Best lifepo4 battery....period.

Electro-Fox

Electro-Fox

10 W
Joined
Sep 26, 2013
Messages
69
Ok...I am numb from all the info on lifepo4 batteries and understanding the tech. I just do not have the time to go to school in order to buy a battery. It seems that everybody has such varied results with any specific brand of battery. I won't get into mentioning all the brands, but hey....I just cannot afford to buy a 48 volt battery, only to have it last 6 months! (so many horror stories) So...what is the general consensus here on a good reliable lifepo4 48 volt battery, and a decent supplier or vendor.

Thanks
 
I've been pretty happy with OSN Power. I wouldn't say they're cheap, but their cells are legit, customer service is excellent, and their pack builds are quality.

The "best battery" for you is the one that can put out the amps you need without being unreasonably stressed. A better question would be:

"I need a 36v 10ah LifePO4 battery that can put out 30A continuous".

If the guys here know these three numbers, they can recommend specific packs that will work for you.
 
Best battery for what?

Personally, I still recommend Ping for somebody looking for a decent commute battery. Best? likely not. Best price?, definitely not. Vendor in china I don't worry about sending my money to, definitely yes.

But of all the batteries I've owned so far, I got the best cost per mile number from commuting with ping batteries. Part of that though, was I was one of the very first to try one, and that first one was crazy cheap.

Other batteries I've owned since then tended to die a much earlier death for other reasons. Taking them to the dirt, taking them to the race track, etc. I would never recommend ping or similar pouch lifepo4 for a bike drawing a lot of power.

But to commute using an ebike with 20-25 amps controller or less, hard to beat the ping. 3-4 years service is what you can expect unless you damage it, like crashing. It will need you to add additional protection since the cells are soft pouches.
 
This will be used with a Falcoe 500 watt hub motor, which uses an internal controller. I can use a 36 or 48 volt but thought that the 48 volt would be the best choice. Isn't LiPo4 the best chemistry?

Thanks guys...
 
dogman dan said:
.....need you to add additional protection since the cells are soft pouches.
Click to expand...

Oh...I get it now. I thought all these batteries were made up of the individual cells like an 18650. My bad.... Are the pouches just a way to make them smaller?
 
Electro-Fox said:
This will be used with a Falcoe 500 watt hub motor, which uses an internal controller. I can use a 36 or 48 volt but thought that the 48 volt would be the best choice. Isn't LiPo4 the best chemistry?
Click to expand...
Sounds like you're starting to overthink this. Not that thinking is bad, but when it gets in the way of riding...

LiFePO4 is a good choice for a first battery because it's safer than other chemistries (no thermal runaway) and has a good lifetime (~2000 cycles). On the downside, it's heavier and bigger for the same capacity, and has a lower C-rate, which means you need more Ah for the same performance, regardless of capacity.

These are generalizations, of course - NCA seems to be approaching LiFePO4 longevity, many Li-ion cells have C-rates as low as LiFePO4, etc.

You're unlikely to be disappointed with LiFePO4. The important thing is to size the battery appropriately to your application. A 48 V battery will allow you a higher top speed than 36 V, so I'd go for 48 V. At 500 W, that will be about a 10 A, so a 10 Ah capacity will give you a safe sustained C-rate, with some overhead for bursts of power.

To give you a point of reference, I use a 48 V 10 Ah Ping, and my power draw is typically 450 W on my commute. This allows me to average 20 mph and I use 7.5-8 Ah on my 20 mi round trip.
 
My 48-volt ping battery is five years old and still going strong. I have not noticed any loss of range or power. I have let it sit uncharged for more than six months and was able to just get on the bike and ride it for 20 miles without charging. If you plan to get only a 10 Amp-hour battery size, I would not use greater than a 25-amp controller, which is plenty for commuting.
 
You need a battery that can deliver 30 amps or more, not less. I would get a battery that can do easily so as not to be over worked. Don't over work your battery if you what it to last.
 
Does anyone have experience with the Falcoe hub? I already have one, and got it because it simplified the setup. I was going to get a 48 volt battery for sure, and as high of amp hours I can fit into the bag I will use. Ping says they can make me a custom battery to fit my bag as does another company. I am probably over-thinking everything but I guess that is what newbies do. :roll:
 
So it is for a commute? General street transportation? Ping or sunthing 48v 15 ah is a good size for any kit with a 25 amps or less controller. It can do a 30 amps, but not if you ride hard. (like off road)

This is what I was fishing for, what kind of riding? Even just a commute, there is a huge difference between a long cruise commute with not so many stops, and 20 miles of inner city riding. Then off road, that just hammers the battery like nothing else, and weight will matter a lot more for an off road ride.

If you want out input on the falco motor kit. Insert a link to the exact one you are considering. Otherwise you just get more vague answers.
 
dogman dan said:
So it is for a commute? General street transportation? Ping or sunthing 48v 15 ah is a good size for any kit with a 25 amps or less controller. It can do a 30 amps, but not if you ride hard. (like off road)

This is what I was fishing for, what kind of riding? Even just a commute, there is a huge difference between a long cruise commute with not so many stops, and 20 miles of inner city riding. Then off road, that just hammers the battery like nothing else, and weight will matter a lot more for an off road ride.

