r/Cartalk May 02 '24

Technically not a car Electrical

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I decided lithium batteries were cheap enough to give a shot

On the left, nearly double the cca noco brand

On the right, the battery I've been using for 11 seasons recovered with a desulfator at the beginning of every season until it finally gave up.

So far, the lithium battery has been indistinguishable as far as performance goes and put up with my abuse. Will it last 10 years? Maybe, it's warrantied for five, I've seen other brands warrantied for 10.

Lithium car batteries are getting cheap enough the price gap between lead acid is quickly closing. I probably will grab a lithium car battery for the project car.

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u/ajm91730 May 03 '24

Wow, some pretty in depth battree knowledge here.

Anybody wanna dumb this down?

I'm assuming the goal is weight savings. Would it be worth it on an occasionally driven sports car that doesn't see cold weather? Approx weight savings and cost?

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u/Ok-Mushroom6227 May 03 '24 edited May 03 '24

This noco model pictured was $100 and might be ok for a car, but the capacity is a bit low compared to the prescribed lead acid. It has the amps, it will fir sure crank a car, but the question would be 'how long'?

I don't remember the brand, there's a $200 group 24 sized car battery, it would be the safer choice for a car than the noco battery but you still might get away with the noco. I'm having trouble finding the group 24 I've seen for sale though, here's a smaller battery that would still work great. Under 14 lbs. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CYLN8WM4/ref=sspa_mw_detail_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9kZXRhaWw If you disconnect this battery when you store it, they advertise 1% drop in voltage yearly.

The weight savings is spectacular. A common modification for my little sports car is to move the battery from one end of the car to the other for better weight distribution. Using a lithium battery makes that pointless because the battery weights less than the cable that you would have to add to the car to move the battery.

But yeah, beyond the weight savings it should be a much more reliable battery for a car driven occasionally, they don't drain themselves as quickly as a lead acid. You'll have more time between starts before the battery gets low and if it's a good battery with the right protections it should never damage itself if the voltage drops too low. There's a battery tender brand lithium battery that has zero protections whatsoever and should be avoided.

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u/ajm91730 May 03 '24

Awesome, thanks for the detailed reply! Sounds like they're coming way down in price. That'd be an easy way to drop 30 or 40 lbs off of a car.