Oh man... that looks bad. I know it might seem obvious, but make sure you use gloves when cleaning all the acid out of the trunk.

 

obligatory, that will buff right out.

 

Ugh. Sorry to see that.

Been there, almost done that.

My stock battery didn't come loose (thank the maker!), but it did leak a bit at the track one day (its last day of my ownership!). I was able to slide the stock battery fore and aft in the stock, so-called, mounts though. As a result, I decided to go Braille AGM battery for less weight and no leakage along with an RLS bracket (it's really more of an Aluminum cage for the battery than a just a bracket).

I've since gone with a tilting clam and no longer have my battery in the trunk / boot.

As such, I've got a Braille B2015 and RLS bracket (which mounts in two places and LOCKS the battery DOWN) for sale if you're interested in losing ~10 pounds and gaining a whole heck of a lot of security / peace of mind.

 

Been there, almost done that.

My stock battery didn't come loose (thank the maker!), but it did leak a bit at the track one day (its last day of my ownership!). I was able to slide the stock battery fore and aft in the stock, so-called, mounts though. As a result, I decided to go Braille AGM battery for less weight and no leakage along with an RLS bracket (it's really more of an Aluminum cage for the battery than a just a bracket).

I've since gone with a tilting clam and no longer have my battery in the trunk / boot.

As such, I've got a Braille B2015 and RLS bracket (which mounts in two places and LOCKS the battery DOWN) for sale if you're interested in losing ~10 pounds and gaining a whole heck of a lot of security / peace of mind.

Frank, is the RLS bracket you have specifically for the Braille only or will it fit the odyssey as well? I can get odyssey locally here. Gotta have the braille shipped, and is pricey!! We ALWAYS get reamed on shipping to Hawaii.

 

.
Odyssey PC680 Battery | Really Light Stuff

 

To clarify: the OP is talking about the OEM / original equipment battery hold down, and kestrel74 is showing a BETTER solution: the NCI / RLS battery hold down w/ an Odyssey battery. :up:

The stock battery is roughly 30 lbs, when it lets loose that is a lot of inertia and can lead to some serious damage.

 

Ouch.

OTOH, how did the terminals come loose? Doesn't that seem unlikely/odd?

Stock mount: I glued rubber to it and bent it so it is tight, which I check by trying to move the battery afterwards. (In case someone reading this wants other options....)

 

at my last track day someone had a battery come loose. Def upgrading this part of the car for next season

 

Yeah the design is terrible. It makes me really sad to see the battery tear up the bodywork like that. Definately get a small battery and a new mount..

 

thanks for posting kestrel. My fear of the battery coming loose was the motivation to make the nci battery mount. We make mounts for most of the popular batteries.

OP. very sorry to see the damage to your car. i would be very pissed if that happened to my car.

 

I had a sealed battery come loose while in the middle of the chicane on Thunderbolt track and destroy my rear clam a couple of years ago. 30 lb. battery ripping around......clam cracked in three places, rear lights blown to bits, ripped wiring, Accusump valve bent, etc. etc.

After spending thousands of dollars to repair and repaint everything I had my shop design a custom battery mount (first picture) that made sure that battery would NEVER comes loose again. It didn't after two years of track driving (although I replaced the battery every year because of bad cells due to vibration 'caused by track driving).

My latest solution was to purchase a Chimera battery. 8 lbs and a nicely design bracket (second picture). Not worries from me on batteries anymore

 

We had 2 drivers in the car yesterday, so my theory is the battery worked itself loose on consecutive runs until it finally came out completely. When we went into the slalom at speed it just flailed around in the trunk causing carnage until both post clamps gave it up and the car lost power. Too late by then as the clam showed repeated impacts from the inside out on the drivers side.

I am probably going the Odyssey route for now. Chimera looks awesome, but out of my range.

I've seen brackets for the odyssey by RLS and Sector 111. Any feedback on either?

 

I got the Sector 111 bracket last month because it has a built in switch, and I feel pretty confident in its ability to hold down the battery. Given that the Braille/Odyssey batteries are much lighter, I think either bracket is a much needed improvement over the stock situation.

The Sector 111 bracket installation requires that you expand the factory cable openings. You can use a drill, but I ended up getting a file set ($3) from Lowe's and had the opening enlarged and fit onto the switch in <15 minutes. It took <30 minutes to replace the old battery, install & inspect everything.

 

+1 Braille/RLS

I replaced the OEM battery with a Braille 2015 and RLS bracket over a year ago. Zero issues... weight difference was 14 pounds.

 

This is just another reason why I felt it was necessary to design and fabricate my own bracket for the OEM battery. You can check out the link below to see it. FYI, I should have some more photos and stuff of the finalized design of this thing posted soon.

http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f321/better-oem-battery-bracket-elise-exige-107161/

 

seen this happen twice at Auto-X's and totally sucks. I called Lotus and got no-love...

 

DAMN! i had to put back the stock battery back one time and i don't know how the hell that thing stays put with those brackets especially the back one. good thing I got rid of that anchor.

 

NCI/RLS battery hold down is fantastic. Really simple and elegant solution. I don't know how Lotus thinks the stock setup is appropriate for a car that sees 1G cornering.

 

In all fairness, they only needed to design it to be slightly stronger than the rear toe links.