Need help deciding which 48V LiFePO4 Battery Pack with at least 10AH

[cy]

Posting this for a good buddy... he's got a super cool electrified trike with one-off carbon fiber drive components. he is in need of a 48v li-on battery pack with at least 10AH.

he sent me the ebay link below for a LiFePO4 Battery 48V 10AH with Aluminum Case, BMS and Charger. $100 freight sounds hokey to me.

what's the best 48v li-on pack with at least 10AH to go with?

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http://www.ebay.com/itm/48V-10Ah-Li...669117107?pt=US_Batteries&hash=item2a10b7f2b3

LiFePO4 Battery 48V 10AH with Aluminium Case,BMS and Charger

$285.00 + $100 freight

Battery Model


48V 10Ah
Nominal Capacity (AH)

10ah
Nominal Voltage (V)

48V
Source Resistance (mΩ）

about 120
Cell Specification

3.7V 5AH
Cell Combination

2-parallel
13-series
Cell Size

 

[cy]

anyone?

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Cy,

Unfortunately the listing doesn't say what brand of cells are being used. If they are premium high quality cells, it would be a good way to go.

The $100 shipping most likely includes some special handling and hazmat fees. That many cells requires special labeling and additional fees.

Tom

 

[cy]

Silver, thanks... unfortunately that's all the info available.

does anyone know of any other sources for a 48v pack, that will not incur $100 of shipping and contain premium cells?

CPF has grown so large, have completely lost track of what currently is state of the art.
so what is considered to be premium cells?

does anyone have links to when/why shipping battery packs can cost $100?

 

[VegasF6]

What are the factors? Size and price? Discharge current? 4 Shorai lifepo4 wired in series would make one heck of a battery. Would cost over $400 bucks though. The good thing is they should be very very durable, and they could be charged with a 48V charger for lead acid batteries, or, if one wanted to be creative you could use a standard 12V charger for car battery and charge them individually or even parallel.
http://www.shoraipower.com/p-148-lfx09l2-bs12.aspx
They happen to be on sale at Rocky Mountain right now.

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Cy,

This information from FedEx goes into some of the issues with shipping large lithium ion batteries.

Tom

 

[jasonck08]

You could try to find a company that makes packs using A123 26650 cells.

$100 is pretty normal for shipping anything from China via Express that weighs close to 10KG.

 

[cy]

thanks... any links to folks using A123 26650 cells?

original pack above weights closer to 2Kg ... $100 still sounds excessive, but it could have hazardous fees included.
would buying A123 cells within USA mean less freight?

You could try to find a company that makes packs using A123 26650 cells.

$100 is pretty normal for shipping anything from China via Express that weighs close to 10KG.

 

[VegasF6]

48v 10ah pack is going to take quite a few cells. You can check voltmanbatteries for what the claim is a123 26650 with tabs if you want to build your own. Some of the starting batteries on ebay similar to the Shorai I mentioned claim to use A123. BatterySpace carries other Lifepo4 battery packs that aren't specifically A123 brand.
This will take you right to A123 website blurb on there batteries, but I don't know that they are readily available to the consumer.
http://www.a123systems.com/products-modules-lead-acid.htm
And you can have a look at Ballistic performance Lifepo4 battery. WH to WH they are more pricey than Shorai, but they have more sizes available so you could get into a 4Ah for less.

 

[jasonck08]

thanks... any links to folks using A123 26650 cells?

original pack above weights closer to 2Kg ... $100 still sounds excessive, but it could have hazardous fees included.
would buying A123 cells within USA mean less freight?

The advertisement says Gross Weight 7KG. I don't have any links / sources for large A123 26650 packs, but as far as reliability goes they would probably be the most durable cells you can get. With random branded Chinese cells, quality is hit or miss.

 

[CKOD]

As nice as A123 cells are, its definitely a pricy proposition at 2.3AH each, it would need 5 cells in parallel to be over 10AH, and 16 in series to make a "48V" pack (57v charged, 48v discharged, similar to a 48v lead acid battery,) That makes for 80 cells, and even if you find them for a steal at $5 each(usual is $8-10 or more each) , thats $400 in cells, not even counting labor of welding them, and a BMS.

What is your friends current demand? The above pack while pricy, would be ok with 400+Amp surges (80 A/cell for short duration bursts) Larger LiFe cells may not be good for more than 100A from a 10AH pack

 

[VegasF6]

That's my concern with the original linked pack. Claims to be 26 cells at 5ah each and lifepo4 but 3.7v. I think the specs are a bit skewed.