The confusing world of Lithium Ion batteries.

[noelH]

LNMC based chemistry lithium ion battery in the Torqueedo. Unknown specific composition. LNMC with higher % lithium  and cobalt pack a higher energy density, but at a $$$ cost. Torqueedo notes for storage over 6 months to fully charge.  Have been doing so the last 6 and now 7th season. Based of capacity and performance I have not noticed any real loss of capacity.

The ePropulsion eLite I'm pretty sure has a battery made of 18650 LNMC cells. They note to drop the battery down to 65% for long term storage.  So I did.  The kicker is they recommend checking monthly to make sure capacity keeps above a critical safe level. LNMCs depending on chemistry self discharge 1-4% per month.

Unsure what type of lithium ion cells are in the Ego chainsaw battery. It's an "intelligent" battery that after a set amount time of no use self discharges to some level.

18650 cells used in the LED flashlights have been charged to full. Both ones in the flashlights and backups in storage. Quality cells and after 7 years of use the only one trashed was due to me leaving the torch on for ? weeks. Cell voltage dropped into the 2volt range. Discharged it down to fraction of a volt and dispose of. Simple diy slow and safe discharger.  A must if you fly lithium powered RC platforms or stress your "smart" battery chargers by using discharge mode.

Started flying DJI quads this year.  Something I never though I would do. Not a fan of DJI. Their "intelligent" batteries are LNMC lithium ions.  Low kv, high torque motors, and low power (watts) quads. They also self discharge.  The kicker is the two models I fly have two different batteries and have different self discharge schedules. Could be due to size(2s and 4s) and capacity.  Both drop down to  the same storage level as ePropulsion.

Realistically I think it is a liability issue for the companies that have self discharging LNMC. In the case of thermal run away the higher voltage fully charged battery would have a more significant negative outcome.  Personally I think it is a bit of a trade off. First one has to consider the actual size, capacity, watt hr of the battery. Then factor in discharging a battery to a "safe" storage level has some inherent risks.

Will be interesting with time as more vehicles and boats become lithium v. gasoline powered in the incidents of fires, explosions.  One of the bad things about lithium is salt water intrusion. Thermal run away can happen and not immediately.  Wonder how many hurricane flooded EVs have been sitting time bombs.

[Doug SC]

Yes, battery maintenance can keep one busy. There is lots of research currently on alternatives to Lithium. I look forward to seeing what will come of it. Thanks for the info on the electric motors.

[Norm L.]

There is a reason why the systems to monitor these batteries are more expensive than a fuse or on/off switch.
Battery science is still swiftly moving. It is no longer a car battery, truck battery or maybe a boat battery. They are being designed for specific applications. Weight, power, life, safety gets played with.
Safety comes first on ships. PCTCs(Pure Car &Truck Carriers)) now need a very advanced and complete fire detection and extinguishing system. EVs aren't afraid of water hoses.
Electric vessels are coming out around the world like small ferry boats, with small bulk carriers carrying coal running on Chinese rivers. Some autonomous. I hope you appreciate the battery boats moving coal to Chinese power plants. And China with the most wind farms.
Worldwide the energy demand for corporate data distribution systems stays ahead of the clean power supplies. And for the growing demand for human cool air.

It is nice that sailboats really don't need any of that. Well maybe with a few exceptions.

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[noelH]

Personally after 7 seasons of using the Torqeedo Travel I wouldn't even consider an ICE outboard. Routine maintenance has been just charging up for storage and occasional charging of the battery during the season. One season of very light use of the ePropulsion eLite, the backup motor just incase the Travel decides to fail.

Once again fighting with an ICE. My ancient Jonsrud chainsaw. Reinforcement for my dislike of ICE.

The number of EV must be growing significantly even in WI. State just passed a 3 cent per kilowatt tax if you use a commercial charging station. Makes sense. Supposedly our state sales tax on gasoline and diesel goes for road maintenance and repair.

[Jim B., CD-25]

We recently bought another Class B campervan. Definitely some big changes in battery technology.  AGM battery for the chassis, another AGM as a "buffer/jumper" battery, and 2 300 amp hour lithium batteries to power all the RV stuff.  600 amp hours total means we can run the air conditioner, electric induction cooktop, microwave, or any 120 plug-in appliances from those lithium batteries and a 3,000w inverter.  No generator.  There is a 280 amp aux alternator under the hood that the manufacturer calls "an under hood generator," providing DC to DC charging for the lithium batteries.  The batteries will charge to 80% or more from a half hour of idling the engine... and always charging while driving.  3 solar panels on top of the van.

When plugged into shore power (the way most RVs are able to run a/c and appliances), the inverter acts as a pass through for the 120v appliances.  This all but eliminates the need for an electric hook-up each night for the RV.  Although we will still use RV parks for taking on fresh water and dumping holding tanks - just won't have to be every night.

Roadtrek (the manufacturer) was the first in the RV industry to use these big lithium batteries and have refined their use/design over the past decade.  The technology is interesting.  Visiting with those who have earlier versions of this set-up, there is more "user input" required.  All we have to do is turn on the batteries and know when (or when not) to use the inverter.  Previous versions required separate "starts" for each large lithium bank, and frequent re-starts.

I can see where this kind of technology would be an advantage for boat cruisers as well.  When we were cruising on our C-Dory (after retiring), we needed to have a generator onboard to run the water heater, fridge, microwave, battery charger, etc, when spending nights at anchor.

[Norm L.]

I like that Jim. Bi or multi power sources will be around for a while