Are Lithium-Iron batteries good for snowmobiles?

There’s been a lot of talk recently about new battery technology and their use in snowmobiles, particularly the lithium-iron battery. I decided to give one a try and was amazed by the battery’s performance after a full snowmobiling season. So, is using a lithium iron battery in your snowmobile a better option? I think so, and here’s why.

A lithium-iron battery has less weight, requires no maintenance, and provides constant voltage. It has 3-times more power and a longer life span than commonly used lead-acid batteries. I think these features make the lithium-iron battery a perfect replacement for your snowmobile.

How is a lithium-iron battery different?

First, let’s clarify the battery options you have for snowmobiles. The standard battery most commonly used in snowmobiles are SLA, or sealed lead acid batteries. These batteries work well under most conditions, but they are heavy, require periodic charging to extend their life, and don’t really last all that long. Although they have a lower up front cost, these batteries cost a lot in the long run when factoring in maintenance and regular replacements.

The new lithium battery technology is revolutionizing the world, not just the power sports industry, but don’t be confused with those lithium-ion batteries we hear so much about elsewhere. Lithium ion batteries don’t work well for snowmobiles for a number of reasons we’ll discuss below. Instead, we’re talking about lithium-IRON batteries.

My experience with a lithium-iron snowmobile battery

I had tried a lot of SLA batteries for my Polaris 600 Rush, but none of them lasted more than one season. I started looking for solutions and came across this lithium-iron battery from EarthX. This is an expensive battery, but I viewed it as an investment and went ahead and bit the bullet.

The EarthX ETZ14C Lithium Iron battery is designed specifically for cold weather applications. It delivers an impressive 330 cold cranking amps (690 peak cranking amps) and weighs in at just 2.5 pounds! The battery will not freeze, boil over, corrode, leak or sulfate. It also lasts 2 to 3 times the lifespan of a traditional sealed lead acid battery!

I installed the battery and my snowmobile started instantly – not a surprise with a new battery. The real test came the next Friday when it was freezing outside. The temperature was around -2 degrees Fahrenheit, and usually, in this much colder weather, my old battery was never able to start my snowmobile.

At the push of a button, the sound of the starter motor cranking up my snowmobile’s engine made me smile. And since then, this battery has been reliable in every situation. It has been more than a year now, and it is working great. I did not even need to use a trickle charger in the summer break, and it still started my snowmobile right back up.

One key point to add here: lithium batteries require lithium battery chargers. Conventional chargers will kill this battery. I have written an article about Best Battery Chargers where I have discussed every type of charger.

Do I recommend a lithium-iron battery for your snowmobile?

Based on my experience thus far, I can recommend this battery to any snowmobiler out there without a second thought. It is much more reliable and stable than the SLA battery, lasts longer and requires no maintenance. You can forget about it during the summer break.

Here are several reasons why using a lithium iron battery is a better choice for your snowmobile

I have used the lithium iron battery for about a year, and believe it will cost the same or less than the SLA battery in the long run.

A lithium iron battery costs more up front, but saves over time

Sure, the initial price you are going to pay for lithium-iron is much more than a standard SLA battery.

If you buy a good-quality SLA battery, it will cost around $80 and $90. You’ll need to take the time to maintain it in the summer, charging it periodically or keeping it on a trickle charger to ensure longer life. The battery maintainer for a standard SLA battery will run you another $40 or so, for a total of $130, plus the time and hassle of setting it up on the maintainer and keeping it plugged in. You will have to replace this battery after a couple of years. So in a four year period you’ll be looking at about $200-250 for lead acid batteries.

At $260 for a good quality lithium battery, no offseason maintenance, no trickle charger, no electricity cost to charge it, and a 4 plus year life span, you’ve about broken even and were able to benefit from the advantages of the lithium iron battery performance during the riding season. In addition, you’ve saved time having to replace the SLA battery in that time period. Sometimes what seems like a simple battery replacement can be a nightmare for these newer machines, with batteries tucked away in difficult-to-access places. You often have to disassemble a good part of the machine to get to its battery!

