Deciding what batteries to use was a tough decision. At the time I bought my first batteries, Lithium cells were selling for about $25k. Now, 1 year later, the price of Lithium cells has dropped to about $12k. I chose Optima Deep cycle batteries for my conversion because they were the next cheapest option, about $5000. I also added battery management circuits to each battery to prevent over charging, and allow each battery to fully charge. This keeps the batteries balanced in the pack, and I noticed a nice improvement in range.

Battery calculations

My commute to work is 20 miles. The Ford Ranger EV uses 356 Watt*Hr per mile at 60mph.

Assuming my car averages 356 W*Hr per mile, I need a 7120 Watt*hr pack.
This also equates to 72 Amps (or 29 HP) at 60mph for 20 minutes.

At 300 volts, this equates to 24 Amp hours. Lets use 30 Amp hours to be safe, leaving 25% charge remaining.

The capacity of Lead Acid batteries are measured with a 20 Hour discharge rate, not a 20 minute discharge rate. The capcacity is greatly reduced due to the Peukert effect. The lead acid battery needs to have a rated capacity of 55Ah to have the capacity of 30Ah using a 72 Amp discharge rate.

To achieve 90hp requires 223 Amps at 300 Volts.
Let's use 250 to be safe.

Desired battery pack specification: 300 V @ 30 Ah. Peak Current of 250A.

Front battery pack

I decided to move more batteries to the front of the car. There are now 8 up front, and 12 in the rear, and 4 under the car where the gas tank was located. . I used rivenuts to attach my battery boxes to the frame. I also made brackets which bolt on to the shock tower mounts.

Gas tank battery pack

These four batteries fit where the gas tank used to be. I have ribs under the battery box which snugly fit my floor jack to help safely lift the pack.

This is where the gas tank was. I refrained from cutting or welding the chassis. I used rivenuts to attach the battery box to the boxed sections of the chassis. I can fit two more batteries where the muffler was.

Rear battery pack

Here are the rear mounted batteries, 12 in all. 6 fit in the spare tire well, 6 fit in the boot.

Below white cover are 6 more batteries in the spare tire well.

Sweet crimper

This crimper has 6 Tons of crimping force.

Battery Cable

I used 4/0 gauge wire and crimp lugs. This should have a continuous rating of 380 amps, well above my 300 amp max motor rating. I'm glad I oversized my wires, especially when testing my prototype controller, there were a few instances my motor cables were warm.