Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 Lithium Battery

My Banner Bull is now dea d, so thinking about putting a Lithium battery in my M3W, has anyone any experience of doing this, or not doing this lol ??

I stick to normal batteries, also with the discussions about lithium batteries and fire hazard, so at this moment I have a Duracell and a Banner Bull and I use trickle chargers to keep them loaded when not driving for a longer period (more than 2 weeks or so).

I'm on my third season with an LiFePO4 battery. Excellent performance (720 cranking amps!) in a 3 pound package, no need to have it on a maintainer through the driving season, though I do do a pre-season top up before it's first outing of the year. Hardest part of the install was making an adaptor plate to allow it to fit the battery tray.

The concerns about lithium batteries being a fire hazard are dated and more theoretical than actual. The current LiFePO4 type for automotive use are highly stable. I do have a battery disconnect switch which is off when the car is stored, but I've done that on all my hobby cars for the last 40 years. As with most parts, avoid no name brands that are suspiciously low priced.

Check out the 'Alternative Parts List' for battery recommendations.

I have had a Lithium battery from the same manufacturer as Bitsobrits in the car for a few years and it works just fine. My car, ever since new, has had a small drain of power and I have not thought it worth tracking down and I just use the trickle charger.

The CCA of the battery is wonderful!

Hmm, take it you're not aware of this recent thread concerning new European EV's, and it's not the first! Also the increasing number of e-scooter fires whilst charging same.

I think likelihood of such fires will be greatly diminished with the intro of solid state electrolyte type but that's going to be a few years ahead.

Lithium batteries are everywhere these days, and the media whips up these stories about their danger.

I carry one in my pocket all day, and have no worries about having one in my Morgan. Avoid cheap no-name Chinese junk (e-bikes and scooters mostly fall into this category), and buy from a reputable maker.

I have the Anti Gravity model also and can highly recommend it. The extra CCA really help, and it is remarkably light.

Well said. The amount of FUD put out by the media regarding EVs (and their batteries) is astounding. I presume there must be an appetite for it - but that doesn't make it right.

Strange some people do not read the news papers.
A big car transport vessel is on fire at this moment around the North-Sea. 1 crew member dead and nearly all brought to the Hospital.
When this vessel can not be salved the North of Holland will be in extreme danger for pollution.
2 years ago a car transport vessel sunk south of the Azores including a huge pollution case.
Several ferry companies do not allow electric cars on their vessels anymore.
Both accidents have to do with Lithium Car Batteries, which fire you only get out by dumping the car 72 hours in a container filled with water.
When lithium is not properly charged - the reason for those uncontrolled fires - like with our famous regulators there will be a moment you will regret you bought a Lithium battery.

When CCA - crank-capacity - is the issue.
I have a cheap and simple 40Ah lead-acid AMG - but you can use a smaller one too - when you put a super-capacitor bank parallel to it.
Great extra cranking amps. I have this now for 7 month and it works fantastic especially in wintertime.
Your battery will last 2 times longer and the capacitor bank can be sold by your heirs.
One extra tip : all batteries hate a heated environment - say > 40 C - so take them away from your lube-oil tank.

Welcome to TalkMorgan! Car transport ferries seemed to have a lot of accidents - plenty of them are nothing to do with EVs!

Interesting data in this story:

Although these fires do present a real danger, fortunately for us they remain very rare. Data obtained by Air Quality News through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request revealed that in 2019 the London Fire Brigade dealt with just 54 electric vehicle fires compared to 1,898 petrol and diesel fires. Although these fires remain rare, when they do occur, they can be extremely dangerous.

That is old data, but if ~2% of cars are EVs, and 2-3% of vehicle fires were EVs, its only a slightly higher risk... but for a relatively new technology I suppose not unexpected. A counterargument would be ICE vehicles are likely to be much older...

Back to car batteries as opposed to EV... I have a Li-based "battery" (actually a battery+conditioning circuitry) and so far it seems good. I do trickle charge though as the car does seem to leak current / I have not yet fitted an isolator! I think an M3W is more at risk from broken fuel tanks than batteries...



Very neat!