LiFePo4 battery installed in my Hybrid Maverick

[MakinDoForNow]

This is really interesting. I really DOUBT it switches itself for AGM.
Maybe it was AGM all the time.
Maybe all of ours are set to AGM even if we have FLA and that is why the FLA are failing so fast!?

Per manual. When replacing battery (aka disconnecting cables) or some times after charging with non vehicle charger. The preferably fully charged battery should be connected and the bms reset should be performed and then followed by the "up to 8 hour new battery with truck locked without even opening the door and all accessories and lights off procedure". The bms presumably determines by voltage etc which type of battery is installed and I suspect the 8 hours is to trickle charge until max voltage is reached. I further suspect the bms may during some of the middle of night clicking may adjust "max voltage this battery will charge to and which format to use"! @acelee1895 posted that he ran it and his LiFePo4 started charging at 100amp, I believe he said

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[GPSMan]

Ok. A general automotive site said USUALLY a scan tool is required to set battery type. They did not say always.

But in an entry level vehicle I didn't expect the latest greatest. But I could be wrong here.

Also I read AGM comes in EcoBoost because of the auto stop/start feature. AGM is more suitable for frequent cycles, and recharges 5x faster.

Since Hybrids start from the high voltage battery, flooded cells were used for the basic low voltage needs.

 

[acelee1895]

I would elect for a permanent connection since the pos jump terminal is threaded but just run wires to plug noci into. When ambient temp gets around 40°F the overnight drain on 12v will drop battery an additional 0.1-0.15v. maybe after I get the positive harness "your truck may not start" overlay recall done the truck can make better use of HVB in middle of night (if that's even a remote possibility but wouldn't be enough reserve to even mess with). Thanks for your input. All vehicles are hard on 12v and have been for 20+ years.

It cannot use the HVB in the middle of the night unless you start the truck. The HVB is disconnected via relay until the vehicle is started

 

[acelee1895]

The Ford 400 watt inverter is installed on the floor under the center console between the front seats. I don't know how much extra room for a larger inverter there might be. Also I don't remember if there is anything there to cool the inverter. most likely not enough room to add a thermo electric chiller set to come on at appropriate temp.

I haven’t looked but I highly doubt it would fit. 400 watt inverters are very small. Adding a thermo electric cooler is not worth the hastle or battery drain to run it. A fan and some heat sinks would work just fine

 

[acelee1895]

Good information! I am looking to fabericate some sort of permanent actively cooled solution. At the same time I also want to retain as much of the storage in the truck as possible, as the extra space behind/under the back seat has been way too useful to give up.

I have also looked all over the truck for empty space to utilize as previous metioned earlier by other member, but had also came to the same concolusion that probably best to keep these high current electronics inside the cabin.

In car electronics is something that I've never had a chance to do with my previous cars, so there is definitely a lot of learn before getting my hands dirty.

It’s for sure a fun discovery game to see where you can fit stuff. Just have to prioritize what you want to have in the storage compartment. Car electrical used to be really easy but now it’s a little more complicated. Hence doing all that I’m doing

 

[acelee1895]

This is really interesting. I really DOUBT it switches itself for AGM.
Maybe it was AGM all the time.
Maybe all of ours are set to AGM even if we have FLA and that is why the FLA are failing so fast!?

Do you have a scan tool and original battery to check your truck? We could test your theory

 

[acelee1895]

Per manual. When replacing battery (aka disconnecting cables) or some times after charging with non vehicle charger. The preferably fully charged battery should be connected and the bms reset should be performed and then followed by the "up to 8 hour new battery with truck locked without even opening the door and all accessories and lights off procedure". The bms presumably determines by voltage etc which type of battery is installed and I suspect the 8 hours is to trickle charge until max voltage is reached. I further suspect the bms may during some of the middle of night clicking may adjust "max voltage this battery will charge to and which format to use"! @acelee1895 posted that he ran it and his LiFePo4 started charging at 100amp, I believe he said

It was already charging at that higher rate before I did that but it may have changed the max charge voltage

 

[acelee1895]

Ok. A general automotive site said USUALLY a scan tool is required to set battery type. They did not say always.

But in an entry level vehicle I didn't expect the latest greatest. But I could be wrong here.

Also I read AGM comes in EcoBoost because of the auto stop/start feature. AGM is more suitable for frequent cycles, and recharges 5x faster.

Since Hybrids start from the high voltage battery, flooded cells were used for the basic low voltage needs.

I would usually agree with you but it does the BMS retrain feature that could change it. I did do that retrain and it could have changed. You can do scan tool things through the truck with combos of buttons and things For example setting the Ebrake service mode

 

[MakinDoForNow]

It cannot use the HVB in the middle of the night unless you start the truck. The HVB is disconnected via relay until the vehicle is started

I was expecting a trickle tap along with it's control and monitor internal stuff...

