..That's what had me scratching my head as well, I think the only logical reason can be the extra AH means you can leave it longer with voltage drain and still be startable? I would rather have a lifepo4 and a lithium jump starter / usb charger I can charge in the house and/or a solar trickle charger on roof???
That they are cheap and just not at all innovative was another I read in a forum or two on my researching this... to the fact that the only companies less innovative than car companies is car company parts suppliers... and they still push lumps of poison and acid that give off gasses.
This is also the industry has given us Dieselgate and managed to flog I don't know how many generations of Prius to the gullible as "environmental", loaded to the hilt with lead from Africa refined in Canada, Built in Japan and been half way round the world before even started on energy to build ...while the defender with very high double digit percentages of them still on the road, all built with british pig iron and alloy in Birmingham and can be fixed with a spanner, welder and hammer, 70 years on seen as less environmentally friendly. While the world is happy "recycling" single use Nespresso capsules as long as they did not arrive in a 5p plastic bag, this must be one of the few relics that has not been jumped on yet by the press???
Wow I am grumpy today
Sorry, was not suggesting lithium is any more environmentally friendly than Lead, but there is way less lithium used, it is not suspended in acid, and it lasts a lot longer.
You are right: You have to check on the battery and whether they have crucially a) as you point out the ability to take a current from an alternator, and b) that this charger / management essentially built in will cut out the battery stop stop it overcharging / draining too low that it dies. The powerlite unit has both, and if you look at their site they also make alternators for loads of old vehicles, I only got has far as V8 rover units, but saw enough in that and the feedback to know they know their stuff. Interestingly the video that got me thinking about this: had a battery die on him from over draining and his solution was an isolator, which many have on their landies. Its a shame as that battery has a bluetooth module to show you its battery level, do not know if that is post this video or not, in which case if they install something so clever it has bluetooth, you would hope it would be clever enough to cut out as well...
It is worth noting that a) there is a load of crap out there on the internet in terms of ageing, memory, etc. and b) lithium has had a huge amount of innovation put into it even in the last 2-3 years we have seen warranties on lithium has gone from 1-3 years to over 10 years. All batteries age with usage (and lead acid uniquely with no usage) and its worth noting that this deterioration is more related with charge cycles, not age... and lithium will usually accept thousands of vs hundreds of charge cycles of lead acid, so not sure where you are getting ageing being a concern for lithium??? This particular battery can be stored used for 2 years according to manufacturer... by which time your lead acid could have burned a hole through the seat box. Actually my first job before sealing holes in the seatbox, was curing all the acid pitting and consequent rust under the where the lead acid battery had been, or could just be the weight of battery and mud and grit in under the battery in the battery tray?
That article is from 2010! Its ancient... the ageing they mention precludes about 3 generations of battery evolution!
Yes, I did look at them, and would have probably been my first choice, but could not see an easy way of getting them here in UK?
From what I have understood from the one I have bought that is built intottot -
Does that mean that if you put a Lithium battery on a landrover, you should ideally wire in a little box / charger / monitor thingy between the alternator and battery?
or is this already built in to the battery?
or do we just randomly put in 13-15v from the alternator each time we run the engine?
I might have to do some google searching
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