Ultimate Mobility Battery Guide: How to Select for Your RV or Scooter

Are you worried about replacing the battery of your RV or mobility scooter? Faced with the traditional lead-acid removable batteries, the common NiMH batteries and the more advanced Li-ion removable batteries, do not know how to choose. This article will give you a comprehensive analysis of the characteristics of each of these types of batteries and make the best recommendation for you.

Let's get started!

Overview of mobility battery types

Lead-Acid Batteries

The lead-acid battery has been around since the mid-1800s and is the earliest rechargeable battery in existence! At over 170 years old, the technology behind the lead-acid battery has been mature and successful. But that also means it doesn't take advantage of the most advanced technology available. Let's see how this affects RVers.

Lead-acid batteries use a chemical reaction to generate electricity. Each 12-volt battery contains six (6) cells. Each cell contains a mixture of sulfuric acid and water (in varying degrees). Each cell has a positive terminal and a negative terminal. As the cell generates electricity, it also discharges. The chemical reaction causes the sulfuric acid to break down into water that is stored in each cell to dilute the acid. Thus, using electricity depletes the acid.

When the cell is recharged, the process is reversed and the charging of the cell rebuilds the acid molecules. This process is the storage of energy.

Nickel Metal Hydride Batteries

Nickel-metal hydride batteries were invented in the late 1960s. The development was more or less the result of investments in the automotive industry by companies such as Volkswagen and Daimler-Benz. The car companies wanted a cheaper and more reliable better battery.

 The negative electrode of this battery is an intermetallic compound containing nickel. The positive electrode is nickel hydroxide. NiMH batteries are rechargeable because they do not consume components during discharge.

 NiMH batteries are more expensive than alkaline batteries. A typical battery will be recharged about 500 times before it reaches the end of its life. Unfortunately, performance decreases with discharge, and you will notice a significant drop in power over time. NiMH batteries also take a long time to recharge.

Lithium-ion Battery

Also known as lithium ion batteries, lithium ion batteries are the newest of the three main types. They are commonly used as rechargeable batteries in portable electronics. For example, the battery in your cell phone is a lithium-ion battery.

 Research on lithium-ion batteries began in the 1970s. However, it wasn't until the early 1990s that the first commercially available lithium-ion batteries were introduced. Lithium-ion technology has come a long way due to the explosion of personal electronics in the last two decades.

 While lithium-ion batteries are the most expensive of the three, they tend to pay for themselves quickly, which is their main advantage. A good lithium-ion battery can be recharged twice as many times as a NiMH battery. Indeed, Pale Blue Earth lithium-ion batteries can be recharged more than 1,000 times.

 Another advantage of lithium-ion is the constant power output. There is no loss of performance when the battery is discharged. Lithium-ion batteries are also fast to recharge; typically within 1-3 hours. The icing on the cake is that lithium-ion batteries are 30% lighter than alkaline and NiMH batteries, making them ideal for portability.

Expensive lithium-ion battery with the longest life

At present, lithium batteries are more expensive than lead-acid, about three times more expensive, but combined with the service life analysis, put the same cost, still lithium battery life cycle is longer.

Currently the more popular material system is ternary and lithium iron, ternary power lithium battery cycle times are usually more than 1000 times, the cycle times of lithium iron phosphate batteries in more than 4000 times, lead-acid batteries are usually only about 300 to 350 times, so the service life of lithium batteries is about 8-10 times that of lead-acid batteries. Usually, lithium-ion batteries can be used for 10 years, while lead-acid batteries can only be used for 1 year.

Portability

The volume capacity density of lithium battery is usually about 1.5 times that of lead-acid battery, so with the same capacity, lithium battery is about 30% smaller than the volume of lead-acid battery. The current energy density of Li-ion battery is generally 200~260wh/g, and lead-acid is generally 50~70wh/g, so the weight energy density of Li-ion battery is 3~5 times of lead-acid, which means that the lead-acid battery is 3~5 times of Li-ion battery with the same capacity, so Li-ion battery occupies the absolute advantage in the light weight of energy storage device.

If you are an outdoor enthusiast and need to choose for your RV or scooter can Dion to give power, then the battery weight is an important factor that you have to consider. Of course, the lighter the battery, the more convenient.

Safety

Lead-acid batteries are popular for a variety of reasons. First, they offer proven technology that has been around for over a century and a half. Being a widely known technology, this tends to give people a sense of security. 

Lead-acid batteries are relatively inexpensive to produce (despite being harmful to the environment), so they are relatively inexpensive to purchase up front. Considering the cost, they initially appear to be more cost effective for consumers. However, this does not take into account the overall life of the battery or the actual energy you get from it. Read on to learn how lead-acid compares to lithium in these areas.

Lead-acid batteries are capable of deep discharge, although deep discharge can significantly affect the life of the battery.

Charging speed

Lead-acid batteries can take a long time to recharge. The long charging time is due to their internal design which causes the charging rate to slow down as they approach completion. Absorption charge cycling causes this slowdown.

If the battery does not complete absorption charging before discharge, it can cause the battery to sulfate. Sulfation affects charging time, charging efficiency, and can increase battery temperature. 

When a lead-acid battery is discharged for too long, it also loses some of its ability to accept charge, which reduces capacity. This damage is caused by the lead sulfate crystallizing and no longer dissolving.

Environmentally friendly

Lead-acid batteries are one of the most recycled items in the world. This is very important because their lead content has caused serious environmental and health problems over the years. However, 5% of lead-acid batteries are not recycled. As a result, millions of metric tons of lead are dumped into the environment.  

As a result, lead-acid batteries are gradually being replaced by lithium-ion batteries in the course of industrial development.

Aolithium 12.8v 100Ah LiFePO4 Battery for RV and Scooter

The Aolithium LiFePO4 battery is a major upgrade from the traditional lithium-ion battery. The cathode material used in this product is lithium iron phosphate, which is by far the best and most stable battery material. If you want to upgrade your RV or mobility scooter battery to LiFePO4, you should give Aolithium a priority.

Its cells and packs are UL certified and its revolutionary pack technology ensures a life expectancy of over 4000 cycles at 90% DOD. That's already more than 95% of similar batteries.

This LiFePO4 battery supports 4 parallel and 4 series (series then parallel) and can reach a maximum power of 20480 W. You can connect up to 16 cells in parallel to expand the power capacity to meet your needs. You can also connect multiple batteries in series.

Of course I recommend connecting batteries of the same type (AGM), same capacity (Ah) and same voltage (V) from the same brand.

Aolithium also does a very good job in battery intelligence. The battery has built-in intelligent BMS, which can realize temperature protection and overcharge protection. Bluetooth connection to the phone allows real-time monitoring of battery power.

The battery case is removable, which is very convenient for maintenance. Of course, as an RV lithium-ion battery, it also has an 8-year warranty, which can go with your RV for a very long time.

In use, lithium-ion battery performance is particularly remarkable, 4000 cycles can withstand longer use compared to lead-acid batteries and other lithium iron phosphate batteries.