# Is there a legitimate supplier of Lifepo4 batteries with them in stock?



## willitwork (Apr 9, 2008)

Hi all,
is it just me or does it seem hard to obtain Lifepo4 batteries. I'm dealing with Cloud Electric for electronics for my conversion and was talking about the types of batteries I wanted to use. 
It sounds like Cloud orders their batteries from LionEV and LionEV seems either not to have them in stock or it takes 30 days to get them.
If these batteries are 'wonderful' why aren't they in stock?... Or is it a matter of finding the right supplier that has them (and they aren't junk).

On a separate matter, when we were discussing battery choices, it sound like if you go with a 100ah pack as opposed to a 200ah pack, you don't get off to a good start when you would step on the accelerator pedal.

One 'solution' was to use lead acid batteries as an additional boost to get the car rolling, then the Lifepo4 batteries can take the brunt of the draw when going. Of course the problem is trying to separate the two types of batteries for the charger (if the charger is programmed for Lifepo4 batteries, the LA can't be on the same charger).. So it kind of seems this isn't a great solution.

Another question I had was why cant I get maybe 96v of 100ah Lifepo4 batteries and get 1 pack of 48V of a 200ah pack, but I was told you can't mix them up.

I want to go with the Lifepo4 batteries as my source and don't want to pay the fortune for the 200ah packs/cells.

Can anyone tell me what I would expect going with just the 100ah packs/cells?
thanks


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## joseph3354 (Apr 2, 2008)

highly doubtful.most of the manufacturers i have spoken with(in china) do not stock up their batteries.they make them as the orders are placed.that is the first question i have asked all of them.i have asked at least 2 if they would consider building up a stock but the response was not promising.


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## mattW (Sep 14, 2007)

The reason they don't hold batteries in stock is because they deteriorate over time when they are not being cycled, the sales are not consistent enough at the moment for them to have a big warehouse full of them because the turnover rate would be too slow. Its better to just make them when they are about to be used. The reason you can't have different sized packs in series is because the current in a series string is always the same so once the 100Ah packs were emptied the 200Ah ones would still push current. I can't remember how it would work (depending on polarity) but either the 200Ah would try and charge the 100Ah ones at high amps or the empty batteries would just act like big resistors and overheat.

If you want a hybrid LA lion pack just have two strings in parallel with a pair of contactors to disconnect the two strings to charge them. Sealed LA have great power (big amps) but low energy so it would be a good combo. The 100Ah can put out 300A without a BMS and probably 500 with one. 200 is obviously double that.


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## wakinyantanka (Apr 8, 2008)

Talk to Ame at foxxpower 1-310-806-3762. He is very helpful and all their lifepo4 batteries come with bms systems. I believe they have a 4 week lead time but do not quote me on that. Another option is Valance technologies although they are very pricey.




willitwork said:


> Hi all,
> is it just me or does it seem hard to obtain Lifepo4 batteries. I'm dealing with Cloud Electric for electronics for my conversion and was talking about the types of batteries I wanted to use.
> It sounds like Cloud orders their batteries from LionEV and LionEV seems either not to have them in stock or it takes 30 days to get them.
> If these batteries are 'wonderful' why aren't they in stock?... Or is it a matter of finding the right supplier that has them (and they aren't junk).
> ...


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## saab96 (Mar 19, 2008)

wakinyantanka said:


> Talk to Ame at foxxpower 1-310-806-3762. He is very helpful and all their lifepo4 batteries come with bms systems. I believe they have a 4 week lead time but do not quote me on that.


Do you have any reports from the field from those who have used these?


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## TexomaEV (Jul 26, 2007)

Folks, If your interested in going LiFePO4, look at the tests being performed with the newly developed BEQ1-LiFePO4 Equalizers built by www.hotjuiceelectric.com 

I've posted photos, and specifics on the tests he's performing as we speak on the newly designed equalizers. The lastest photos, are of a very interesting charge test.

By the way, those cells in the photos are on loan from LionEV.

www.flickr.com/mbarkley


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## TheSGC (Nov 15, 2007)

Has anyone else noticed that LiFePO4 battereies have been pulled from EV sites such as Cloud EV and Battery Powered Systems? 

