A guy I knew had an old car, had to remove the exhaust manifold to get to the battery. Annual job because exhaust manifold would cook the battery. And then Porsche Cayenne with battery under driver's seat. Real big PITA, that. The Dodge with the battery in the front fender, gotta remove wheel first.
Fair point. The only cars I've seen with trunk batteries were BMW's and Subarus that had swapped them there, and they were just sitting there mostly exposed.
I've also had the fun of dealing with "Oh, you have to remove the wheel, jack the car up high enough, unbolt these 4 bolts and drop the battery down, then put it back up into the car when you're done.
Well sir... Allow me to introduce to you the 2017 Cadillac CTS vSport....Fair point. The only cars I've seen with trunk batteries were BMW's and Subarus that had swapped them there, and they were just sitting there mostly exposed.
What car has a factory trunk battery? My porsches had trunk batteries but they were still in the front.
It shouldn't be THAT hard to remove that panel.
The problem is it's not JUST that panel. The floor deck panel covers the attachment points for it on the bottom, so it has to come out. The panel that covers the connectors on the top (i.e. under the back window/deck) has to come out. And the plastic guard (where the net cargo clips attach and covering the trunk latch mechanism) covers the side connectors, so it has to come out as well. I'll be one piece away from removing all the interior covers. So I am debating pulling the last one, then taking the opportunity to put in better soundproofing while I'm at it, since I've also wanted to do that. (interior soundproofing I have a guy to do since I don't want to deal with moving the seats out and back in).
See that would terrify me that one fails. If I was doing mine plan was to leave it up on friends lift. Though I might walk away from now, and put the money towards VelocityAP tune to get more of the OG crazy sound back etc, and would like to get my eyes lasered by Spring.
Have you looked around for what various people have done to make replacing it easier, after the first one goes out?
They’re rated for 3 tons each and the car only weighs 3100 pounds. Should be ok.
There were tradeoffs when I looked into them, but don't remember them all, exactly, other than price. I'm using an AMG sealed battery right now, but it's not a "race battery." The price difference so as not to worry about acid spill and checking water levels was worth it to me.The way I look at it, I will keep this car until the wheels fall off it. I love the thing. But also, if changing the battery is just a once every 8 years beatdown I can live with it. I'll whine like hell about it, but I can live with it
My concern with the small closed cell batteries would be how they are at long term sustainability and charge.
