RegGuheert
Well-known member
First of all, I am not in the market for a lead-acid battery for any of my vehicles right now. While the LEAF does not properly charge the 12-V battery in our usage pattern, I hope and expect to achieve a very long life with the OEM battery by occasionally charging it with the BatteryMinder 1500. That battery is 4.5 years old today and I would not be surprised to still be using it five years from now. I routinely get 7-8 years from Pb-acid batteries in our other vehicles in this climate with very little attention. We'll see how it goes.69800 said:RegGuheert .....any comment?
http://www.amazon.com/YTZ12S-Z12S-Lithium-Sealed-Battery/dp/B00DCXEY7C/?tag=myelecarfor-20&/ref=pd_sim_sbs_auto_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=02QT1Z4M1HS4GNHA7YJA
As far as the Li-ion 12-V replacements go, I fully expect they will eventually win the 12V market, but it appears those products have some maturing to do. In addition to the comments provided by LeftieBiker and GerryAZ, I see several issues with Li-ion 12-V replacements:
- High-quality ones are very expensive.
- Low-priced ones do not appear to have much capacity, as GerryAZ pointed out. That's needed in the LEAF if the vehicle sits for a while.
- The battery you linked only has a six-month warranty. Pb-acid batteries warranties have gotten much worse in recent years, but none are that bad and some are still much better.
- Many small Li-ion batteries today are manufactured from the cells from used laptop batteries. If you purchase 18650-size cylindrical cells from anyone other than the top-tier suppliers, then you are likely getting old laptop cells with new ends. They typically have a capacity of only about 1000 mAh, in spite of labels which indicate as much as 6000 mAh. I suspect some of these Li-ion motorcycle batteries are made from old laptop cells, as well.
- Personally, I have never gotten more than about six years out of ANY Li-ion battery, but they are clearly getting better as time marches on. In the early 2000s I remember some Li-ion batteries which failed to perform after only about six months of use. In contrast, the iPad 1 I am typing on right now is about four years old and the battery still has plenty of capacity. I expect it will last for several more years with proper care. I have three identical HP laptops here from 2009. One still indicates battery capacity above 70%, but the other two are below 40% and in need of replacement.
- If automotive OEMs could purchase Li-ion 12-V replacement batteries with better performance/cost ratios than their Pb-acid counterparts, they would do it. Tesla is a perfect example. I have read that the Model S eats Pb-acid batteries for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and the battery is not so simple to replace. Clearly they need a better solution in that car, and it would seem that application is not as price-sensitive as the one in the LEAF. If Li-ion can address the issues there, then I expect to see one specified in the Model X. (Anyone know?) Otherwise, perhaps we need to wait a bit longer for the technology to mature.
Li-ion chemistries with very long life and lower costs are becoming available now. If they can be coupled with true-automotive-grade power electronics they should eventually make affordable, high-quality Pb-acid replacements. For now, I get very good service from Pb-acid batteries.