[DIYguy]

There is no need to try and justify your decision. It's yours and you are allowed to do what you like. There are considerations attached to every decision. Even within the lead family of batteries, the sealed ones need a bms even more than Li. I started with lead, and I'm not ashamed of going that way. I did however, not invest a lot and the purpose was to prove everything out. It's a bit of an evolution but for those who have moved on to Lithium, there are some experiences worth sharing.

Originally Posted by piotrsko

My charger cost $40 to make,

I would like to point out something about the chargers though. For those of you who are using lead, it actually is to your advantage to buy a good charger with some well developed algorithms. Lead charging profiles are much more complicated than lithium charge curves. Lithium is dead simple. CC then switch to CV and allow taper of current. Good lead chargers have 3 or 4 stages and many include pulsation techniques to improve life and usefulness of lead. Floodies are certainly more tolerant however the venting and boiling causes some nasty issues.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by Ziggythewiz

65% is close, I was going with .6, but then you also times by 50% for DOD, so your actual multiplier is something like .25 - .35 Compare that to .7 for lithium and it does seem pretty clear.

GC8s from sams for around $100 are 135 AH (20 hr) so using .3 as a multiplier gives ~$310 / kWh. Obviously 6v batts are cheaper/kWh but there's no way I'm putting that much weight in my bug.

It's already 1:3, with 5x the life

Depends on what lead batteries you compare to, overcharging the crap out of a 48v 250ahr pack of Greensaver Lead silicone batteries I am still at roughly 95% summer time range over 7000 miles, that includes 10 100% DOD's 50 80% Dod's and lots of little ones (less than 50%).

Now that its warmer my father is racking up miles on his Miles ZX40 again.

The gel batteries do not seem to be affected by overdischarge the way some floodies are, I would estimate the lifespan on this gel pack is going to be in the 5-10 year area assuming it doesn't castrophically fail all of a sudden.

I guess from what I am told 7000 miles off a 48v lead pack is considered good, maybe there are some better lead solutions out there?