I faced the same issue but was able to get through it.
Install appeared "stuck" at about 45% with "Calculating Time Remaining." After about 5 hours, I performed a hard reset. System would boot, but after entering FileVault password, system displayed the panic debug info and rebooted. NVRAM reset didn't help and I was unable to boot into safe mode. Running Disk Utility in Recovery Mode also didn't help. Still the same panic and debug info immediately after logging on.
I went back into Recovery Mode and started the OS reinstall. At this point it was 1 AM, so I went to bed while the machine download the OS installation package. When I woke up, the machine was powered down. I powered it on and upgrade resumed. It appeared to be making progress: 30%, 38%, 40%, 45%, then... Calculating Time Remaining.
I thought maybe I hadn't given enough time previously. I allowed the install to continue all day. Zero progress. Finally, after 8 hours, I threw in the towel and performed another hard reset (figuring I'll need to restore from Time Machine backup). The system booted, asked for my FileVault password, rebooted and continued install. After another hour, the logon screen was displayed. I logged on, waited about 10 minutes, and finally am up and running with High Sierra.
Why this process worked, who knows. Frustrating.