Has anyone make the jump and purchased an expensive , but lighter , Lithium Battery ?? I keep seeing them on my Instagram feed . What are your thoughts ??

 

They're still quite expensive but I plan to make the switch to one in the near future. My Odyssey battery is only 1yr old though and I have some other things on the docket before a new battery so it hasn't been a priority.

 

Is the Disco charging system suitable for Li batteries? I know that on older bikes people keep switching and regretting it because they get overcharged and fail quickly.

 

I would not use them as cranking battery since they are more sensitive against very high and low temperatures, but they are great as secondary battery in the trunk. Lithium batteries for cranking are very expensive and most manufactures don't give temperature ratings (which makes me skeptical). I replaced my secondary battery in the trunk for a LiFePo4 just recently. They are much lighter, provide constant voltage and are not more expensive than a good deep cycle lead acid battery, but require a DC-DC charger in order to charge them fully from the alternator. Since they are so light, I can install much more capacity to have enough power even for a coffee make and an induction cooker.

 

I'm not sure what the Tesla's are using, but you see what's happening to them in the Northern parts of the country right now. They are all stranded and can't charge their batteries due to the extreme cold. I saw a quote where one owner was trying to charge for 5 hrs and his batteries wouldn't charge.

Now, this is an extreme and rare case, I imagine. But, it's something to think about.

 

LIFePO4 can't be charged if the battery is below freezing.

I have one of these at my off-grid cabin and we have special procedures in place. We make sure the battery is charged heading into winter. We take it out of hibernate mode with the charge controller breakers OFF when we arrive. We pull the data logs on the temps in the garage and check the self-reported battery status. The battery is large enough to run the cabin for lights, movies, charging phone/tablets, starlink for about 4-5 days and discharge is fine down to 0F, just not charging. During our stay we keep the door from the garage to the downstairs cabin area open to bring the temp up in the garage. We also have a dedicated propane space heater we can use if needed. Once we are confident the battery is above 0C/32F by at least 4-5 degrees C, we close the charge controller breakers. If our stay is short, as if often is in the winter, we will run the generator for a couple hours the last day we are there to ensure the battery is back up to 80-90% state of charge.

We also have a very small bank of lead acid batteries we can switch to if we must.

I agree with what others have said. I think a LiFePO4 battery as a secondary might be great, but I am not ready to put one in as my primary battery.

 

The brief reading I've done on the subject is that the rover alternator is not equipped to regulate the charging and discharging. whole new ball game. Guess it's lead acid now and forever.

 

The lithium batteries I'm considering aren't raw lithium cells used for house power. They have a BMS built it to charge and act as direct replacements for a lead acid or AGM battery. These are specifically built and designed to run as main 12v batteries for vehicles. I have one in a classic 911 to shed some weight from the drive front corner so the car corner balances better while still having built in jump starting from it.

https://antigravitybatteries.com/pro...tive/ag-h7-rs/

 

I would doubt they are Teslas, unless the people really ran down the battery. Every Tesla will heat the battery to keep it at a charging level. In real cold weather, this can pretty quickly drain the battery system.
Even on a normal day, you'll use about 15 miles of travel to battery maintenance (heating and cooling)

 

It can be done, but they are exceedingly special batteries that are designed for both the cranking amps need and to deal with the extreme heat. They cost around $1,000 for 100 amp hours, so significantly more than a standard LI battery.
I have numerous LI batteries in my Discovery, all in the back. They would die in the engine bay. (edit. Each of mine has a BMS, but that is not enough to be in the engine bay)