An unusual but key area in this van is the flexible tray system in the garage. It enables swapping trays depending on the season, usage, energy needs, etc. It is based on 3 rail bays:
Bays 1 & 2 are identical, allowing to share trays. For now the plan is:
- Summer trays:
1= Bikes (used with tall dining area module. Dining area reduced to L shape)
2= half capacity Battery
3= Tools + Storage + extra Water tank
2= half capacity Battery
3= Tools + Storage + extra Water tank
- Winter: the bike tray gets swapped for another half capacity battery tray, resulting in full battery capacity. Above it, the tall dining area module is replaced by a bench module, thus providing full U shaped seating in the dining area.
But one could also slide in a rocket module in bay 2 for extra propulsive power, or swap in a massive ice cream freezer when friends visit !
Or forget about trays altogether, and just use the space to carry... crap ! 😂
Each tray's construction is very simple. Based on 3/4" plywood and planed HDPE strips on the top to fill in the aluminum rails' 1-1/8" inner height.
Care was taken to ensure
the wood won't expand and prevent sliding in the presence of water from dripping skis / bikes / stuff: left a gap, saturated the fibers with polyurethane, rubbed waxed.
See the earlier "Bolted Floor Rails" post for load containment / safety in case of a road accident. Sliding
loads up to 100lbs is surprisingly easy. Not so much for the 278lbs battery tray (Leaf NMC cells) though... 😓 An emergency pull out of that tray in case of a
battery hazard will first require parking uphill. Might play later with
adding HDPE strips under the tray...
[UPDATE] the battery pack was completely rebuilt with LFP cells due to the limitations inherent to NMC cells in 12V applications, as described in this post: (Corrected) Planning the Electrical & Energy System It ended up weighing 360lbs and yet was much easier to slide out:Battery Pack 2.0 with BMS done !
Each tray is locked in place with a door bolt latch. A chest handle facilitates pulling it out.
The
latch only ensures that the tray won't slide out when the doors are
open. In case of a frontal collision it is too flimsy to hold much.
That's what the beefy aluminum bump stops in the front are for.
Hmmm, going back to that rocket tray brain fart above... might not be such a bad idea after all !
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