I have 29 of the famous LiFePO4 green cells available for sale. These are the ones @Inwo sells. I purchased them via @LithiumGods (aka Kinghappy, aka Mike) about a year ago when I first bought my GEM (also from him). After getting the GEM fixed up I ran these 29 cells in series in my 2013 E6 (T4) with a controller voltage spoof for several months and they performed great. High voltage, tons of power and significantly reduced weight compared to lead. Most typically use these cells in a 27s or 28s configuration but I was playing with adding the 29th cell with a lower the max per cell charge to pickup some extra range. I wasn’t planning to upgrade so soon but in the back of my head I was thinking a bit more range would be nice. When Mike got his hands on an extra Bolt pack I jumped on the opportunity to upgrade for the longer range.
This sale also includes the top mount balance boards that Dave sells and the bus bars needed to assemble the pack. The cells are assembled in 5 packs of 5 with 4 individual cells for a total of 29 cells. The 5 cell packs give you added flexibility for installation compared to their native 10 cell pack configuration. These LiFePO4 cells are rated 60Ah but typically test closer to 70Ah. If you search the GEM forum you’ll find lots of info and reviews on them.
I’m asking $1,300 (plus shipping) for everything. I’d prefer a local sale (South Florida) but will get these boxed up and shipped out if need be.
Below are some photos of the cells installed in my E6 and when I pulled them out to install the Bolt pack. The balance boards no longer have the grey ribbon cables attached (not required) for a cleaner and easier install.
Those pictures help a ton for my green battery installation in a ford think. Doing 25s and wasn’t sure if I need the gray cables on the balance boards. Did you just cut them off?
The ribbon cables are only used if you are connecting the boards to the main CPU unit for additional BMS features. @Inwo has a few of those units if you were interested in trying it out. More info can be found at Elite Power Solutions.
If you are not interested in that then you can just use a pair of flush cutters to snip the ribbon cables off the boards.
As for installing the cells themselves, watch your polarities. I had to turn the cells around in one of the packs to get the terminals to line up neatly. I could have used longer cables to connect the pack but wanted to keep things consistent with those bus bars.
Totally understand, just wanted to confirm. I’ll just go ahead and part the rest of these cells out and do a different battery scheme, no one else has these batteries individually anymore, apparently, so looks like we’ll be the ones to sell individual cells. Thanks!
Hi - I’m a total newbie looking to upgrade my 2005 e4 to Lithium.
Would this set be overkill for an e4?
I’m committed to upgrading to lithium but need all the help I can get, so the closer I can get to a “package” the better and it looks like you’re including a few things that will help with the installation.
From browsing the forums, I believe I’ll need a BMS and a reprogrammed Delta charger. Is there anything else I would need?
Also, this may be a silly question, but how long could I expect these to last? I only require ~12 miles range at most and would be using it 6 months out of the year. I’m sure there are a number of factors, but just want to have a sense for how often I should expect to be taking on this project.
Hi @Kevin - There have been quite a few people running these in their e4. You don’t need to connect all 29 cells, the benefit of this set is its modularity. You can add/remove cells easily by moving a few bus bars around and having spare cells on hand is an added benefit.
With the balance boards you don’t necessarily need a BMS but I personally would use one to monitor the individual cell voltages to ensure they stay relatively balanced and none are going too high or too low.
@LithiumGods can get you setup with a Delta-Q charger with a proper profile for your configuration.
Lithium cells can last quite a while if properly cared for. The spec on these says the are good for over 2,000 charge cycles. I don’t know how many cycles these have gone through but they should have plenty of cycles still to go. Range wise I could easily cover 15-20 miles on a charge in my e6 (granted the ground is very flat where I live).
these would be great for your 2005 e4 . depending on how much of a hotrod you want will might not use all 29 cells. I can get you a charger upgrade that will have lithium profiles in it to make it compatible for different cell numbers. This is one of the easiest/forgiving installs.
Like he says!
They will last a long time if not run dead.
IMO, connect 25s and use a bms to monitor only.
Balancing LIFEPO4 is a fools errand. Cell voltage means little until full or empty.
After selling 1,000s of these, the main issue is trying to keep them balanced, which is totally unnecessary. Just make sure charger shuts off before any one cell goes high, and charge before a cell goes low.
There will always be one cell slightly less capacity than the others. Thats the one that will fill first, and empty first. Just like tanks of gas. Keep an eye one that one and you’re good to go.
You will have a couple spares with these, which is another plus. If there is a random cell failure, just put in a spare. These are safe and easy peasy to instal and use, Wish I had another set to sell.
I do have a few spare cells held in reserve.
ps.
Another member may be selling a set too, although I don’t know their history.
Thanks for your speedy response RS_E6! I live in Spokane, WA. Zipcode 99224. Let me know the total price including shipping.
One more newbie question for you if I may ask:
Is the Delta Q charger mounted to the vehicle itself (replacing the current charger inside the vehicle?) or is it just an extra external piece of equipment that sits between the power source and charging port on the front of the vehicle?
I’ll get back to you on the shipping. It’s likely cheaper to break them up into multiple smaller packages.
The Delta-Q would replace the charger on your GEM now. I’ll defer to @LithiumGods and others on the specifics as I haven’t wrenched on the early GEMs. There should be posts on the GEM forum with examples.
