Califaktur / Saftkiste Lithium Battery Upgrade

I am investigating upgrading the AGM leisure batteries on my 2022 T6.1 Ocean 4Motion to lithium batteries with an inverter and adding solar panels with the aim of being off EHU for longer periods of time, which was problematic last year (mostly due to trying to keep a power hungry gaming laptop (not mine!) charged and operational).

I have decided on the solar solution (one of Roger at Solar Camper Solutions’ 300W kits) and will be getting this installed shortly, before I install the lithium batteries.

I had almost decided to push the button on the 200Ah (2 x Super B Epsilon 100Ah) lithium battery package from Car Electric / Philippi in Hamburg (https://www.camperelektrik.de/collections/vw-t6-1) who are mentioned in other threads and seem to be well regarded, but, because this is quite a large financial outlay, I investigated a bit further.

I turned up two very similar but slightly different systems, both using 2 x Saftkiste 170Ah batteries:

• Saftkiste themselves offer a package (https://saftkiste.com/products/autarkiepaket-pro-volkswagen-t6-1-california?variant=52247993549064) which, like the Car Electric solution, requires an update to the software for the CCU to display the battery information correctly.
• The Califaktur package (https://www.califaktur.de/products/califaktur-lithium-paket-vw-california-t6-1-coast-ocean-340ah) is almost identical but, in an email discussion with Clifaktur, they confirmed that no software update for the CCU is required for the correct battery information to be displayed: the LIN Bus connection from the battery sends the relevant information to the CCU and it is a true “plug & play” and easily reversible solution.

I am a reasonably technical/handy person but 12V electrics is a dark art to me so my first question is is it feasible that with just the LIN Bus connection the CCU can display the correct and accurate battery information? It just seems to be a little too good to be true.

My second question is does anyone have any experience with the Saftkiste batteries and/or the lithium packages offered by Saftkiste or Califaktur?

Car Electic only offer a supply and install package, so would require a trip to Hamburg (not unappealing in the slightest but a bigish time commitment). Both Saftkiste and Califaktur only offer their packages as self install kits and will not ship to the UK. Given my experience/competence with 12V systems, it is not a project that I would take on myself in any case. Both have Partner Workshops where the kits can be shipped to and installed. Again, these are all in mainland Europe but there are options in both Belgium and Netherlands, which are much quicker to reach from Calais. I have been looking at Van Hoe in Gent. Has anyone used Van Hoe previously and would you recommend?

Thank you in advance for your responses.

P.S.: I have searched the forum threads for other mentions of Califaktur/Saftkiste lithium batteries and not been able to turn anything up but if this query is more appropriate as part of another thread, please let me know and I will update.

Hi akrlife,

I am the lead developer of the AutarkiepaketPRO packages at Batterieschmiede (Saftkiste).

Thank you very much for your interest in our solutions

The package offered by Califaktur and by us (Saftkiste / Batterieschmiede) is exactly the same. I completely understand the confusion — we are currently in a handover process, and at the moment the set can be ordered through both of us.

You mentioned concerns about whether LIN communication is sufficient to provide the correct information in the vehicle display. Let me briefly explain how this works:

In the original vehicle setup, a battery sensor is connected directly to the battery terminals. This sensor communicates with the control unit (KFG), which then communicates with the display. In cooperation with Volkswagen, we developed an identical communication behaviour that replicates this original setup.

Our software is compatible with both:

• the original vehicle software, and
• the updated vehicle software ("Maßnahmencode" applied).

Keeping the original software has only very minor drawbacks, which I describe in detail on our website (currently only available in German). In short:
The only difference is the remaining time estimate (not sure about the exact English term in the menu). It appears shorter because the vehicle still assumes the original battery capacity. Since this value is generally quite inaccurate anyway, this is not an issue for most users.

A special case is the T6.1 Coast/Ocean with only one SaftkistePRO, where the remaining time is always displayed as “0h”.
Importantly, the “battery weak” and “battery empty” warnings are not affected and still trigger correctly at 10% and 0% SOC.

We have also received the official UBB approval from Volkswagen for this package. This means your Volkswagen partner should be able to install it. If you cannot find a VW partner, any qualified car workshop should also be able to perform the installation.

The installation itself is quite straightforward. You can find the installation manual here (currently only available in German, sorry about that):

Regarding ordering the set for the UK: I am not directly involved in logistics, but I am confident that this should be possible.

Please get in touch with Max from our distribution department for further details:
[email protected]

If you have any further questions, feel free to reach out.

Cheers,
Florian

Hi Florian,

Thank you for your response.

Thank you for clarifying re the LIN Bus connection/software update and what would be displayed with and without the update to the VW software. This contradicts what Califaktur told me in an email but is, as you say, exactly what you state on your website and as I suspected.

If I can be pedantic about it to fully understand the implications of installing/not installing the "Maßnahmencode", I would like to work through an example to confirm my understanding is correct. Below is a photo of the display on my CCU with the ex-factory VW AGM batteries installed (80Ah effective capacity) and 60% charged:



1: If I installed the 340Ah Saftkiste batteries without the "Maßnahmencode" and those batteries were charged to 60%:
- the battery graphic would show 6 of 10 bars blue
- the voltage and current would display the actual voltage and current readings from the battery
- the Time Remaining estimate would still show 52h 20 mins because this would be based on 60% of 80Ah.

2: If I installed the 340Ah Saftkiste batteries with the "Maßnahmencode" and those batteries were charged to 60%:
- the battery graphic would show 6 of 10 bars blue
- the voltage and current would display the actual voltage and current readings from the battery
- the Time Remaining estimate would show 222h 20 mins (crudely interpolated from the figures in the photo)

Is my understanding correct?

Does the UBB approval from Volkswagen cover both installation with or without the "Maßnahmencode" software update?

When you say that you are in a handover process, can you please explain what effect this will have? In the future will the package only be available from Saftkiste / Batterieschmiede or Califaktur?

Thank you again for your input on this.

Cheers,

Will.

Hi Will,

I don't know how the time remaining estimate is exactly being calculated but AFAIK it should behave as you described. Only difference is that the display can not display more than 60h, so it will not show 222h,

But in general the time remaining estimate is not really exact and I'd suggest to use the time remaining estimate in the Saftkiste App for both cases.

The UBB approval doesn't depend on the use of the "Maßnahmencode".

To the current plans, the package will be available through both companies You'll get support through both companies.

Have a great day,
Florian

Hi Florian,

Thanks again for your replies.

If I understand correctly, with the "Maßnahmencode" installed, until the Saftkiste batteries reach the state of charge level where the CCU estimates that there is <60h remaining, the display would show “>60h”. Is that correct?

I agree that the Time Remaining estimate is generally inaccurate!

Cheers,

Will.

Hi Will,

This is exactly what I would expect, yes.

Cheers,

Florian