Routing the Rear Battery Cables to the Motor Compartment 2.0

This posting is a continuation of the previous posting in which a route was established for passing the battery pack cables from the trunk forward to the Soliton1 motor controller at the front of the car.  This year Independence Day falls on a Friday, and thus a three day weekend presents itself for EV activity.  What better way to celebrate Independence day than to work on becoming Independent with the building of an Electric Vehicle.

Picture DSC01365 showing the BMW 12 volt battery cable as it rises up the front seat foot well and then passes into the motor compartment.  This cable is connected to what is called a battery B+ base.  This base is bolted in the motor compartment on the passenger side adjacent to the firewall.  It is essentially a junction box that distributes 12 volt battery power in the hood.

Picture DSC01367 showing the B+ junction after it was unbolted from the chassis and the covers were removed.  Notice that the trunk battery is connected to the bottom far right bolt, and the smaller red cable from the trunk battery is connected to the smaller far right bolt.  The heavy gauge red wire on the left and the black wire are the beginnings of the pathways towards the starter, alternator, instrument cluster etc.

Picture DSC01369 shows the entrance point of the battery cable into the motor compartment after the B+ junction box and the 12 volt cables were removed.  The large rubber gasket was initially against the firewall.  The battery cable had a grommet that fit into this gasket and then passed through the firewall.

Picture DSC01371 shows the rubber grommet that was attached to the OEM battery cable as it entered the motor compartment through the firewall.  This grommet was cut away in anticipation of adding two additional power cables adjacent to the 12 volt battery cable.

Picture DSC016007 view from the backseat showing the cables entering the cabin through the rear bulkhead.  The original opening was enlarged in all directions with a grinding stone.  A piece of black rubber grommet material was then added over the metal edges to protect the cables from chafing.

Picture DSC01598 of the floor of the back seat after the two new battery pack cables were coursed alongside the original 12 volt BMW battery.

Picture DSC01599 showing the floor area under the front seat and into the foot well after the battery pack cables were installed
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Picture DSC01601 showing the back seat floor area after the ABS plastic protective cover was bolted back to the floor studs.  The entrance to the plastic at the top right was easily wide enough to accommodate all three cables.

Picture DSC01602 showing the front seat floor area after the ABS protective cover was bolted back to the floor studs. Originally the 12 volt battery cable was encased within this plastic trim (Picture DSC01315 previous posting on 6/26/14).

Picture DSC01603 showing the opening in the protective ABS plastic flooring trim piece.  The opening was not wide enough at the top for all three cables to enter the trim piece.  A desirable improvement would be to notch the top left corner of the trim piece so that all three cables could enter and be protected by the plastic piece.

Before the carpeting is finally installed, it is intended to run some shielded wires from the trunk area to the hood area following the same pathways used for the batteries.  This cable would then allow for the installation of future instrumentation and sensors without once again dismantling the passenger compartment.

The 2/0 welding cables being used here are intended for initial testing purposes only.  After the optimum cable lengths are determined, then these testing cables will be replaced with 2/0 shielded cables in an attempt to reduce unwanted electrical interferences that may be caused during normal driving conditions.