Lithium-Ion Phosphate Motorhome batteries (A.K.A. Li-Ion) have been around for some time now, the price has begun to drop following mass production from companies like Tesla. The main difference I have seen is that the quality is improving, you can now achieve a 50% discharge up to 8000 times or an 80% discharge up to 5000 times from a Lithium-Ion battery!
If you are serious about going off-grid with your motorhome, horse box or expedition vehicle then Li-Ion is by far the best option. The performance difference between a Li-Ion battery and a traditional ‘Lead-Acid’ battery is so great that it is an easy decision to upgrade.
Below I have listed the main benefits of Lithium batteries that can be used in a motorhome, horse box or expedition vehicle:
• The voltage remains constant until the battery is almost 100% discharged
• All the batteries we supply can accept a charge equalling, and in some cases exceeding its capacity. This means that if you have a 100ah battery you can charge it at 100 amps, even from an alternator supply!
• In the case of a 100ah Li-ion Lithium battery you can draw 1 amp for 100 hours or 100 amps for 1 hour and everything in-between.
• You can safely discharge a Li-ion Lithium battery to 100%.
• A Li-ion Lithium battery can be discharged up to 80% 5000 times. With a flooded, ‘Lead-Acid’ celled battery this can be as low as a few hundred discharges.
• Li-ion Lithium motorhome batteries are 60% lighter than the equivalent lead-acid battery.
• Li-ion Lithium batteries have a very low rate of self-discharge. This means they can be left for months without requiring a charge.
• Li-ion Lithium motorhome batteries are completely maintenance free.
• Li-ion Lithium batteries can be installed in any orientation.
• Li-ion Lithium motorhome batteries can replace a lead acid battery with minimal modifications.
For those who are interested I will now elaborate on each of the points above.
• The voltage remains constant until the battery is almost 100% discharged. With a lead-acid battery, the more you discharge the battery the lower the voltage will go. You can normally only discharge a lead-acid battery to about 60% of its amp hour capacity, after this the voltage drops so low it will no longer operate high demand 12 volt draws such as an inverter or possibly a levelling system. Li-ion batteries will retain a voltage of approximately 12.8 volts for at least 95% of the capacity.
• All the batteries we supply can accept a charge equalling, and in some cases exceeding its capacity. This means that if you have a 100ah battery you can charge it at 100 amps, even from an alternator supply! You can normally only charge a lead-acid battery safely using a charger rated at 10% of the capacity of the battery. This means that if you have a 100ah battery you can only use a 10 amp charger, and it will take 10 hours to charge your battery.
If you have a 100ah Li-ion lithium motorhome battery you can use a 100 amp charger, this means that you can charge it in 1 hour! In some cases using the correct Battery Monitoring Systems (A.K.A. BMS) you can charge a Li-ion battery up to 3 times its capacity; this would mean you could potentially fully charge a 100ah battery in 20 minutes.
• In the case of a 100ah Li-ion Lithium motorhome battery you can draw 1 amp for 100 hours or 100 amps for 1 hour and everything in-between. You only have about 60% usable draw down on a lead-acid battery, you may think you have purchased a 100 ah battery but you can only use 60% of the power. This is not the case with Li-ion, the full capacity of the battery is usable. In fact using a Transporter Energy Battery you can draw 200 amps for 30 seconds and it will allow up to 300 amps for ½ a second.
• You can safely discharge a Li-ion Lithium motorhome battery to 100%. As I have mentioned above you can use the full capacity of the battery. There is different quality of Li-ion batteries, some you can only charge at 25 amps some can charge at 50 amps, these lower quality batteries can only be discharged to 95%. Be sure to speak to us before you upgrade your battery!
• A Li-ion Lithium battery can be discharged up to 80% 5000 times. With a flooded cell lead acid battery this can be as low as a few hundred discharges. A good quality Li-ion battery will last far longer than a lead-acid battery, this can actually make them a far cheaper option over the life of the battery than a lead-acid battery.
• Li-ion Lithium motorhome batteries have a very low rate of self-discharge. This means they can be left for months without requiring a charge. If you leave a lead acid battery unattended for a period of time it will discharge itself. A Li-ion battery will not, in fact some Li-ion batteries can be left for up to a year with minimal discharge.
• Li-ion Lithium motorhome batteries are completely maintenance free. Once you have installed a Li-ion battery you can almost forget about it. If you are planning to leave your vehicle for a long period of time, either parked inside, or if you don’t have a sufficient solar system it may be worth disconnecting your battery. This will increase the life of the battery as they are not keen on being left in a discharged state for a long period.
• Li-ion Lithium motorhome batteries can be installed in any orientation. Flooded Lead-Acid celled batteries can only be mounted in an upright position, some AMG and Gel batteries can be laid on their side. If you have limited space, putting a battery in a different orientation can make it possible to install it in an area that you would not normally be able to.