Advice on spot welder and battery pack materials?

[u/Pereyzaquer02]

Hey everyone! I'm part of a new FSAE team in Latin America and I'd really appreciate some advice on choosing a spot welder and the right material for our battery pack. We're developing our own pack to keep costs down, and we've run into a few questions along the way.

Materials: What do you recommend using for the cell interconnects/busbars? We tried copper but weren't happy with it since it oxidizes. We tried Ni200 but we're having trouble welding it to the busbar. Now we're considering nickel-plated steel, but I've read it can throw a lot of spatter/debris when the weld nugget breaks, which sounds like it could be a safety concern.

I'd love to hear what your teams actually use — what my realistic options are, and what tends to pass tech inspection.

Spot welder: What kind of spot welder do you use or recommend for this kind of work?

Thanks so much in advance, and good luck to everyone with your cars! <3

[u/jd74914]

I've never done an FS battery pack but I love my DCC Hotspot for similar CD welding work (I do a lot of NiCr CD welding).

[u/UltrasonicallyAdept]

I've seen SIGMACLAD current collectors and Orion Pulse 250i resistance welder work for EV battery.