Ultrabatt lithium batteries

[FastBikeGear]

A while ago I mentioned that Ultrabatt were testing and evaluating some higher performance LiFePO4 for use in their batteries and that we were expecting batteries with these cells to be available before the end of the year.

A couple of weeks ago I was advised that Ultrabatt PowerBlades with the Power+ cells would commence shipping much earlier than previously indicated, so I decided not to place another stocking order until the new batteries were shipping.

I thought that we had enough stock in hand to easily cover us for the next couple of months.

I unfortunately misjudged, we have completely sold out of our entire stock of Ultrabatt PowerBlades. (I even gave the original Ultrabatt battery in my own bike to Nick Cole to use in another of his bikes...he's a big fan of them).

The good news is that we have a very large shipment of the new batteries with the Power+ cells scheduled to arrive in eight weeks time from today (We are pushing hard to get even closer to the front of the que).

The other good news is that the price on the new Power+ PowerBlades will be the same as the standard PowerBlades.

However the key potential advantage of the new Ultrabatt Power+ blades is that on several of the larger bikes we expect customers may need one less PowerBlade than before to achieve the same starting performance, which equates to a very significant purchase cost reduction.

Some of you will have seen the youtube videos I have posted of load tests on Ultrabatts modular PowerBlade batteries. As soon as the new batteries arrive I will perform the identical load tests on the new batteries and publish the comparable results. We expect the tests will confirm a significant further increase in performance.

The Ultrabatt PowerBlade batteries are a third generation of LiFePO4 batteries. Because the new PowerPlus PowerBlades are an evolutionary progression rather than a revolutionalry development they are still considered to be a a third generation LiFePo4 battery.

Gen 1 Bunch of Lithium Cells soldered or screwed together in a plastic case with no (or just passive) cell balancing technology
Gen 2 Bunch of Lithium Cells laser welded together in a plastic case with active microprocessor cell balancing technology adn internal non replaceable short cirucit safety fuses
Gen 3 Bunch of Lithium Cells laser welded together in modular PowerBlade snap togther modules with active microprocessor cell balancing technology and replaceable short cirucit safety fuses
Gen 4 see below.



Fourth Generation Tease.

In addition to the above uprated batteries we are currently working on the next major step in battery technology.

How about a battery technology that is 2/3rds the weight of any current Lithium battery.
with a charge time less then 15 minutes....(A single PowerBlade currently takes 30 minutes to fully charge with a 3 Amp charger)
Even lower internal resistance (which makes much higher Cold Cranking Amps achievable from a much lighter battery)


Seem far fetched?

This technology is already being used by NASA on mission critical deployments, but has yet to be commercially deployed for motorbikes due to prohibitive cost of manufacture.
Recent advances in lowering the manufacturing cost now means that this battery technology is getting to the point where it could be commercially viable for use in motorcycle batteries in the near future.

I hope to commence long term tests on this 4th generation technology in my bike next week.
www.FastBikeGear.co.nz
Top brand Motorcycle accessories: R&G Racing, Titax, CTEK, Ultrabatt lithium Batteries, RockSolid, BikeVis, NGR, Oberon, Stopit, TUTORO, Posi-Lock, etc.
Mobile: 0275 985 266 Office, 09 834 6655

[FastBikeGear]

Ultrabatt Update

The new Power plus Power Blades featuring latest generation cells are expected to be here in two weeks and will officially be called Futura-lll PowerBlades to differentiate them from the existing PowerBlades.


Future 4th generation Power Pack field testing progress

I am currently field testing a future 4 generation Power Pack in my bike in a two week tour of the South Island. The results are very impressive.

The Power Pack weighs little more than a single PowerBlade but delivers over twice the cranking capacity. My starter motor has never spun over so fast (even with three UltraBatt PowerBlades). Unfortunately I can't measure the pulse cranking amps from it because our tester only goes to peak of 500 amps.

When I get home I am going to install it in both my three litre turbo diesel van and also try it in my wife's 3 litre BMW Motosport coupe to see how it copes.

We don't expect to see these in production for another six months but we are going to supply a couple of prototypes to some road riders and one of our sponsored riders to continue the reliability testing.

The prototype is currently housed in a handmade case as will be the ones supplied to the other riders for testing.

So far as expected it shows no adverse effects from being deliberately completely discharged multiple times. And we have seen no issues with balancing. Recharge time from flat is several times faster than a PowerBlade. I am a bit nervous to see just how fast we can charge it.

One unexpected advantage is that my electronic ignition seems to really enjoy the very stable voltage it delivers. We have had reports from one dealer using another brand of lithium battery that he has noticed his race bikes Electronic ignition systems do not like the lithium batteries he has tested. We have a couple of unproven theories on why this might be. We are going to give him one of the prototypes to experiment with and report back to us on.

