback! Our goal is a $100 price point I will report my findings after some hard drives and a day at the track.

Here are some development pictures:

The proof of concept model.

The Grey Hulk. This was the overbuilt version. It can support a 200lb man standing on it in every axis with 0 deflection. Way too overbuilt.

The fine tuned version. This model we explored different thicknesses of material to optimize the model.

 

[RazzaRossa]

Base base is not flexible at all. However there is a few mils of flex in the top part of the tower when squeezed hard. When the battery is in the holder that is non-existent. The fitment of battery to holder is very precise down to 2 mils.

We went through several iterations and even built a mega holder. We toyed with the idea of extra gussets and even buttresses but didn't want to add to print time and weight/material. Our solution was finding the right material in a higher temp PACF and experimenting with wall thickness.

This print is 6 hours with our brand new 3D printer and thank you for your feedback! Our goal is a $100 price point I will report my findings after some hard drives and a day at the track.

Here are some development pictures:

The proof of concept model.

The Grey Hulk. This was the overbuilt version. It can support a 200lb man standing on it in every axis with 0 deflection. Way too overbuilt.

The fine tuned version. This model we explored different thicknesses of material to optimize the model.

I love R& D for this type of thing. I can appreciate the level of thought that went into it. Kudos to you for thinking outside (or is it inside ?) the battery box! I will be needing a new battery soon, still have the OEM in mine (2019), and if I can knock a bunch of weight off the front end of this chubby GT, I will with this battery.

ps.
I kinda like the green one. That would be much easier (and cheaper to tool for molding). Molded cost would be a couple bucks Per part to you. On shore Kirksite (zinc/aluminum-type tooling cast from your 3D part) could yield a couple thousand parts at a fraction of the cost of a full blown injection molded tool. Still not real cheap, but the parts would be quite strong in the resin you choose for the run.

 

[Wattsupk]

You are certainly on the right track. Good Luck with this project.

 

[2morrow]

Check out the one in AcceptableNebula’s build thread. Base is 3D printed with CF as well but looks a bit stronger, with billet aluminum hold downs (didn’t see any hold downs on this one?).

Just looked that up, a nice solution as well.

I was going for a specific industrial design look for optimal Strength vs. Weight (I'm an industrial designer).

Currently the cables provide the tie down force as they are quite stiff and the wall height will not allow vertical movement. There is also the OEM compartment cover. I suspect that even if the car is upside down (not recommended) the battery box will still stay in place. As mentioned earlier there is a lot of tension on the cables and I had to orient the position of the battery in such a way to preserve that tension.

We are exploring a tie down that uses the OEM detent screw with Strength vs Weight in mind.

Stay tuned!

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