 

[Maverick_Innovation_Designs]

Well folks, I did it. I replaced my (edited) Lead acid battery with a LiFePo4 battery. I haven’t see any posts of anyone else doing it but if you know any, I would love to read them and see what they found. I’m not going to tell you how to do it because I’m not convinced it won’t break something yet but I can share what I’ve found so far. All of this is based on my 2023 Hybrid (edited) lariat with copilot 360.

I built and put in a 72 AH battery. I have a Bluetooth BMS attached to it so I can see a lot of stats with the main ones being power draw and amperage for charging.

Good news is that the truck seems to mostly be plug and play with it. Started right up and charges it with no issues so far. Bad news is that I still have the stupid deep sleep issue even though when I woke up this morning, battery was at 50% I think around 13 volts.

The dc-dc converter has dumped a max of 170 amps into the battery but it normally charges at a 120-130 amp level until it starts to fill up. So anyone who’s thinking of high amp draw accessories (winch or ac converter), unless you upgrade the battery, you should be good up to 120 amps continuous. Normal power draw while driving sits at about 20-40 amps dependent on what’s running for accessories.

Temperature seems to be a little bit of a concern, my batteries are good up to 45*C and we are getting up to the high 30’s low 40’s sometimes. I think using a bigger cell would help dissipate some of that heat.

Another thing is that it seems to like to charge the battery to between 50-55% until it randomly decides to charge full. I haven’t figured out if this is something with the batteries bms or the trucks yet

I’ll post a couple screenshots from my bms screen and if you have any questions or anything you would like me to check, let me know and I’ll try it out.

DONT DO THIS. USE A PROPER CASE USE HEAT SHRINK ON ALL CONNECTIONS AND GET A PROPER MOUNTING MECHANISM

DONT DO THIS. USE A PROPER CASE USE HEAT SHRINK ON ALL CONNECTIONS AND GET A PROPER MOUNTING MECHANISM

Has this been tested enough to where you feel comfortable showing us how you did it?

Secondly, what have you noticed (or data you've collected) in terms of passive energy drain?

 

[acelee1895]

Has this been tested enough to where you feel comfortable showing us how you did it?

Secondly, what have you noticed (or data you've collected) in terms of passive energy drain?

It did not survive. The cells started leaking about a month in. My guess is that I either didn’t have them secured enough for the vibration or I needed more durable cells. It’s definitely possible and worked great while it did. I replaced them with an AGM battery for now until I feel like jumping into it again.
Things I would look out for, a 300 amp BMS would be better, abs covered cells, and a permanent mounting solution to prevent movement. It is definitely possible to run lithium, there are also drop in lithium replacements but those are way over priced. I do think handy to have for anyone who has a need for it. I don’t currently though because I have 400 watts of solar on a bed mount and a drop in 200 ah battery with inverter in the bed.

 

[Maverick_Innovation_Designs]

Were you ever able to collect data on how much power is used overnight?

It did not survive. The cells started leaking about a month in. My guess is that I either didn’t have them secured enough for the vibration or I needed more durable cells. It’s definitely possible and worked great while it did. I replaced them with an AGM battery for now until I feel like jumping into it again.
Things I would look out for, a 300 amp BMS would be better, abs covered cells, and a permanent mounting solution to prevent movement. It is definitely possible to run lithium, there are also drop in lithium replacements but those are way over priced. I do think handy to have for anyone who has a need for it. I don’t currently though because I have 400 watts of solar on a bed mount and a drop in 200 ah battery with inverter in the bed.

 

[SLJ]

What the .... ?
LiFePo4 batteries aren't designed for automotive use.
They get damaged if you try to charge them below freezing. Most have a battery management system built in to turn the battery off in high heat conditions and turn charging off below freezing. They charge at different voltages then lead acid and AGM to get them to 100%. They are made for home solar systems, powering golf carts, trolling motors, etc. and as a power source for RVs, not for automotive starting batteries.
You should have replaced with an AGM, not a LiFePo4.
If you plan on using it to run accessories and adding a DC-DC converter to charge it, great.

 

[SBOtter]

72AH Battery charged at 120A - only slightly more than 1/2 C (35A) is probably what did it in. surprised battery did not go into thermal runaway. Lithium fires are intense, probably make for an interesting warranty/insurance claim

It did not survive. The cells started leaking about a month in. My guess is that I either didn’t have them secured enough for the vibration or I needed more durable cells.

 

[SLJ]

surprised battery did not go into thermal runaway. Lithium fires are intense, probably make for an interesting warranty/insurance claim

LiFePo4 batteries are not prone to thermal runaway. Different type of lithium battery than in your phone, laptop, and vape. They also have an internal battery management system to help protect them from user mistakes. Still, not something that people that don't know what they are doing should be messing with.

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