Time will tell how well this battery works, but at 15lbs I have to give it a try. Unfortunately, I managed to gain some for the weight back with the Paragon Billet strut supports (man those things are beefy) and a tad bit more with the Speedway Composites X Brace. I dropped the lower part of the left side battery clamp so pulled the frunk to find it. Only took a few min to pull and then I got to study the overall construction of the car, which was cool. I am very familiar with the nature of LiFePO4 battery chemistry and how well they work as start/stop automotive battery's. Yes its a TPE, Chinese battery, but all of the cells and BMS boards are built in China to varying degrees of QC. I figure, this battery helps offset the added weight of the front lift pump, and the next few Mexican dinners Ill have.

 

Nice work! Always cool to see someone experimenting with lighter components. That LiFePO4 battery should make a noticeable difference up front, especially offsetting the extra weight from the strut supports, X-brace, and lift pump. Dropping the frunk to retrieve the clamp was a blessing in disguise, getting a closer look at the construction is always fascinating. Looking forward to hearing how the battery performs over time!

 

Nice upgrade! I will eventually do the same. What was the price on that battery? I'm sure it was less than the big names.

 

Less than 300 shipped. Im keeping the 2 week old ACDelco OEM battery safe in case I need it. So far the TPE has started the car great! It cranks faster and starts with a tad bit more authority.

 

Wonder how long the battery will stay at 100% without a charge or starting engine?

 

Its a 60AH battery, the factory Lead Acid is 70AH. However, you will actually get 60AH capacity from LiFePO4 cells and the voltage will only drop a small amount where Lead Acid the voltage will drop below 10v and its very hard to get the rated capacity out of them. LiFePO4 has a very low self discharge, so the battery just sitting there with no draw will not drain itself. So it should be able to last longer and still start the car with less low voltage issues than the Lead Acid battery. Last, unlike Lead Acid or even AGM, NO CORROSION issues.

 

I'm going to give it a try, just ordered one from Amazon.I had an anti-gravity on my C6 ZR1 and loved it! It was ******* expensive, though. The light weight is a back saver for an old fart!

 

The worst part is getting the old battery out since the OEM batteries do not seem to include handles. If I was going to pull the OEM battery out again, I would start by pulling the frunk, it only takes about 2 min more to remove and would make it much easier. So far the TPE battery has been working excellent. Impressive how much faster the engine cranks. I got mine off Amazon as well, took about 3 days to get here but I live in a very rural area.

 

I've changed out my battery before, but I just like the technology of the lithium, and it was a pain to change. The new battery has handles, so it won't be that hard for me. I'm pretty rural also.

 

Ha, I can relate. I ended up standing in my frunk to remove the OEM one! The Antigravity replacement was way lighter, and so was my wallet

 

Biggest issue I see is if you receive a dud, they do not have free returns, and folks seem to have issues (and $60) actually shipping these back for some reason. If I could locate a local seller, perhaps I would bite. My 21 could probably use a new one soon.

 

I'll def get one of these. Tesla actually uses these types of 12v batteries now, so they are def becoming mainstream.

 

Amazon shows free returns and refunds for me? Shipping was also free.

 

Does the BMS handle charging, so could you hook a ctek up to it or do you need a lithium charger kind of like the antigravity batteries needed?

 

The Battery Management System is just a safety that helps protect from over charge, discharge or short circuits and will disconnect the cells from the battery posts. The BMS also helps balance the cell voltages so one cell cant overcharge. The BMS does not act as a charger. Charging a LiFePO4 battery is really quite simple, don't exceed the maximum voltage of 3.65v per cell (4 cells x 3.65 = 14.6v) and all is well. Unlike Li-Po or Li-Ion, LiFePO4 will resist overcharging and simply stops accepting energy once full so they don't go into Thermal Runaway (very easily) like Li-Po or Li-Ion. They are very safe and durable, they are hard to overcharge and very tolerant of over-discharge.

LiFePO4 batters only need a simple charger circuit, called constant current/constant voltage. The current will be limited to x while charging until the voltage reaches the upper limit, say 14.6v and the current will taper off to near zero after a time. Led Acid battery's have all sorts of fancy charging algorithms to aid in cell balancing, desulfification, and storage. A Led Acid trickle charger is not likely going to be able to harm a large car battery sized LiFePO4 battery, but it would be best to use a specific battery maintainer/trickle charger that has settings for the LiFePO4. I would recommend using a LiFePO4 specific trickle charger (CTEK has one) if you are going to store the car for a long period of time.

 

I have LiFePO4 batteries in my camper and boat. You can charge them with a regular battery charger but it may take longer and they may not fully charge but that is OK as long as it gets fully charged every once in a while to balance the cells. The battery in my boat has a Bluetooth connection so I can see the status of the individual cells. My standard charger and my maintainers get it fully charged and the cells get balanced.

LiFePO4 batteries have the longest life when kept at a 50% charge. I don't put a maintainer on them when I'm not using them. They can easily go all winter without being on a maintainer but I completely disconnect them so they don't have a parasitic draw. A maintainer that didn't keep them at 100% would actually be better for them.

 

^ To the point above, most LiFePO4 specific chargers have a long term storage/maintenance mode of 60-80% charge.

 

Free delivery, but not returns, and you only have 30 days to return. Reading thru the comments, folks have to pay to return it.

 

Really great info guys, I keep the tesla at 50% day to day as well, unless I know ill be driving for longevity.

 

So what's the weight savings OEM vs Lith