48v Lithium 100ah battery

[Kolassus]

Thank you all for your responses. But i’m more confused now than I was before. Several people did this particulate battery will not work with my setup, but it sounds like it might as long as I change the mapping on my controller. When my current batteries were brand new, I hit 25mph on flat level ground. Due to their age now, i’m down to 20 mph. I would love to hit 30, but it is not necessary. Would this battery with the updated mapping get me to 20 or 25? I live in WV, so there are many hills where I drive. Thank you all again.

[Volt_Ampere]

If you have any hills at all, I would opt for a battery with more current capability!

[CP241]

If you’re in West Virginia with hills and mountains I’d probably pick a more robust battery pack. I think you’ll run into the BMS limitations on that one.

Edit: VA types faster than me tonight

[Pat911]

Originally Posted by Kolassus

I love the idea of a Lithium battery, but I don’t want that to sacrifice the capabilities of the upgrades I have already made. It sounds like I’d be better off going with 6 new Trojan 875s vs this particular lithium battery.

Nooooo. Lithium will actually increase your performance. Just make sure you get the correct one. Go with one of the big name brands and you'll be fine. I have no experience with them, only from what I read here but if I were in the market for a battery today, it would be an EcoBattery. After sales service is second to none!

[NoleFan4Ever]

Originally Posted by Kolassus

Hello. I am looking to upgrade my golf cart with a 48v 100ah lithium battery. My golf cart specs are below in my signature. Is it a simple matter of taking the old batteries out and installing the new battery? I read that my on board Lester II charger should be able to charge a lithium battery. Is this correct? Also, will converting to lithium affect my Alltrax 500 controller or 10 HP Admiral mot-A1?

Last but not least. If all of the above works, what kind of performance should I expect? Similar to standard batteries?

I have not read over all the responses, but let me share my own with you. As you can see in my signature, I have a leaf set up and and with much less amp/hour capacity then what you are looking to buy (and mine is definitely HP!). The biggest difference is mine has my own BMS that is much larger and tuned to my pack and needs and will do everything I want.

Similar to yours, I purchased an 80 A/H last year for the son as I was unable to accommodate a build request. It did state for Golf Carts, and it did work, until you hit it with surge amps; meaning it would work fine easing into the throttle or driving slowly, but just put it to the floor and the pre-packaged BMS would trip out every-time and you had to reset the battery to get moving again. I ended up contacting the supplier, he sent me a larger BMS and it has worked perfectly ever since. So the moral of this story is the BMS is the limiting factor on these per-packed kits. If you have a FLA set up now, you probably have a 120 A/H or similar which only has a 50% DOD and the lithium's have a 80% and most now are 100% DOD capable (but not recommended) so you can have less A/H capacity with lithium and get all you had and more compared to the FLA's we have used for years because they are capable of giving you more depth of discharge (DOD). If the pack is built by a supplier making it for general purposes, it will be spec'd with too small of a BMS to meet the needs of even my sons stock golf cart. Now they make them with 160AH and 200 AH with larger BMS's from the manufacturer, but they are much more expensive and may be more than the average cart guy wants/needs.
If your supplier is making the packs himself, you can request a larger BMS installed to meet your needs for general, but if he is a reseller, that will not happen.

Good luck with whatever you do!

[Kolassus]

Thank you all again. This is great information. I would assume that if I went with 4 12v lithium with 100amp BMS, it would be the same thing? The BMS is the main limited factor for lithium batteries?

[jasonojordan]

Originally Posted by Kolassus

Thank you all again. This is great information. I would assume that if I went with 4 12v lithium with 100amp BMS, it would be the same thing? The BMS is the main limited factor for lithium batteries?

Thats not how that works. Each battery needs its own BMS. Multiple batteries with multiple BMS can cause imbalance issues if not done properly.

[CP241]

4 x 12v lithium batteries in series is notorious for having balancing problems. (Keeping all 4 batteries the exact same voltage).

Lithium ( or even lead acid) batteries are an investment. A good lithium pack should last you a decade or longer. It’s worth spending a little more money and buying a good quality pack vs trying to score a “deal”. That few hundred bucks you might save now will bite you in the long run.

If you lived in Florida or Georgia you’d probably be able to get away with a smaller cheaper pack like this and turning your alltrax down to accommodate the pack. But in hilly or mountainous areas you’re gonna need something more robust, plain and simple. It’s gonna cost more.

[NoleFan4Ever]

Originally Posted by Kolassus

Thank you all again. This is great information. I would assume that if I went with 4 12v lithium with 100amp BMS, it would be the same thing? The BMS is the main limited factor for lithium batteries?

Like they said, but the cost of 4x12 lithiums is astronomical. Get you a good dependable lithium pack from a trusted source. I will share the one I use and have successfully several times https://hi-powerbatteries.com/produc...arger-package/. These packs give you the BMS size and all specifications so you can look and see how they compare to your needs. I have used the 48v (56.4v fully charged) 100 a/h and the 120 a/h. The 120 a/h can be driven cross country.

I do not like these as much as my Leaf Pack, but they are working out greatly in my fathers series and the boys sepex CC's.

[Pat911]

Originally Posted by NoleFan4Ever

I ended up contacting the supplier, he sent me a larger BMS and it has worked perfectly ever since. So the moral of this story is the BMS is the limiting factor on these per-packed kits.

That's not quite how it works. The BMS should be sized to protect the battery cells. You cannot simply put in a larger BMS if the cells are not rated for the increased current. The BMS is the limiting factor because, amongst other things, that's it's job, to limit the current to protect the cells. Your Leaf cells are another story and a golf cart will never demand more current than those cells can easily supply.

As a general rule, most LiFePO4 cells in use today are rated at 1C with a 3C peak. That is, if you have 100Ah cells, they can supply 100A continuously or 300A for short bursts. The BMS should limit the current to these specifications to protect the cells.

Better battery brands are now using higher quality cells that are rated up to 3C continuous with a 6C peak. That's why you now have 70Ah batteries with 180+A continuous rating.

As for 4 x 12v batteries, there has been many documented instances of imbalance problems here on this forum. Do a search. The issue is that each battery will have its own BMS doing its own thing, pretty much unaware of the other three. Purchase a 48v battery as it will have a single BMS monitoring and protecting all the cells and keeping them all in balance.

Cheers
Pat.