Arctic Series LiFePO4 batteries

Mr T · Apr 20, 2022

Anyone seen that KS Energy have an Arctic Series LiFePO4 battery with inbuilt heating so is good for charging/discharging down to -30 degrees. Not sure on the footprint/size compared with the under bonnet battery in the GC. Assume would need to add a booster of some form to get full charge from the alternator.

3c): KS-ARC120 12V 120AH Ultra Low Temperature Arctic lithium leisure battery

The KS-ARC120 Arctic LiFEPO 12V 120AH battery features a superior internal mechanical construction with 4 banks of 20 32700 premium LiFePo cells with a patented...

www.ksenergy.co.uk

dominichayhoe · Apr 20, 2022

Mr T said:
Anyone seen that KS Energy have an Arctic Series LiFePO4 battery with inbuilt heating so is good for charging/discharging down to -30 degrees. Not sure on the footprint/size compared with the under bonnet battery in the GC. Assume would need to add a booster of some form to get full charge from the alternator.

3c): KS-ARC120 12V 120AH Ultra Low Temperature Arctic lithium leisure battery

The KS-ARC120 Arctic LiFEPO 12V 120AH battery features a superior internal mechanical construction with 4 banks of 20 32700 premium LiFePo cells with a patented...

www.ksenergy.co.uk

Lots of threads on this already.

Main points I could glean:

1. VW will not honour warranty on anything that fails that they can attribute to this (make of that what you will).
2. There was a thread where someone has done just this but cant find it now, he also added a DC to DC convertor I believe to manage the alternator output.

Various other threads with adding a battery at the other end of the electrics etc. too.

I've just gone for the jackery route, to play it safe. These vans seem to get enough issues for me without potentially adding to the problem, although I do agree 47.5 usable amp hours is pathetic!

Mr T · Apr 20, 2022

dominichayhoe said:
Lots of threads on this already.

Main points I could glean:

1. VW will not honour warranty on anything that fails that they can attribute to this (make of that what you will).
2. There was a thread where someone has done just this but cant find it now, he also added a DC to DC convertor I believe to manage the alternator output.

Various other threads with adding a battery at the other end of the electrics etc. too.

I've just gone for the jackery route, to play it safe. These vans seem to get enough issues for me without potentially adding to the problem, although I do agree 47.5 usable amp hours is pathetic!

The reason for highlighting this one is because many comments have been about the temperature in the bonnet area and concerns, however this model seems to deal with those.

I understand the concern over warranty issues, I do however question the likelihood of VW successfully blaming a LifePo4 battery that has be installed instead of an AGM, I assume a LifePO4 battery still provides the same 12v that an AGM does. However I agree it may be a fight not worth having or taking the risk on. Could always pop the AGM back in for service visits.....

So your Jackary, using that helps extend your "off-grid" camping by how much? I assume it's a 1000 Wh unit, so around 83ah equivalent? In real life use, fridge on etc. how long can you go?

Thanks!

dominichayhoe · Apr 20, 2022

Mr T said:
The reason for highlighting this one is because many comments have been about the temperature in the bonnet area and concerns, however this model seems to deal with those.

I understand the concern over warranty issues, I do however question the likelihood of VW successfully blaming a LifePo4 battery that has be installed instead of an AGM, I assume a LifePO4 battery still provides the same 12v that an AGM does. However I agree it may be a fight not worth having or taking the risk on. Could always pop the AGM back in for service visits.....

So your Jackary, using that helps extend your "off-grid" camping by how much? I assume it's a 1000 Wh unit, so around 83ah equivalent? In real life use, fridge on etc. how long can you go?

Thanks!

There's already a few of these batteries with the heating element handled around.

If I wanted to be a cynic and think of things VW could say regarding replacing the standard battery with any other LIfepo4, off the top of my head I could say:

1. It's not a VW part, and therefore not a VW responsibility to dis-prove that the batteries BMS doesn't handle the currents correctly. A poor BMS could easily damage system components.
2. It's well known a lead/acid battery and a Lifepo4 battery have different charging profiles, and as the vehicle wasn't set up with a Lifepo4 in mind, the different currents 'could' damaged components.

As you say putting your old one back in may mean they don't realise you've been running the van with a different battery, who knows with modern technology though!

Regarding the Jackery, well as Lifepo4 is allegedly able to be discharged to 90%, I'd say 1000wh/100*90/12 so 75 usable amp hours.

How long will that extend my off-grid camping, that is like saying how long is a piece of string.

We'd have to be using exactly the same equipment, at the same temperature, for the same amount of time, with the same amount of load for the answer to be the same, but so far I've not run out, although I've only done a couple of days back to back off-grid thus far in the van because of what I've been doing, not because of lack of power.

I'm sure your situation will be different to mine, so simply add up all your devices you want to run, divide the watts by 12, and then work out the running time per day of each device to find the amp hours you need.