10-07-2014, 01:48 AM
I have a Shorai in my CBR. Have had it for two years or so. Works great and you can charge it just fine with a lead-acid battery charger as long as it is one that senses peak voltage and stops (almost any charger made in the past decade or two should have this function). I have quick-charged it as well, and it still works great. I have cycled it, as well. One day, I'll get a cell balancer, but so far I haven't had any problems, so that's still out on the horizon somewhere. Some brands of Lithium-Iron batteries have the cell balancer built into the battery pack, which is a nice convenience.
These batteries have been around for about a decade in motorsports applications and have worked extremely well for that purpose due to the operating envelope of a motorcycle (most people do not ride near/below 32*F). The under-over charging problem can be mitigated by a modern charger rather than the battery pack itself.
(10-03-2014, 11:12 AM)Dakota_imp Wrote: Not in a motorcycle. Yes in renewable energy systems. These MUST have a battery management system or will be damaged by over or undercharging. They also have a fairly high minimum operating temperature (too high to be practical in winter driven vehicles). Applications requiring cold weather operation have battery heaters. Lithium titanate has better characteristics but cost more (is/ was more cost effective if considering $/kW throughput). I am highly interested in trying one but am leaning towards waiting until this form factor is more proven. I'd probably tinker with one in a camping light before a $10k fuel injected motorcycle....
These batteries have been around for about a decade in motorsports applications and have worked extremely well for that purpose due to the operating envelope of a motorcycle (most people do not ride near/below 32*F). The under-over charging problem can be mitigated by a modern charger rather than the battery pack itself.