#1 Battery Mount for Motorsports
 

Just wanted to make you all aware that MeLe Design released a killer new lightweight battery box/ mount that offers physical protection and heat soak protection for Antigravity batteries.

Installation was easy. It was simply removing the stock battery and tray.
Install a couple rivnuts into the holes used by the factory tray and bolt it in place. They are currently offering them for the Antigravity ATX20 and ATX30 battery sizes which are offered in the Restart or HD models
(Heavy Duty = non Restart with a 10.8 low voltage cutoff for full blown race use).

I have been running Antigravity Batteries since 2014 without issue. I upgraded due to the restart feature being offered to the ATX30RS in March of 2018 and have been running it trouble free since. my battery has never seen a charging system other than my car.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/00...g?v=1594093746
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Is this a bolt in solution? How is the install?

The install is simple you don’t drill any hole in the car. Like I posted, it is basically removing your factory battery and battery tray, install the two rivnuts in the two hole used to align the battery tray and then bolt in place with the hardware supplied. 10 minute install if you are proficient with doing mechanical things.

$200?!? For a battery tie down?!?

Just checked - it’s still 2020 so this makes sense.

It is not a battery tie down it is an properly engineered battery box and mount that is designed to protect the battery from Heat and physical damage, unlike a battery tie down or a billet mount.

It is cheap insurance to protect your lightweight battery and your car.

Dude I could build that for like 30 bucks. It won't be as fancy, but just as effective. I'll even tig it together though riveting would probably be quicker and almost as good.

Well, I guess you know what business you should start then.

Not enough of a market for it, and if you are already buying from antigravity, you are not going to hunt out a cheaper battery box option anyway. I dabbled in a custom part before and was able to manufacture them much cheaper then other companies, but sold like 3-4 parts a year since it was so niche. Took like 4 years to go through the first run of parts. It was a Merc to Toyota engine to transmission adaptor plate. Not retiring early off that project :bonk:

Looks like a slick piece. If you compare it to other battery boxes/trays, price seems almost reasonable.

Yup, do the work designing, analyzing, shop for manufacturers, price out a run, order and stock, maintain a website/ordering page, ship out the orders, customer support after the fact, advertising, etc. Putting food on the table making parts like this is impossible at the price 'it should cost' to DIY one, you pay someone else to make this product because you lack the time/resources and want something that looks nice.

Hell go buy sheet metal, cut and bend it yourself in the garage with hand tools, rivet it together, add up the costs of your labor at say $15/hour, I bet that's a 6 hour project if you include measuring, researching/sourcing material, bending, cutting, riveting, installing, $30 for the sheet, lets pretend the tools and nuts and rivets are free, 6x$15+$30 =$120 battery box.

Hell I bought the smaller Japanese battery parts for like $40, spent half an hour installing everything and doing a bit of troubleshooting, had some extra hardware to use in a pinch, that's a $60 battery tie down.

Nope, I don't understand your points.

Protect the battery from heat? How does it do that? The box is reducing air flow around the battery so maybe the battery is more prone to heat soak.

Protect from what physical damage? I'm suggesting something has gone horribly wrong for a battery to be physically damaged.

How does this box offer cheap insurance to one's car? Sure, if one doesn't mount a battery properly you can be in a world of trouble but one can't help stupidity.

This box offers no adjustment for the amount of clamping applied to the battery.

My clamp cost.... mmmm.... I don't know. I had some stock lying around the shed, drilled/filed the middle, used a paint pen. I was happy with the result.


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The Antigravity lithium batteries have thermal protection, so they shutdown if they get too hot.
A battery box would act as a barrier from transient radiated heat, but overall ambient temperature would eventually transmit to the battery.
I don't have any vents in my BRZ hood, and I think airflow in that part of the engine compartment is low. I know after autocross runs, my battery is rocket hot.
In my other car, which is a track car, I do use a battery box to isolate the battery from spikes in temperature, since I've had problems with heat management in that car. It's a cheap plastic battery box, but it's slowly deforming.

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My experience with LiFePO4 batteries, they don't like to be too cold either. Though I think most of the shock management in this design is to protect the BMS. That was our issue with lithium batteries, vibration and shock would cause the BMS to fail. But this was also 48V industrial application.