12v Dakota Lithium LiFePO4 SLA Replacement Battery

[Honey Badger]

Has anyone tried the new 12v Dakota Lithium LiFePO4 SLA Replacement Battery sold by Clean Republic on their website and Amazon? http://www.electric-bike-kit.com/12v-lithium-lifepo4-replacement.aspx

They claim they are built in the USA and have up to 2000 life cycles....probably at .2C
I have no idea of the quality of the cells, but the price is right. Just $99 for a 12v 10Ah pack. I called them to confirm a few details. NO BMS. Apparently you can charge them individually or in series w the appropriate voltage SLA or lithium charger. I'm not sure how well any of this works without a BMS or LiFePo specific charger??

I would love to hear some feedback on use/performance. Especially someone with a CA?

 

[ARod1993]

It looks OK except for the part where it lists max discharge rate at 2C continuous/6C for a 2-second burst. That means you'd need three of them in parallel to get any kind of decent current flowing through the motor, and a 48V 30Ah system comprised of these will run you $1200 right of the bat.

 

[dogman dan]

Well, clearly "decent" current means different things to different people. Best to run these at 1c continuous max. If you ride 15 mph, no problem.

But you'd want 20 ah I'd think, to run anything more than a 15 amps controller on a tiny motor. So 6x $100 for a 36v pack able to last on a typical medium power ebike, like a 9 continent type kit with 22 amps controller.

$600, still a lot more than one weeks pay for a minimum wage worker, that's for sure.

 

[Matt Gruber]

i dont see any terminals to charge individual cells.

 

[Honey Badger]

Thanks for the feedback! Hey Dogman, what do you think about charging 3 or 4 of these in series without a BMS?? Clean Republic acted like there was nothing to worry about, as if you could treat them more like SLA.

On a side note, what's the key difference between a cheap SLA charger that comes w many of the base kits and lithium specific charger that comes with the better batteries (e.g. AllCell, em3ev, Ping)?

 

[Lessss]

For legal ebikes 500W and under 32 kph it looks like these would do. The no BMS thing worries me.

 

[gogo]

Thanks for the feedback! Hey Dogman, what do you think about charging 3 or 4 of these in series without a BMS?? Clean Republic acted like there was nothing to worry about, as if you could treat them more like SLA.

On a side note, what's the key difference between a cheap SLA charger that comes w many of the base kits and lithium specific charger that comes with the better batteries (e.g. AllCell, em3ev, Ping)?

Charging lead acid in series isn't without its potential problems, and Lithium would be worse because its less tolerant to overcharging than LA. What kind of warranty does CR offer?