[FastBikeGear]

Thought it was about time to post some photos and more information on the next generation prototype I have been field testing in the Frankencati.

Please note the prototype unit is in a hand made case. Production units will be a shorter wider format and will again be modular allowing you to click together multiple battery packs to create whatever size battery you need.

No current motorcycle on the market comes close to the cranking performance of this battery.

It is less than half the weight of a current generation LiFePO4 battery with similar Pulse Cranking Amps.

To put this in pespective....

A current Generation ultrabatt with a 10 second PCA weighs 1290 grams
A Shorai battery with just a 5 second PCA weighs a massive 1800 grams
A lead acid battery with an equivalent PCA weighs well over 5000 grams

(Remember that many vendors such as Shorai misleadingly quote their 5 second Pulse Cranking Amps as a CCA figure ref http://shoraipower.com/faq whereas vendors such as Ultrabatt quote both PCA and CCA figures but use a tougher 10 second PCA test)


I have just completed a several thousand kilometer trip around New Zeand with this battery in our Frankencati. Dealers we showed the prototype to were astounded by it's weight and performance. Less than half the wait of any current generation LiFePO$ battery. Vidoes coming soon.

Let me clearly state this here, Like all technology, we are not claiming that this battery pack is all things to all people.

[bogan]

A current Generation ultrabatt with a 10 second PCA weighs 1290 grams

How many PCAs are we talking?

Looking forward to the version that doesn't come wrapped in insulation tape

[FastBikeGear]

How many PCAs are we talking?

We don't know as yet, but we do know that it cranks over the Frankecati with more urge than a current generation 360 PCA Ultrabatt battery.

We know that this prototype will stick out well over this. From measuring we know that the Frankencati draws over 350 Peak Cranking Amps when in the first moment it initiates turning the starter motor, and we don't want to overstate anything until we have hard measurements to back them up.

It could be that it can deliver over 500 amps without destroying itself.....but it's the only prototype I have and I am nervous that if I try to find it's upper limit I will destroy it...and besides my load tester maxes out at 500 amps.

Looking forward to the version that doesn't come wrapped in insulation tape

Hey what are you inferring! There is high quality 2mm plastic sheet under that insulation tape that someone spent minutes cutting out and gluing together!
The Solid Works stuff has already commenced and I hope we will have a prototype 3D printed case in my hands within about six weeks.
The prototype doesn't even have a user replaceable fuse in it yet (which will be an essential safety item for this just as it is for any high amperage battery)

We don't expect to be able to sell production units for some months. There is a lot more work to be signed off yet and the tests done so far are only a subset of what needs to be done in different configurations. We don't acutally envisage it will be deployed in the manner that we have been testing it so far.

Please note for commercial reasons I can't answer some questions at the moment, so if I don't answer all the questions asked it's not because I am rude.

But I thought people would like an early look at what's coming down the road.

[FastBikeGear]

Here is a video that gives an inclination of the performance of the new prototype fitted to the Frankencati.

Please note that for these tests this bike was retrofitted with a modern high performance MOSFET regulator. (Not sure that the old regulator would have coped with or show cased the very high charging currents that the prototype can handle).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxN72cAzpDI

[nzspokes]

All is not well?

http://hp2enduro.com/hp2e_plugins/fo....php?3169.last

[FastBikeGear]

All is not well?

http://hp2enduro.com/hp2e_plugins/fo....php?3169.last

There was a batch of Ultrabatt MultiMighty batteries made with different cells in them. A123 Systems are the acknowledged technology leaders in LiFEPO4 technology, it's why companies like Ultrabatt were willing to pay more for their cells. Unfortunately A123 Systems went into chapter 11 and there was some uncertainty over whether they would be able to continue to supply cells, so Ultrabatt switched to another brand of cells. Unfortunately a percentage of the cells they switched to had well below par performance.

Ultrabatt recalled our stock of the faulty batch for replacement.

We got some of these in NZ and some of them slipped through to customers before we were aware of the problem and we have swapped these out. We know of four batteries from the suspect batch that are currently in use in NZ and while they are working OK at the moment it is possible that they will be probelmeatic later in their life. It is now just a timing issue to swap these out with those customers.

A123 Systems was subsequently purchased by another company and their financical future again looks solid. While there are a handful of other companies that make LiFeP04 cells that

The current PowerBlades are again using the latest version of the A123 Systems nanophosphate cells.

All Ultrabatt batteries are of course covered by FULL VALUE two year replacement warranty.

[BuzzardNZ]

You didnt get the memo?

It just arrived!

[FastBikeGear]

OK this is just getting ridiculous.

