So far, I have been spared charging issues, but I yet to stick anything into my OBD port. More so, I store the car for the winter (with battery disconnected but in the car) and so far it started every spring without issues.

 

Delete the 2nd battery and you save about 10 lbs, with the added benefit of no more annoying eco start/stop.

 

Lead acid batteries have a self discharge rate of approximately 5% per month, so a fully charged lead acid that is disconnected should be fine until down to 60% which would take eight months typically.

Li ion battery advantage are primarily higher energy density, put simply less weight for same capacity.
Li ion self discharge is approximately 5% in first 24 hours, followed by 1% to 2% per month plus power for protection circuit.

So not a significant difference between the two regarding self discharge, main difference is reduced weight at cost of 6 to 7 times cost of equivalent lead acid (agm).

If cost differences were much lower I would be interested, that said anyone who considers $1300 for a li ion battery to be expensive would weep at the cost of a li ion battery pack for a Tesla!

 

Not an option for the 16+ models. We don't have a second battery.

 

True that, but was responding to the gent saying he was put off by the 2nd battery on his '14 S. Hoping to solve two problems for him...

 

Understood, just bellyaching that I couldn't do the same thing. (though, I really like the ECO feature now).


BTW, for those of you observing unusual voltage output, where are you measuring voltage? At the cigar lighter, my voltage remains constant at 14.8V-14.9V. Were you measuring at the battery?

 

No, I was measuring probably at the same place, the power port that once was a lighter. My measurements were done the first year I owned the car and may still be in that thread, but I do not remember the numbers. I do remember that the voltage was above 14 very little and generally was not high enough to do a good bulk charge of the battery. Even on the highway, it charged for a bit then quickly dropped down to more of a float. It never remained high enough, long enough to do proper charge.
As a consequence, I became paranoid and put my car on a maintainer every night. I admit, though, I have never had a starting problem when I am away from home, even a week or more.
Larry

 

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/f...system-164254/

Here, this thread contains some numbers and a conversation with Foosh who also explored this.
Larry

 

I spoke with SmartBattery (https://www.lithiumion-batteries.com...on-battery.php) again today and was convinced that the battery logic is adequate to deliver a charge to the cells regardless of what any logical charge protocol is delivered by the car. They have seen zero issues with the charging systems of any of the high end cars. I have also taken the opportunity to measure the potential delivered to the OEM battery and it is virtually constant at 14.8v when the car is runing. BTW, the cigar lighter measures the same as the at the battery.


That said, I am pulling the following post over from another thread:



This battery, recommended by liteblox, is about the same price but reduces the weight by another 23-4 lbs. I am concerned, though, that the battery selected is too small. The Jag battery has a 90Ah capacity and this one is only 17.5/52.5 (PB equiv.) Ah. liteblox may not be antipating the massive energy drain from all the wizbang gizmos.


I suggest we let F-Type-Type put the smaller battery through its paces before we lock on to the solution. Comments, please!


Also, who is in the running for one of these lithium batteries?

 

I would think that the starting current is more important than the capacity. At anything other than idle, I would expect the alternator to power the car plus charge the battery. But this is based on logic, not actual experience. Capacity would matter more for ECO mode (for those without a 2nd battery), or if you spend much time with the accessories on but engine off.

 

Once the testing is complete, I'm in ....

 

One of our BMW comes with it... 1 year later and I am at the third battery... I guess the M group needed that weight saving/shifting bad enough and in winter time the car keeps on coming up with the increased discharge warning when cold.... Not worth the $$$ in my opinion

 

Agreed. CCA on the liteblox is 600A / 750A* (10s /1s pulse) and 1000A (5s pulse) on the SmartBattery. The OEM Battery is 850A(EN). No clue how long the pulse is for that (EN) spec.

 

Specifically which battery manufacturer?

 

According to the service slip is BMW part number 61217857288... On the other BMW they seem to be Varta but those are AGM. Regardless, I have Li batteries in the BMW i also and in the cold of winter they drop about 35-40% of the capacity

 

Yes, they are not suited for temperatures much less than freezing unless you carry a cordless hairdryer around with you.

 

Just ran the liteblox battery configurator and it came up with the LB26XX for my car. Makes more sense as the specs more closely match those of the OEM battery:


weight: 26XXg** (5,7lbs)
dimensions: 202 x 123 x 100mm (l x b x h)
voltage: 13,2V / 14,6V (nom / max)
capacity: 17,5Ah / 52,5Ah (nom / Pb-eq)
cranking current: 840A / 1050A* (10s /1s pulse)
temperature: -20 to +80°C
lifespan: lifespan: 3-5x compared to the OEM battery*
connection: OEM clamp onto the battery poles (DIN) or via ring terminals (M8)
certificates: product complies with directives 2001/95/EG 2011/65/EU 2006/66/EG
delivery scope: LITEBLOX LB26XX + pole caps + mounting material V2A + stickers + manual

 

Sarcasm aside thank you, I am in CT and whie I don't use the F-Type as an every day car, I don't want to be at the mercy of the weather if I am trapped in an office for 10 hours at 30 degrees... besides, the $$$$/BENEFIT is totally not there. Put on lighter forged wheels and not only you get the benefit of weight reduction but unsprung weight as well. That is worth the $2500.00 for me

 

Although I have no experience with use in cars, I've been running these batteries on bikes for about 5 years with no issues. I used a tiny 4 cell 6 Ah (Pbeq), 120CCA battery that weighed a few oz on My 1000cc V twin sports bike and it still cranked harder than the stock battery ever could. I didn't experience any extremely cold temperatures, but when I lived in Dallas it always started the bike just fine on the few days the temps were below freezing. Under cold conditions these batteries always act like they are flat until they have some load on them and then they self heat and the power comes back. The only issue I experienced was leaving a parasitic drain on the battery which caused it to go below the minimum recovery voltage. The batteries I used are pretty simple (and cheap at $100 or so) and so don't have any protective circuits to shut that battery when the voltage drops too low.

Aside from the huge weight saving, the other nice thing is that the battery has a very low self discharge rate so you can leave it for a year or more and it will still be almost fully charged.

 

+1. I've had a lithium battery on my motorcycle for years. It sat for 2 years without a trickle charger and when I fired it up a couple weeks ago in high 30 degree temps, it turned over the engine like a freshly charged battery.


I'm afraid a few of us will have to be the pioneers with these batteries to determine their suitability for this particular application. I'm not fully convinced yet either, but a 50 lb weight savings is mighty tempting.