Best battery
 

What's the best available battery today for an electric vehicle, in the 5K cost range?

regards
Mech

In my opinion it would be headway lithium cells. I'm putting together a 9kwh 144v pack for well under 4k usd.

I ditto the Headways. I have them in several converted Motorcycles.

The biggest thing is to get them "happy". Work them in like you would a ICE motor. 50+ plus charges/discharges with light loads. Then...have fun!!!

Here I am having some fun with the Headways....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6M94xUqS0s

...I'd like to SEE a side-by-side comparison chart or table showing the PROS & CONS of all the currently usable batteries, ie: lead-acid, deep-cycle, Lithium, Nickel-hydride, etc.

Then we should start adding it to the wiki
EV Batteries - EcoModder

This is just the thread I was looking for :)

Does anyone have an opinion on the US Battery 6 volt floodies? A pack of those would cost 25% less than Trojan floodies for the Jet Electrica 007 I'm buying.

Trojans are unfortunately going down the smithouse due to a change in management.

US batteries at the moment are better, and its too bad :(

Any one use Thundersky or have experience with them?

With the Headways how do you manage the batteries and charge them?
I was looking at the Engener batteries that are sold for plug in hybrids because they come with everything.
The Email they sent me included this information:

that seems like a nice deal

[QUOTE=Old Mechanic;202205]What's the best available battery today for an electric vehicle, in the 5K cost range?

Howdy Mech,

That's a simple sounding question but not so simple to answer. Please give us more information, such as desired system voltage, vehicle weight and type etc. Have you chosen a controller yet?

I teach a an EV battery course at a local community college and have tested various lithium cells. I'm quite familiar with Headway, Thundersky, CALB and China Hi Power to name a few of the more "affordable" lithium batteries. Is it possible to get a pack in the $5k range... well yeah but it isn't likely to be very big.

I got a Thundersky pack of 40AH cells for around that price without including the cost of the BMS or cell interconnects or stainless hardware. I chose to go with a very high voltage (104 cells in series) pack in an AC drive application that would not have very high amperage drains. Thundersky cells will generally put out their rated AH capacity if you keep the amperage loads reasonable (like 1C or less). I've got about a 13kW/hr pack and it gives my 3,440 lb S-10E a 30-60 mile realistic range.