Lithum battery for a 2000.5 DS

[jfozzie]

I have been looking around for the last few hours on "upgrading" my cart to a lithium ion battery and I know that there have been some discussions on here about it.

However, my question is about going to a single 48v lithium battery. Would a battery such as a LFP Battery: 51.2V 13.2Ah (675Wh, 40A rate ) with PCM work to replace all 6-8v's on my cart?

[Great white north]

I would hazard to say that 13.3 ah is just a tad low !!
Considering flooded batts need at least 205 ah min
But these are lithium ?? Still think not good enough
but someone more up on lithium will chime in soon

[jjance]

I looked that battery up and found it is used for an electric bike. One wouldn't do, it probably wouldn't get you out of your driveway. If you would get about 20 of them (just an estimate) and wire them in parallel it might work. I don't know about the charger that's a different story.

[cheapjeep2]

Originally Posted by jfozzie

I have been looking around for the last few hours on "upgrading" my cart to a lithium ion battery and I know that there have been some discussions on here about it.

However, my question is about going to a single 48v lithium battery. Would a battery such as a LFP Battery: 51.2V 13.2Ah (675Wh, 40A rate ) with PCM work to replace all 6-8v's on my cart?

I wouldn't Lithium batteries put 100% of their power then simply drop off to nothing and stop putting out so it's like flipping an off switch, where normal lead acid have a slow drain. You can see this in tools and RC Cars that run lithium. I know of a person in my town that converted to Lithium, thought they had plenty out power and then they just stopped putting out, leaving them stranded many times, they totally regret it.

[Volt_Ampere]

Lithium batteries are very sensitive to state of charge and discharge rate. If you ever run them down too far they are gone right then and there. They are way more expensive than Lead-Acid. The only advantage is weight savings.

[scottyb]

Originally Posted by Volt_Ampere

Lithium batteries are very sensitive to state of charge and discharge rate. If you ever run them down too far they are gone right then and there. They are way more expensive than Lead-Acid. The only advantage is weight savings.

Agreed, And maybe high discharge rate (good for racing). There are no cost or longevity advantages.
It just don't pan out for the average user.

[cgtech]

One main difference to the rating system of lead batts vs. lithium is the "trickery" used in lead battery ratings, they are rated at a 20 hour rate. This means you would have to discharge them slowly over 20 hours to get their advertised rating. They are "de-rated" to something like 57% of their advertised rating when discharged at a 1 hour rate. In contrast, lithiums are rated at a 1 hour rate (i.e. 80ah rated lithium batteries will deliver 80 amps for 1 hour, not true for lead batts). In the lithium carts i have built, a 80ah lithium pack will deliver slightly better run times than the T-1275 pack (150ah i think) i replaced. If you put 200ah lithiums in a cart, they should easily whip any T-105 (225ah) 48v pack run time. Heres a pic of a 80ah lithium pack i put in an RXV.

[Romrok]

I just received my lithium kit from Lithium Boost.

I have yet to install the system but one thing I like about their lithium system is a limp home button. Tiny little red button that I plan on mounting under the shifter on my series Ds.

When the cart stops as a lithium battery system does, you press this button and it gives you roughly a mile of run time. On time use per discharge, idea is to not let the the lithium cells run low enough to reverse polarity on you.

Rom

[CCFanatic]

Romrok,

If you don't mind if I ask, how much in total did the whole Lithium Boost setup cost you?

[Volt_Ampere]

I use LIPO batteries in my electric model airplanes and helicopters and I have never had a pack last more than 2 years. It is very easy to ruin the pack by discharging it just a bit too much. You also have to periodically equalize the charge on the series cells or the pack dies. You can not equalize the charge the way we do with Lead-Acid by overcharging. That causes a nasty fire.
Again - the only advantage I see to Lithium over Lead-Acid is weight savings. Great for things that fly - not necessary for a golf cart.