Lithiums, Lithiums, Lithiums

There is no end of discussion in the electric vehicle world about recent innovations in lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) battery technology. The promises of charge cycles measured in the thousands, high inherent safety, and general tolerance to abuse are appealing. Indeed many of our customers have been running their ebikes off A123 cells pulled from DeWalt packs and similar.

Unfortunately most of the larger capacity LiFePO4 batteries from China are poorly built, with tangles of wires and low C-rate performance. However, there is one manufacturer we have been beta testing for the past 2 months that actually delivers, with 4C discharge currents and tidy and robust pack builds. We placed a large order for these in early Oct 2007 and are expecting arrival in January Feb 20th 2008. Price will be approximately $900 for 48V 12Ah, and $700 for 36V 12Ah.