I wonder if the supplier dropped out or the batteries are just hype and didn't live up to their specs. LionEV still has them listed, with BMS and jumpers and other sthings with them, but now I am wondering about those too. The only packs I have seen outside of company websites are Texoma's Flex Packs and nothing from the new Thundersky LFP modules.

Does anyone know if any of the companies selling the LiFePO4 offer some sort of free samples?


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## TexomaEV (Jul 26, 2007)

TheSGC said:


> Has anyone else noticed that LiFePO4 battereies have been pulled from EV sites such as Cloud EV and Battery Powered Systems?
> 
> I wonder if the supplier dropped out or the batteries are just hype and didn't live up to their specs. LionEV still has them listed, with BMS and jumpers and other sthings with them, but now I am wondering about those too. The only packs I have seen outside of company websites are Texoma's Flex Packs and nothing from the new Thundersky LFP modules.
> 
> Does anyone know if any of the companies selling the LiFePO4 offer some sort of free samples?


I would suspect that, www.cloudev.com and www.beepscom.com , have pulled the LiFePO4 from the shopping cart, for several reasons, one, the shipment from China hasn't arrived yet (I'm waiting on 32ea of the 100Ah cells). Something regarding shipping out of China has been really botched up.

Another, is the balancer's are an absolute must for each of the cells, as we have a few in Texas that are ballooned, and non fuctional now due to no BMS per cell. Good experiment, but quite expensive..... 

Last but not least, the balancer/equalizers are pretty much designed/tested. 

The owner/engineer is getting protection of the design with a patent attorney. Once he feels it's ok, he'll let them be mass produced, ASAP.

See the tests of the equalizers at: www.flickr.com/mbarkley

Oh, and so far the cells are performing quite nicely, if you read the test results, you'll see an instance of 300+ amp load test without voltage sag.


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## KiwiEV (Jul 26, 2007)

TexomaEV said:


> See the tests of the equalizers at: www.flickr.com/mbarkley
> 
> Oh, and so far the cells are performing quite nicely, if you read the test results, you'll see an instance of 300+ amp load test without voltage sag.


That looks very promising. Those little battery managers seem to be doing their job well. 
Very very good indeed.


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## Manntis (May 22, 2008)

TexomaEV said:


> I would suspect that, www.cloudev.com and www.beepscom.com , have pulled the LiFePO4 from the shopping cart, for several reasons, one, the shipment from China hasn't arrived yet (I'm waiting on 32ea of the 100Ah cells). Something regarding shipping out of China has been really botched up.


They receive their batteries from Ken at LIonEV, and Ken still hasn't sent the batteries I paid him for more than 2 months ago. Because of the current legal battles it's unlikely LIonEV will have any more for at least 24 months.


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## milo0105 (Sep 25, 2008)

hey, do you need some information about hipower lifepo4 battery, our single cells cover from 3ah to 600ah. It can stand 1C continuous current and 3C max current. We have our own chargers with BMS and balancing funtion. Buying cells directly from factory may be a good option. Need more infomation, pls send me an email: [email protected] or visit our website: www.chinabatteries.net.


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## saab96 (Mar 19, 2008)

milo0105 said:


> hey, do you need some information about hipower lifepo4 battery, our single cells cover from 3ah to 600ah. It can stand 1C continuous current and 3C max current. We have our own chargers with BMS and balancing funtion. Buying cells directly from factory may be a good option. Need more infomation, pls send me an email: [email protected] or visit our website: www.chinabatteries.net.


Click on the LifePo link and you get:

"MySQL server has gone away"

Not encouraging.


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## david85 (Nov 12, 2007)

I got an error message as well, but tried again and it worked. This information seems to be on par with other sources from china, but whats interesting is this is the first time that calender life has been shown on any graph that I have seen.

http://www.chinahipower.com.cn/

I have seen hipower products on alibaba before and I think the company is for real.

*milo*, please tell us more....

Is there a minimum order?

What is the warranty?


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## youngfg (Oct 21, 2008)

I was in the area of Cloud EV/BPS during my vacation, 10/16/08, and I stopped by, and I saw several shelves of the batteries myself. Also Steve Cloud took the time to talk to me and show me around his new building.


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