📓 Journals Adding Lightness

[Eagle7]

As of today, I'm now free to roam about the cabin as it were:

I was going to wait until the dyno run stock to get this started, but I've been accumulating enough things that I think I'll go ahead and get this journal underway.

Here's the first time I saw the car when my sales guy sent me a picture. I bought it from Park Place Lotus in Bellevue, Washington, and Alan Grana was my sales guy. He was great through the whole process right from the day I placed my deposit, all through the long wait until the car arrived.

Here's the day it was delivered. My neighbor came out when he saw the truck, and was standing next to me as it was offloaded. This was the first time I'd actually seen an Emira in-the-flesh. I was amazed at how beautiful it was. As good as these look in pictures, photos and videos still can't capture just how beautiful these cars really are.

And so the journey began.

 

[Eagle7]

I'd already ordered an Antigravity battery from @GRP one of our vendors. I got the 40AH T6/L2 Lithium Car Battery For Evora/Evora S/400/410/GT/Emira.

It actually weighed 13 lbs. 1 oz.

Factory Battery weighed 42 lbs. 6.8 oz. Switching to the Antigravity battery saved 29 lbs. 5.8 oz.

 

[Eagle7]

I ordered an Eventuri intake, and it's really an impressive unit. Haven't installed it yet; going to wait until after I get a dyno run with the car stock so I'll have a baseline to know what the performance is from the factory.

The main unit which includes the filter weighs only 3 lbs.

The silicone connector tube (which is a very solid piece) along with all the rest of the hardware; brackets, nuts, bolts, etc. weighs 1 1/2 lbs.

After I get it installed, I'll weigh the factory unit and post it in here.

 

[Time2Fly]

How hard was it to swap batteries?

 

[silent cilantro]

Following. Congrats!

 

[LuckysDad]

Doesn't that battery require a different trickle charger?
@GRP can you clarify this?

 

[silent cilantro]

The factory trickle charger has an option for lithium ion batteries.

 

[FlyNavy01]

Battery swap is easy, took me 20 minutes.

 

[tnbuilder]

Interested in seeing the dyno run.

 

[Eagle7]

How hard was it to swap batteries?

Like @FlyNavy01 said, it's easy. The hardest part is lifting out the heavy factory battery; definitely put a strain on the lower back. By comparison, putting in the Antigravity battery is a piece of cake. Yeah, 15-20 minutes.

 

[Eagle7]

Doesn't that battery require a different trickle charger?
@GRP can you clarify this?

Yes it does require a trickle charger for Lithium Ion batteries. I didn't know if the Lotus factory charger supported lithium batteries, so I'd already ordered a CTEK lithium trickle charger before the car was ever delivered.

Something interesting though; since I installed the Antigravity battery, I haven't had to use the trickle charger once. I've now got 1,000 miles on the car and it's never failed to start, nor have I had any problems with any of the electronics. These batteries seem to be strong enough (even with the 40ah one I got) that they don't need the trickle charging every night thing. My car has sat for several days when we had about a week of thunderstorms and rain, and it started right up.

 

[kitkat]

Any extra clearance with that battery? I think you were in another thread also discussing relocating the BMS.

 

[Eagle7]

Any extra clearance with that battery? I think you were in another thread also discussing relocating the BMS.

Yes, which makes it easier to install. The flanges on the bottom are designed to fit the clamps so there's no issue there. Greg @GRP said on their website that this size was easier to install than the full factory size, and the battery works just fine.

 

[LuckysDad]

Nearly 30lbs is a significant weight savings!

 

[Time2Fly]

Dielectric grease on the terminals and that's it?

 

[luciddaydream]

Yes it does require a trickle charger for Lithium Ion batteries. I didn't know if the Lotus factory charger supported lithium batteries, so I'd already ordered a CTEK lithium trickle charger before the car was ever delivered.

Something interesting though; since I installed the Antigravity battery, I haven't had to use the trickle charger once. I've now got 1,000 miles on the car and it's never failed to start, nor have I had any problems with any of the electronics. These batteries seem to be strong enough (even with the 40ah one I got) that they don't need the trickle charging every night thing. My car has sat for several days when we had about a week of thunderstorms and rain, and it started right up.

I have the Antigravity too.
One day it was dead. I am not sure what killed the battery.


So I used the antigravity's built-in jump start feature and it fired up. I also have the bluetooth battery monitor on it. I drove it around and watched the bluetooth monitor. Didn't take long to get it back to 95% or so.

Huge question for you guys: Can I just rely on this jump start feature if the car ever dies? or is it bad on the battery/car?

Because, I have a parking garage where I cannot trickle charge the car. I do drive it a lot as a daily driver so it keeps the battery charged.

 

[MikeR]

There’s nothing lighter than a hole

 

[MikeR]

I have the Antigravity too.
One day it was dead. I am not sure what killed the battery.


So I used the antigravity's built-in jump start feature and it fired up. I also have the bluetooth battery monitor on it. I drove it around and watched the bluetooth monitor. Didn't take long to get it back to 95% or so.

Huge question for you guys: Can I just rely on this jump start feature if the car ever dies? or is it bad on the battery/car?

Because, I have a parking garage where I cannot trickle charge the car. I do drive it a lot as a daily driver so it keeps the battery charged.

Check out the CTEK CS-FREE

CS FREE

40-462

www.ctek.com

 

[FlyNavy01]

I think you can rely on the jump-start function without too much worry. You shouldn't need to trickle charge it anymore than the OEM battery. Lithium holds charge better than lead acid when in storage with no load on it. There will always be some vampire drain on the battery as with most modern cars however.

I've got 1400 miles on mine without ever plugging it in and it's stayed between 94-100% according to the bluetooth module. Longest it's been dormant is 4-5 days but I would be comfortable leaving it for multiple weeks.

 

[LuckysDad]

What Bluetooth module are you guys using?