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LiFePO4 cells or 18650 cells?

  • 18650 all day!

    Votes: 2 100.0%
  • LiFePO4 forever!

    Votes: 0 0.0%

Bestest battery debate!

1K views 11 replies 3 participants last post by  Atvrunner2 
#1 ·
In light of my current battery troubles I did some browsing and found a good deal on a 48v 20ah LiFePO4 pack with a 50amp bms (100amp peak) for roughly 350... a smidge more than I paid for my 48v 20ah lithium ion battery pack with the 18650s. So I got to thinking...

18650 cell battery pack or LiFePO4 cell battery pack and why?
 
#4 ·
From what I'm seeing the 48v 20ah LiFePO4 pack is a few pounds heavier than my 18650 pack, but it boasts 45 mile range without pedal assist. I'm really tempted to scoop one honestly
 
#6 ·
Yeah provided I don't blow myself up trying lol! Seriously though for $340 I'd be getting a 50amp bms board with 100amp peak on a 48v 20ah pack, that's pretty much what's selling it for me. The range is a nice bonus but realistically I'd expect no more than 30 miles at best out of it despite the 45 mile boast... but even that is 10 miles more than what I can get now
 
#8 ·
#9 ·
The biggest problem I see is none of these chargers have screens on them to tell you how many AH ( amp hours ) you're putting into the pack.

You have to figure that you have to leave 3 to 5 AH in the pack of course the Chinese never rate their batteries in usable energy.

Basically what I'm getting at is the Chinese cells are not that bad it's the trash charger and BMS that makes these packs quickly go unbalanced I have revived and resurrected many packs that people have thought were just garbage by simply unhooking the BMS and charging each cell individually through the balance port with a good quality RC car charger it's also an easy and quick way to find bad cells when you see that a 1800 mah cell onley takes 400 to 600 mah before it's full meaning you drew too many amps from that cell cooking the lithium.
 
#11 ·
Unfortunately no but they are inside some of the UPS backup power supplies at work I don't foresee them needing any service for 2 years.

I have been reading about the technology and it looks promising.

What I'm thinking is they are better for slower drain somewhere in between SLA and Li-ion but not that supper high on demand amperage like Li-Po and Li-ion give I say this because when I look at the Li-Fe the C ratings are not all that good.

For bicycle hub motors and commuter scooters I would say yes Li-Fe

For Motorcycles Tesla's and RC still Li-ion
 
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