Lithium ion battery tech – your questions answered at AIMExpo
The piece we carried last month by Martin Human , CEO and Chief Technical Officer for TecMate - the manufacturer of the OptiMate brand of battery chargers and diagnostic / maintenance tools – “ Lithium Battery Technology Headed for Center Stage ” – got quite a reaction . What follows are the salient points from a follow-up interview I did with Martin about some of the reactions the piece got and the advice that he and his team will be offering from their AIMExpo booth …
BOOTH #
961
In last month ’ s piece , it was the remarks concerning lithium ion battery technology being destined to eventually become standard battery technology for most motorcycle manufacturers on most models that appears to have got people ’ s attention . Without even speaking about its importance of the future evolution of electric bikes as part of the mix , the impact that OE replacement of conventional lead acid and AGM battery technology with lithium ion technology will have on motorcycle starting , onboard power opportunities and battery maintenance issues will require the motorcycle service sector to embrace a reboot of its habits and knowledge base . It will represent a change that will probably be at least , if not more , as significant than that caused in the V-twin sector by the advent of fuel injection and stricter emissions and noise regulations . As Martin said to me following publication of the last edition :“ Now , with the OEMs entering , batteries will have to meet specific standards . The problem is , those standards are being taken from generic lithium battery standards , as there is no specific standard as yet for 12.8V lithium starter batteries ”. One of the issues that Martin and others operating in battery and battery-related markets bemoan is the low knowledge base and widespread misunderstandings and conflicting opinions there are about lithium technology . He told me about a paper he was asked to present to a class at a technical training college recently :“ The
Counter tester
Words by Robin Bradley robin @ dealer-world . com
LiFePO4 battery protection
biggest problem is that very few people are aware of just how important it is to embrace a full and proper understanding of just how different the technology is – as things stand , a lot of batteries , and even bikes , are going to get damaged or destroyed before the market wakes up .”
The Technology
“ The technology in use as starter batteries is Lithium Iron Phosphate , also known as Lithium Ferrous Phosphate , chemical formula LiFePO4 , abbreviated as ' LFP '. It is made up of 4 x 3.2V cells ( nominal voltage , like a 12V is made up of 6 x 2V cells ). Nominal essentially means the base voltage after a full discharge , or approximately 10 % charge level . It can be safely charged to 4 x 3.6V ( 14.4V ), with the absolute maximum at 14.6V . “ It is a type of lithium ion battery ( Li-Ion ), but only one of many Li-Ion technologies - both rechargeable and non-rechargeable ( primary ). A good rule of thumb is that LFP / LiFePO4 4-cell batteries are used as starter batteries in power sport applications , and in nothing else . “ A lithium battery will last longest if always operated within the range of 30 to 95 % of charge - for a LFP battery that is between 13V and 14.4V .
The three best ways to kill a lithium battery
Martin told me that in order to galvanize the attention of the class he titled his presentation ‘ How to kill a lithium battery and burn out your bike ’. “ That got their attention ,” Martin said .
Charge it too much … “ The simplest and most reliable way to kill a lithium battery is simply to charge it too much . Charge it
LiFePO4 battery preparation for dealers
above 14.6V , and what occurs is rapid cell damage , causing a short circuit in the weakest cell , which then rapidly increases voltage across the others and it becomes a domino effect . “ All power entering the battery is converted as heat until the run-away temperature of 270 ° C is reached within the battery , at which point the battery goes into a self-consume state , in other words , it burns itself out and possibly takes everything with it – not least the bike .” To make that battery live longer , if you ' re fitting it as an aftermarket replacement into a motorcycle , check the charge voltage of the motorcycle with the original lead acid in place - if it remains at 14.4 / 14.5V or lower ( at 2000rpm or higher ), then the bike qualifies for a lithium battery , otherwise you are better off simply buying a better quality lead acid , or better still , just look after it better .
Discharge it really low Lithium battery destruction technique # 2 … let it discharge to the point where it is at least below 10V ( but the lower the better ) and then jump start it ( or bump start the bike ). “ What happens next ,” says Martin , “ is that as the
Martin Human , CEO and Chief Technology Officer for TecMate says : “ Lithium Iron Phosphate is the safest and only lithium battery technology used in modern SLI ( starter-lighting-ignition ) batteries , but there is a widespread confusion about how they charge - confusion that will result in burned out batteries and motorcycles !”
58 AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE DEALER - SEPTEMBER 2017 www . AMDchampionship . com