Whether youre considering these batteries for electric vehicles, solar energy storage, or other uses, understanding their advantages and disadvantages is crucial.
I have been considering replacing lead-acid batteries with LiFePO4 batteries and came across this blog by chance.
I've recently replaced my 12v 400ah agm battery bank with lifepo4 batteries. I dropped 400lbs in weight and essentially doubled usable capacity. The negatives in that blog don't seem all that bad unless your specific use case would be specifically affected by them. In my case, the energy density of the new batteries is irrelevant. I'm not overly concerned about cold weather performance, as this is for a recreational vehicle, and we don't use it often in the winter. Even when we do it's only a night or two, so reduced capacity in that moment wouldn't be a problem. It seems the biggest concern is buying your batteries from a reputable source with a decent warranty in the event you get one with manufacturer defects.
At the end of the day, all the various chemistries have their pros and cons. For me, the lifepo4 batteries seemed to fit the nice middle ground between agm and li-ion batteries in regards to weight and price, being both affordable and significantly lighter than agm batteries.
All that said, I'm just some random person on the Internet, with my personal perspective clouding my opinion.
I've been looking at upgrading our battery bank, stationary and in temperate climate so most pros and cons don't apply.
The only one that matters to us is usable Joules per dollar. You'd have to make your own spreadsheet with local pricing but for us assuming 95% usable lifepo and 50% usable agm, agms do come out be be slightly cheaper.
However, since lifepos are expected to last about twice as long we're going with lifepos as they will be a long term investement.
If you're only looking short term and planning on taking good care of them agms are still a valid choice.