Testing new prototype motorcycle battery unit in 6 cylinder BMW 330 Motorsport Coupe.

http://youtu.be/7LU3z1mDUrg

The original fitment battery in this car a DIN 77L is rated at 720CCA and weighs a staggering 18.5 Kgs!
(Ref http://bestbatteries.co.nz/categorie...tery-alco.html)

Remember the prototype weighs just 500 grams.

We need to be clear and not over hype the performance of the prototype. We can't claim that the prototype has a much cranking capacity as the original BMW battery (because our test doesn't show this. All we can claim is that we have a prototype that can start the same vehicle that the original fitment 720 CCA battery starts.)

We haven't found out what the upper performance limit of this is yet.

Nor do we want to start quoting the life of it until we have a lot more testing under our belts but we we have every expectation from claims made for the cells by the manufacturer and what we are seeing so far in the excellent balance between the cells that we are achieving that is indicating it will out last any lithium battery on the market that doesn't have a BMS in it by a very significant factor. The reliability and lifespan will probably be limited by factors other than the cells.

What vehicle next? Perhaps a diesel will be more challenging. Luckily I have a 3 litre turbo diesel in my van and We also have a bigger diesel in our 7 Metre truck (but I am pretty sure we will need two of these modules for the big truck!

Testing 500 gram prototype in Six Cylinder car.

http://youtu.be/7LU3z1mDUrg

I truly believe that is beginning to look like wee are working with one of the future starter battery technologies.

[avgas]

OK this is just getting ridiculous.

But does it blend?

[FastBikeGear]

Just to give you an idea of how small the PowerBlades are

The other Lithium battery shown in the photos below is supposed to have a A 5 second PCA of 210 Cranking Amps.

The two Ultrabatt's have a 10 second PCA of 240 cranking amps.

As you can see the other brans LFX 144 is about a 1/3 bigger than two Ultrabatt PowerBlades and has less Cranking Amps

Keep in mind that each Ultrabatt PowerBlade also houses a replaceable fuse and BMS.

Photos tell the story best.

4th picutre below shows two Ultrabatt PowerBlades clipped together with the terminal covers on one of the PowerBlades.



Also keep in mind that we are currently testing a Prototype battery pack with 3 x as much cranking power (but with less storage capacity) than a single PowerBlade that is only 70 grams heavier than a single PowerBlade!!

[Dave-]

Hi Liam,

Do Ultrabatt test CCA at -18 degrees Celsius, @ 7.2V for 30 seconds?

Is PCA tested under the same conditions except for 10 seconds (as stated by the website)?

What is the actual (not Pbeq) capacity of an Ultrabatt?

[FastBikeGear]

Hi Liam,

Do Ultrabatt test CCA at -18 degrees Celsius, @ 7.2V for 30 seconds?

Is PCA tested under the same conditions except for 10 seconds (as stated by the website)?

What is the actual (not Pbeq) capacity of an Ultrabatt?

No. The CCA test is a PbEq rating - it's a marketing answer to a technical question. I am not aware of any Lithium battery company that does testing at -18 degrees Celsius. But the good news is that for most (but not all customers i.e. those down at Scott's Base, etc). It is largely of academic interest only.

What would be of more interest in NZ would be -5 degree PCA tests.

PCA testing is done at at a nominated ambient temperature. I believe it is 20 degrees Celsius. Have seriously thought about how we might perform these tests locally in a large freezer.

Lithium batteries as you are no doubt aware do not perform as well as lead acid batteries at cold temperature. Luckily there is a very simple self heating starting process that works very well and both we and Ultrabatt spec the PCA to ensure good cold weather starting. In NZ cold weather starting has never been an issue for any Ultabatt customer we are aware of.

In addition we also have a specific lithium battery cold weather solution that will work in well below freezing conditions in places such as the Antarctic. Please fell free to contact me for more details on that option.

If you let me know your specific requirements, peak breakaway cranking amps of your starter and continuos cranking amps I can advise you accordingly. We can also take these measurements for your vehicle if required. Alternatively can you advise me what vehicle you need to start? If you have concerns about temperature please let me know the coldest temperature you will be starting your vehicle in?


Liam@fastbikegear.co.nz
09 834 6655

[avgas]

In addition we also have a specific lithium battery cold weather solution that will work in well below freezing conditions in places such as the Antarctic. Please fell free to contact me for more details on that option.

I'm interested, and have been since Ed politely told me a few years ago that they are not suitable.
I need something that can handle a continuous trickle drain at sub-zero temps.

So not a starting battery. But just something that has more than 20Ah life to it.
Previous experience with Li based was I ended up with frigid bricks below zero. Usually with 1/2 or less of their juice.