23 replies to this topic

[Ethergore]

I'm just getting the wheels rolling on this idea but it seems like there are many benefits to going with a lithium battery setup.

Less weight
Less space
Faster charging
More capacity
More usable amp hours
More cycles
No need to fully charge for good health
Battery nerd points

There are some cons like the price but realistically if you design your own system from cells sourced from a whole same vender the batteries them selvesare not any more expensive. The real down side is investing in a different charger and charge controller and adding an energy management system.

Any thoughts?

[Ethergore]

A good read on some early adopters:
http://www.technomadia.com/lithium/

[DrJ]

I've looked at those before and thought they would be amazing in our type of use in a camper. You can apparently discharge them to 80-90% and still have a useable battery.
I've always thought the price was way too high. Maybe you know a better source then mine. It was like $1300 for a 100 amp battery. I don't mind spending some money on my camper, but even this was way over the top for me.
http://www.lithiumio...-deep-cycle.php

Edited by DrJ, 10 September 2014 - 04:30 PM.

[billharr]

Most of us with two batteries have around 200 AH.   $2399.99 I can not justify. 

 

[Kispiox]

What do you know about shock resistance? Is there any issue there?

[Ethergore]

I was thinking about 4 of these wired in series to make a 400 ah 12.8 volt battery for about $800.

I'm trying to find the dimensions but I know it would be lighter and take up less space than 2 golf cart batteries. That's about $300 more but you would get 320 usable amp hours and faster charging. You should also be able to get 2000 cycles compared to about 500 on an agm getting discharged to 50%.

There would still be a cost for a charger, wiring, battery management system but it seems like a system from scratch could be built for somewhere near $1000 unless they're is something huge I'm not understanding.

The battery quoted in the last post is a plug in play type of battery that is just a drop in replacement so you are paying a high cost for someone doing all the leg work for you.

I also don't like those ones because they have a much bigger footprint. Like the size of a group 31 battery to get 100 ah. Kind of defeats the purpose.

[Ethergore]

What do you know about shock resistance? Is there any issue there?

They use them in electric vehicles, including the zero dirt bike, so I'm sure they should be fine but I have not come across any specific specifications.

[Ethergore]

I like the idea, but if I can get 3-5 years out of my AGM at $200 bones, it's mox-nix because I'm happy with the performance I'm getting. It would be interesting to see some actual reports on how they perform in a FWC though... I'll be watching this thread!
Sent from my SM-G900P using Wander The West mobile app

It's a lot harder to justify the cost vs. Wet cell batteries but most with FWC choose the sealed battery route.

[MarkBC]

I was thinking about 4 of these wired in series to make a 400 ah 12.8 volt battery for about $800....

 

Can you provide a link to a source of Li batteries at this price?

[Ethergore]

Can you provide a link to a source of Li batteries at this price?

Oops. Forgot to paste the link.
http://www.batterysp...passed-dgr.aspx