I’ve been thinking over various design ideas on the big battery pack. This might sound sort of obsessive but really this conceptualizes the core of the ability to live off-grid, and it presents so many positive opportunities it would be a disservice to not consider them.
Some of them major concerns I had, and perhaps you should be concerned with too if you’re planning on commissioning or building such an device.
- Is it easy to access for inspection and maintenance?
- Can I assemble and install it first, or do I need to put it in piece by piece?
- Is it in a location that is protected?
- In case of a fire, is it isolated?
- Can it be suppressed or controlled?
- Can it be cooled and heated effectively?
- What will happen in the case of an accident?
- Side collision
- Roll over
- Front impact
- Vandalism
- Can it be repaired with similar components in the future?
- Does the long term cost expenditure work out to net positive?
I’m not particularly interested in generating a full fledged design requirements document here, but you get the idea. There’s a lot of factors to consider when building something like this. I know some people I’ve talked to are basically like “well isn’t every RV you buy like this?” and I’d really have to strongly disagree with that question/statement. Normal vehicles (or vessels) with this sort of technology are emphatically NOT like this.
The common technology right now is very much fossil fuel based. You’re either running a generator for long lengths of time, or tapping off a primary propulsion source of some kind, or you’re plugged into grid power. There are systems that are basically giant lead acid battery based, but they tend to be located in much larger items like ships or houses.