longevity of lithium

[georgia088]

I have done quite a bit of reading on the forum about swapping from FLA batteries to Lithium. It seems that most everyone that makes the swap is very happy with the performance. I haven't read much information about the longevity of the lithium batteries. I know it is relatively new to have lithium batteries in carts vs. FLA and there are many variables, but what is the thought of how many years of life you will get out of a set of lithium batteries?

I know this is difficult to answer because of all of the variables, but what love to hear what y'all think. In my experience 5-6 years is about tops for an averagely abused set of FLA batteries. In order for it to make financial sense I would think you would need to get 8+ years out of Lithiums. Is that going to be possible/likely?

Thanks!

[Volt_Ampere]

10 years easy if you don't abuse them.

[georgia088]

Originally Posted by Volt_Ampere

10 years easy if you don't abuse them.

So, you think it makes sense from a financial longevity standpoint to go with lithium batteries now vs FLA?

Thanks!

[Volt_Ampere]

That decision is up to you. I will never use FLA again. I think the cost is a wash when you take into account how long they will last (assuming you and your cart last that long) The loss of 300 lbs and the fact that everything stays clean and shiny with no adding water makes the decision easy for me. I have had Lithium in my first Yamaha cart for almost 7 years now - and they were used batteries from a Nissan Leaf when I got them. They work as well today as the day I installed them and the connections all are as clean as when I installed them.

[scottyb]

Originally Posted by Volt_Ampere

That decision is up to you. I will never use FLA again. I think the cost is a wash when you take into account how long they will last (assuming you and your cart last that long) The loss of 300 lbs and the fact that everything stays clean and shiny with no adding water makes the decision easy for me. I have had Lithium in my first Yamaha cart for almost 7 years now - and they were used batteries from a Nissan Leaf when I got them. They work as well today as the day I installed them and the connections all are as clean as when I installed them.

You can't beat that testimonial. I've had as many as 10 LA carts to maintain at one time. Not having any of that filling and corrosion battery anymore is worth its weight in gold... which we paid - lol
Note that loosing 300 pounds or 1/3 the carts weight means loosing 1/3 of the traction too. In some situations this has been a negative effect.

[georgia088]

Originally Posted by Volt_Ampere

That decision is up to you. I will never use FLA again. I think the cost is a wash when you take into account how long they will last (assuming you and your cart last that long) The loss of 300 lbs and the fact that everything stays clean and shiny with no adding water makes the decision easy for me. I have had Lithium in my first Yamaha cart for almost 7 years now - and they were used batteries from a Nissan Leaf when I got them. They work as well today as the day I installed them and the connections all are as clean as when I installed them.

Thanks VOLT! I just read where you said you would build your own if you did it again vs buying a drop in replacement set. This is very interesting to me. I don't have a ton of knowledge on the subject, but I am pretty electronic savvy and very persistent. Do you have a plan as to how you would go about doing it? I don't completely understand the active balancer. I understand you want each cell to stay as close as possible to the same, but what is the deal with switching it? You only want it to "balance" the batteries periodically?

Thanks for the info!

[Volt_Ampere]

There are some threads here about building a pack. I would not recommend it unless you are pretty confident in your electrical skills and understand batteries, BMS, charging, etc. The drop-in solutions are more expensive but all of the engineering is done for you. I have built mine but I am a retired EE (wasn't retired when I did my first one) and I spent a lot of time building my own BMS. You can buy that hardware today fairly reasonably but you need to understand battery and cart electrical specs to get the right cells and BMS.
Read some of the threads and then you can decide how to proceed.

I recently installed a 105Ah ECO battery in a friend's cart and that is the route I suggest to any of my buddies that want to switch to Lithium. I am more than willing to help with installs of drop-in systems but I am not willing to build a battery for anyone.

[DaveTM]

Wadda mean...."Stays Clean"..??

[georgia088]

Originally Posted by Volt_Ampere

There are some threads here about building a pack.

I will check it out. Still sounds very interesting! I love projects!

[WalterM6]

Another advantage that I'd like to mention is you don't wind up with all of your blue jeans and tee shirts full of holes from acid burns.