|
Just a few quick points. I just pulled prices off Google for a simple comparison. The trojans TE35's are sealed so one should not have to worry about acid damage. A typical set of trojan batteries last upwards of 8 years depending on how well they were cared for. If there is indeed a 4x improvement in life-cycle between the two batteries that would mean one battery CALB should last 32 years in standard ET use? No matter how much we all love our ET's the odds of our tractors having a useful life at the age of 72 is slim. I would be interested in knowing what your cost is. Please send me a PM. Right now my I-5 needs a new pack and i am looking at spending a low of $480 for a sams club pack, to a high of $900 for some interstates. If i could get 10 new england winters out of the CALB pack i would be more then happy. Heck if i can keep the ET going another 10 years i would be happy. It just bothers me that these are made in china as i like to keep my money local. > > To compare value its not that simple as adding up the initial costs. > > The CALB 100AH cell has 114AH of capacity. This would be taking the cell to > 2.5 volts which I don't recommend. If you only go down to 3 volts a cell, > you will still have 100AH of capacity and less then a 90% discharge. For > long life a 80% DOD would be better, about 3.1 volts to provide about 2000 > cycles until your capacity is around 90AH. > > When a battery is no longer able to provide 80% of its rated capacity most > use this as the end of its service life. Myself I would not replace a 90AH > battery. > > I have not been able to find the data sheets on the T35 that provide much > cycle life information. > > It would appear about 600 cycles in the T35GEL if used at 80% SOC. They do > not state what the end of cycle life capacity is. I have seen some lead > manufacturers use 60% for end of service life. I have never seen very high > lead cycle life, with deep discharges, or heavy loads. > > If your using lead under cold conditions your not going to have any where > near the rated capacity. At 40 degrees (F) your useable capacity is 80% at > 20 degrees it drops to 60%. As your useable capacity drops your loads have a > much greater impact on cycle life. If your in a warm area with lead you > will have more capacity but less cycle and calendar life. > > Also flooded lead has a much higher self discharge rate. So your > maintenance is also greater when not in use. > > Need more information but I would expect at least a 4X improvement in > LiFePo4 cycle life over lead. So your 1200 dollar lead pack in the long run is > really 4800 dollars. In time, using lead, you far exceed the cost of > LiFePo4. > > As far as recycling. Yes right now since LiFePo4 has such a long service > life there is not going to be a lot of recycling. However with all the cell > phones, lap tops and all the other portable electronics. There is going to > be a lot of lithium recycled. Not that you should throw it away but lithium > batteries are not as hazardous as lead acid. > > On hazards I would be careful as not all lithium is safe. We had painted > the OSU solar car and provided a pack of A123 cells all at no cost. The next > year they wanted more capacity so they did not use LiFePo4 cells. I advised > them at the time this is a great risk. > > Here are the results > > http://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/osu-student-gets-out-just-in-time/art > icle_803a17e6-afd8-11e0-bedd-001cc4c03286.html > > Since then A123 became a sponsor of them. We did refinish their replacement > car at no charge. I was glad to see no one was killed in an EV. > > Don Blazer > |