LiFePO4 battery for Two-Wheelers (Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery) Hi MotorHeads,
This is my first post on TeamBHP and its about the LiFePO4 batteries. It stands for Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery. One cell can hold up to 3 V and 6000 Mah, so bigger cells are produced by connecting them in series or parallel as per requirement of V and AH.
It is good for a motor vehicle for the following reasons:
1. Environment friendly, recyclable, non-toxic.
2. Much higher number of life cycle (charge and discharge cycle), some 3000 is claimed by manufacturers, it will last longer than LiIon and Lead Acid.
3. Self discharge is far less. I mean you can use the self start even if your bike was lying idle for more than 12 months.
4. Plug and Play, No maintenance at all.
5. Much safer than Li-ion, never blasts. Under extreme conditions might release smoke, that's it.
6. Compact and Lighter than Lead Acid, can fit anywhere in your bike.
7. Vibration doesn't matter.
***So what can go wrong ?
1. Bit expensive. On Ali Express a 12 Ah would cost around 9 to 10K INR.
2. Well, its electronic, and needs a BMS (battery management System) to run. A bms protects the batteries from overcharging and over discharging. However, the bms may give up too often. Once that's gone, your bike will be dead.
*** I spoke to two persons who imports LiFePO4 batteries and assembles here in India.
As per them, a 12V 10AH would weigh around 2KG and is smaller than a standard 8AH lead acid battery. Will have 2000+ life cycles.
However my friend from Hyderabad mentioned that he used one in Apache 160 and had to replace the BMS more than twice. While my friend from Pune is still using it in his Scooty, running fine and for classic 350 he suggested 12V 12MAH.
***Take away,
Though its worth giving it a try, my personal opinion never favors electronic parts. I am using a 9Ah tata VRLA battery in my 2013 BS III Classic 350 instead of the factory recommended 14AH Lead Acid. Reduced the weight by 2 KG and its working just fine during the 2nd week also.
In fact, you can also use a 5AH battery on your bullet (not EFI) if you always use the kickstarter. In case you wanna build one at home, remember Series connection increases the V and a Parallel increases the AH.
Lovely Learning
MechPrasad
Last edited by GTO : 9th December 2019 at 09:49.
Reason: Post edited for grammar, typos and removed unwanted spaces. Please take your time to type the posts. Thanks.
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