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Dec 23, 2022Liked by Mike Sokol

Mike, I have been reading about startup battery companies developing new technologies that hopefully will rival or exceed current lithium technology. One such company that I have been reading about is Alsym Energy. They claim a safer battery that is far less prone to fire, more environmental safer and cheaper to build. Hopefully this will go somewhere!

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There is no special damage done to lead-acid batteries discharged below 50%. This is 100% a myth. A graph of cycle life vs. average depth of discharge will show a linear effect beyond about a 20% average depth of discharge. Additionally, lithium-ion batteries and lead-acid batteries both experience reduced cycle life in proportion to average depth of discharge.

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John, please show documentation from any FLA or AGM battery manufacturers supporting your claim.

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That’s not how it works. You made the claim that there is something special about the 50% discharge point. You need to show documentation from a battery manufacturer stating there is something special about it.

The cycle life vs. average depth of discharge graphs clearly show a linear relationship between the two after about the 20% level. If there was some special feature at 50%, there would be a non-linearity or change of slope there. There is neither.

This myth arose because engineers use a rule of thumb that when designing a battery bank, you should consider charging frequency and battery use then select a battery bank capacity that provides for about 50% maximum average discharge which is the best choice economically for battery life vs. cost.

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Denis Phares, the CEO of Battle Born Batteries stated in an interview that BB batteries can operate down to 25 degrees but need to be recharged at a slower rate at that temperature. Lead acid batteries have the same sort of temperature concerns. Good information being discussed in the interview. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywn-vBjKblI

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This Statement is Misleading at best. "The unique characteristics of the LFP cell make an ideal replacement for the standard 12-volt automobile battery."

Sounds like you should put one in your car which generally would be a huge mistake as they are not designed to put out the AMPS needed to start a vehicle.

This is said later "Most LFP batteries will only provide a discharge rate of two times the rated power of the battery. This may affect the ability to start your on-board generator or power a large inverter to run your air conditioner. In some cases, a super-capacitor is added to provide extra peak current for these situations." but a super capacitor is not going to crank a cold engine for 30-40 seconds straight.

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