Over the last twenty years my wife and I have had travel trailers big and small, two motor homes, and two overland rigs, both of which were built using Four Wheel Campers as the habitat. All of these RV’s utilized AGM batteries as part of the integrated power system. At best, the AGM systems are…just okay. Twenty years ago, the only way to add power was to add more batteries, and with space at a premium this often wasn’t possible. Fast forward to today, and we now have the option of lithium power systems. But, what does this mean? And, perhaps more importantly, should you consider an upgrade to lithium batteries?
Our current rig, which we affectionately call the FunHawg, began life with a dual 6V AGM battery system with 320 watts of solar on the roof. We use our rig a lot, certainly more than most, and we are admittedly a power hungry family. We travel with three iPhones, three Apple Watches, multiple Garmin bike computers/watches, several cameras, a drone, laptops, iPads, portable speaker, headphones, etc. Additionally, the camper - a Four Wheel Campers Hawk UTE - requires power for the LED lights, refrigerator, ceiling fans, heater, water pump, and other basic systems. After just 13 months of use, the first set of AGM batteries began to fail. So, we bought new AGM batteries and had them installed, at a total cost of around $800. A year later, they were failing, as were the factory solar panels.
We had reached an important juncture; do we replace the AGM batteries (again), or do we bite the bullet and upgrade our system to lithium? As a proud tech nerd, I began combing the internet and talking to knowledgeable friends and industry folk to learn more about our options, and what would work best for our use case. This was March, and we were leaving in June to spend the entire summer exploring Oregon while living out of the FunHawg. There was much gritting of teeth, loss of sleep and evaluating our budgetêover and over and over…and then we decided, we need the lithium upgrade.
Now that I knew we were going all-in on lithium, I contacted my go-to shop, Off-Grid 4x4, to get on their shop calendar. The earliest date they had available happened to be the week before we planned to leave for Oregon. We took it, and I began researching the brand options for the upgrade. It was overwhelming. There are so many brands, and they all claim to be the best. After doing more research and talking to my same industry friends, I kept coming back to Battleborn Batteries and Victron Energy components. Why? Mainly because so many of my industry friends recommended them, and several companies producing high-end overland rigs use the Battleborn/Victron systems.
Let’s go ahead and get this out of the way; lithium systems are not inexpensive. Our system, with dual 100ah heated lithium batteries, a 2000W inverter, two new solar panels, and all of the associated equipment required to run a lithium system, was around $4,800. And then, there’s the installation, which ran around $3,500. So yes, $8,300 to do a full lithium upgrade complete with all new, heavier gauge camper wiring. This brings me to my first recommendation: If you’re buying a new camper, and lithium is an option, it is significantly less expensive to check that box than it will be to upgrade down the road.
Okay, now let’s tackle the question that is the title of this post. Should you upgrade your overland camper or van to a lithium power system? There are several things to consider here, and I’ll list them in order from highest priority to lowest, using my own experience to inform the decision making process.
1) Cost/benefit analysis. How long do you plan on holding on to your current rig? Given the high cost of lithium upgrades, if you’re not likely to keep the rig for a few years it might not be worth the upgrade. You certainly won’t get your money back when you sell the rig. Battleborn has a great chart on their site that depicts the average cost of Battleborn Lithium batteries vs. a standard AGM battery.
2) Do you really need more power and if so, how much more? Our AGM batteries likely failed because we were using them in a manner inconsistent with their capabilities. AGM batteries don’t react well to significant drain, and if you are consistently using enough power to drain your batteries below 50% before recharging, AGM batteries are not going to last. Use the Battery Bank Calculator on the Battleborn website to determine how much power you need, and then compare that to the power available from your AGM batteries. Remember, if you’ve got 200ah of AGM, you can really only use 100ah before the batteries exceed a 50% drain. Conversely, 200ah of lithium actually gives you 200ah available.
3) What do you need to power and how do you want your system set up? Since we have so many electronic gadgets to charge, we had two additional outlets installed - one regular two plug outlet, and a second one with two USB-A ports. All but two dual USB port outlets are connected to the 2000W inverter which means that you have to power up the inverter to use the outlets. If you have high draw equipment, like a toaster, you’ll need at least a 2000W inverter.
Next, let’s talk about the pros and cons of lithium power systems.
Pros:
Smaller, lighter but significantly more powerful batteries
Lithium batteries recharge 3-5 times faster than AGM batteries
High-quality lithium batteries average 3,000 - 7,000 charge cycles, compared to 1,000 for AGM
There is no need to vent lithium batteries
Deep battery discharge does not impact lithium battery performance or life span
Cons:
They are expensive, and if you’re replacing an AGM system you’ll have to replace the charge controller and other associated equipment
They won’t take a charge in cold weather unless heated (all Battleborn Batteries are available as self-heating models that are not impacted by below freezing temperatures)
Finally, what has been our experience and do we have any regrets about upgrading our camper to a lithium power system?
We’ve been running a Battleborn Batteries and Victron Energy lithium system in our camper for five months, and the experience has been nothing but positive. During our summer in Oregon, the lowest I ever saw the batteries fall was to 74%. With 360 watts of solar on the roof, they charged back up to 100% in no time. Once I got over the minor PTSD that came with having to baby AGM batteries, I never once worried about whether or not we would have enough power to get us through the day. We’ve camped in temperatures over 90 and below freezing, and neither have caused an issue. I regularly use a toaster to perfectly brown my bagels in the morning, and it barely makes a dent in our power. We’ve reached the point at which we are no longer careful about our power usage. We no longer weigh if we really need to charge an iPhone, or wonder if the fridge will make it through the night. Having sufficient power has become a non-issue.
We haven’t a single regret about upgrading to lithium batteries. The freedom and peace of mind they’ve offered has been well worth the expense. And, since we plan to have the FunHawg for several more years, it made sense from a financial standpoint as we shouldn’t have to replace any part of the power system for the remainder of our ownership.
These are the main Battleborn Batteries and Victron Energy Components we’re using in the FunHawg:
Battleborn Batteries 12V GC2 LiFePO4 100ah Heated Battery (X2)
Victron Multiplus C 2000W Inverter/Charger
Victron Smart Dongle (Bluetooth System Monitor)
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