If you want out input on the falco motor kit. Insert a link to the exact one you are considering. Otherwise you just get more vague answers.
Click to expand...

Here is the link. http://www.falcoemotors.com/?page_id=1400
This the motor I already have, and I was going to buy a 48 volt 15ah battery, which is the reason for the thread. I will be commuting mostly, in Sacramento CA, which is flat riding with very few hills, but the distance will vary. I will from time to time ride on trails, but nothing wicked, mostly rails-to-trails or some cross country highway. The motor is being put in the fork of a fat bike, and the battery will be on the front rack. I ride hard, meaning I pedal hard, and have ridden the bike through snow (in the past) and have been riding it for over two years without a motor. I already have the torque sensor installed. Thanks for your help...
EF
 
So what battery you looking at.
Ping, em3ev,cali battery, sunthing28 ?
There also a guy in S.F.
Ping and em3ev have excellent support, and good chargers.
 
I have both Ping and Sunthing batteries. They are quite comparable in form factor but I would rate the Pings superior, for a bit more money. The Sunthings required considerably more balancing at the beginning, and they took quite a few cycles to "develop" their full voltage which only develops to around 57.6 volts now, even though charged to with a 58.4 volt charger. I think the Pings, with the new BMSes are probably a better buy. The issue with these packs is that it is difficult to fix them if any of the pouches "go", which will eventually happen after a few years. The Sunthings are also a bit "saggier" voltage wise, so I don't believe the pouches are quite as good as the Pings. My .02cents.
 
the old attage of " you get what you pay for " is not always true .

I recently purchased a 48 volt- 22 a/h lifepo4 pack off a ebay vendor . it came with built in BMS and a 5 amp charger. I got it for $400 shipped { after some negotiating } . I have used the battery 9 times since I purchased it a few weeks ago, and it performs flawlessly. It does not sag badly under a load of 40 -50 amp bursts up hills on my ebike and it maintains a voltage of around 50 -52 volts for a long time, under normal cruising speeds/ loads of 15 -30 amps .

I am so impressed with this battery, that I purchased a 2nd one, last week . For $400 shipped, it is proving to be a unbeatable
value . It is rated at 40 amps continuous discharge and 60 amp max bursts...and so far those rating seem to be solid numbers. When I put the battery under its largest load, it does not get warm or heat up . The only thing I dont like about the battery , is that the BMS unit is built inside the pack itself, hidden under the shrink wrap....of course I could cut the shrink wrap and reconfigure the BMS unit to the outside of the pack , if I wanted.

IMHO, in todays market, there isnt any need to be spending $ $550 - $600 for a lifepo4 battery of 48 volts- 20 a/h capacity. The one manufacturer that I have heard has some bad issues with their lifepo4 48 volt packs, is V-POWER...but maybe they have improved their quality control measures./
 
999zip999 said:
When going cheap don't go to cheap as it costs lot's of time and Money.
Click to expand...


Not always true.

For example :

I purchased a generic yescomusa - 1000 watt - 48 volt hub motor for $ 193 delivered many years ago. I have run this motor with no problems and even pumped 2500 watts of power into it, and it never gets hot .
 
I was talking batteries like mystery eBay batteries, Vpower batteries excetra. Yes those yes, motors are good deal it in but basically I would use use the motor, new controller with C.A. plug, new rim and spokes.
Doesn't matter as I been getting free motors. Just need a good free battery. I did get a free 48v10ah rear rack style ( kinda weak ) 15amp discharge. Come to think about it. I better go down and see if I can haul away some other things ? He hates things laying around he doesn't understand. Trade for work thing.
So ebikedelight what the link for this 40amp 400usd wonder.
 
999zip999 said:
I was talking batteries like mystery eBay batteries, Vpower batteries excetra. Yes those yes, motors are good deal it in but basically I would use use the motor, new controller with C.A. plug, new rim and spokes.
Doesn't matter as I been getting free motors. Just need a good free battery. I did get a free 48v10ah rear rack style ( kinda weak ) 15amp discharge. Come to think about it. I better go down and see if I can haul away some other things ? He hates things laying around he doesn't understand. Trade for work thing.
So ebikedelight what the link for this 40amp 400usd wonder.
Click to expand...

I listed the link on 1 of my other posts..a couple weeks ago...if you search my posts, you will find it....its in the battery tech forum.
 
Check out calibike battery. Located here in the USA and very affordable. I got my 48v15ah pack for $500.00 with charger free shipping. I've had my pack for a year and I would say I have about 13ah left in it. But it can sustain 30a for at least 6 miles. But it prefers 25 or less
 
The allcell is small and light. NMC I think. Ebikessf sells them. So must be something to them. Seams a little costly. But if you have full pockets.
 
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