Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com - View Single Post - eta: super efficient 3 wheeled car (project thread)

eta · 01-01-2008, 07:19 PM

Well, I researched the Braille "racing" battery and found it is a re-badged and over-priced Deka. Made in Reading, PA, Deka is the leader of the battery industry in power/weight ratio. The one I'm going to buy is the Deka ETX 14, which is normally sold as a motorcycle battery. It weighs only 11.5 lbs, is very small and yet puts out 360 cold cranking amps, enough to start a car with no problem! All this info is from VWVortex.com Some of the VW guys recommend the bigger ETX 20L, at 15 lbs, for starting high compression engines in cold weather. The OEM VW battery, by the way, weighs about 35 pounds. So the good news is that a Deka battery like the ETX 14 sells for about $60 (from bigcrank.com), instead of $170 for the identical battery that has "Braille Racing" stickers on it!

"Bigcrank" claims this battery can be discharged completely without damage, and so they call it a "deep cycle" battery. Doesn't "deep cycle" really mean it is better at delivering long-term small amp loads, like powering an electric car? So if this battery can indeed be used in plug-in electric and hybrid cars, why isn't everyone using it? It would save hundreds of pounds, take up less space, and still be cheap.

01-01-2008, 07:19 PM	#14 (permalink)
eta EcoModding Lurker Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 11 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	cheap light weight battery! Well, I researched the Braille "racing" battery and found it is a re-badged and over-priced Deka. Made in Reading, PA, Deka is the leader of the battery industry in power/weight ratio. The one I'm going to buy is the Deka ETX 14, which is normally sold as a motorcycle battery. It weighs only 11.5 lbs, is very small and yet puts out 360 cold cranking amps, enough to start a car with no problem! All this info is from VWVortex.com Some of the VW guys recommend the bigger ETX 20L, at 15 lbs, for starting high compression engines in cold weather. The OEM VW battery, by the way, weighs about 35 pounds. So the good news is that a Deka battery like the ETX 14 sells for about $60 (from bigcrank.com), instead of $170 for the identical battery that has "Braille Racing" stickers on it! "Bigcrank" claims this battery can be discharged completely without damage, and so they call it a "deep cycle" battery. Doesn't "deep cycle" really mean it is better at delivering long-term small amp loads, like powering an electric car? So if this battery can indeed be used in plug-in electric and hybrid cars, why isn't everyone using it? It would save hundreds of pounds, take up less space, and still be cheap.