With lithium-iron batteries, terminals do not corrode over time

Another problem in SLA batteries is the corrosion of the battery terminals and connectors. You might have seen the blue or white deposits on the terminals. Over time the terminals on the battery itself get loose and hazardous fumes to start to vent out from there. These fumes corrode the copper terminals and form copper or lead sulfate on them.

This corrosion results in a weak connection with the battery and the snowmobile, causing the snowmobile to not start, or sometimes not even charge the battery.

Lithium-iron batteries do not suffer from this problem, and you do not need to worry about the terminals because they do not leak any electrolytes or fumes of acid. The terminals last much longer, and if they get covered in dirt, you only need to clean them. Once connected, there is nothing to do with the battery, and it does not require any service.

Lithium ion batteries provide better and more stable voltage as compared to lead acid batteries

The performance of a lithium iron battery is significantly better in cold climates than an SLA battery (note: make sure you purchase a lithium iron battery designed for cold weather applications!) This means you can easily crank up the engine even if it is less than 0 degrees Fahrenheit out. It is because lithium-iron has higher resting voltages, which are 13.3v to 13.8v as compared to 12.6V of SLA battery.

Another reason to prefer the lithium iron battery in snowmobiles is that it has higher cold cranking amps (CCA). This makes it a perfect choice for cold climates. It has a built-in battery management system (BMS) that protects the battery from any short circuit and keeps each cell inside the battery balanced.

A lithium-iron battery delivers about constant 13 volts, so even if your snowmobile is sitting in your garage for over a week, or a month, it will not take a second push to crank up your engine. And you know what is the craziest thing? It can even start a snowmobile that has been sitting for months, over a summer break.

Lithium-iron batteries are small in size, weighs less, and store more energy

The weight and size of the lithium-iron battery are significantly less than an SLA battery. If you do not know about batteries or how they work, then you won’t believe the power this small battery puts out as compared to a standard SLA battery. It is not only small in size but also weighs less at 2.5 pounds.

But you must be wondering how is that possible? Well, you can call it a magic trick or an advancement in technology. A lithium-iron battery uses more dense lithium and iron electrodes with an efficient electrolyte filled between them, which enables it to store a lot of energy in a very small and lightweight package.

On the other hand, SLA batteries use lead electrodes and H₂SO₄ as an electrolyte. This results in heavier batteries (because of lead inside them) that store much less electrical energy due to electrolyte limitations.

Lithium-iron batteries hold charge for longer than SLA batteries

When you put away your snowmobile for summer, the SLA battery is not being charged and discharged to maintain its health. And often it won’t work when you try to crank up your engine after a long summer break.

The lithium-iron battery is different because it is much more efficient in holding its charge and maintaining a constant voltage even if not being used when compared to standard SLA batteries.

After installing the lithium-iron battery in my snowmobile, I didn’t need a trickle charger to store it for summers. The lithium-iron battery worked fine even after sitting for months without getting any use out of it.

More environmental friendly

The lithium-iron battery is environmentally friendly because it lasts longer and does not emit any hazardous fumes acid, or other chemicals like an SLA battery.

The lithium-iron battery also does not corrode over time and does not affect battery terminals and connectors. It also does not sulfate, the battery lasts longer and does not heat a lot when charging. The electrolyte inside a lithium-iron does not freeze in cold weather, which makes it more reliable and produces less waste for the planet.

The difference between Lithium-Iron and Lithium-Ion batteries

Be sure not to confuse a Lithium-Iron with a Lithium-Ion battery.
Lithium-ion and Lithium-iron are two different types of batteries with different battery chemistry. They share a lot of the same things, like high energy capacity and portability, but differ in a lot of ways too.

If you visit a shop or check online, you may find some lithium-ion batteries for snowmobiles. But the fact is that they are not designed for snowmobiles or any other gasoline vehicle as a regular 12v battery.

This is because the lithium-ion battery has a wide voltage range along with the charging capacity. A lithium cell can vary from 2.9 volts (when fully discharged) to 4.2 volts (when fully charged), and the nominal voltage of a lithium-ion battery is 3.7 volts where it provides its 80-90 percent of the capacity.

Combining three cells will give you a range of voltage 8.7v to 12.6v, where most of its capacity will be around 11.1 volts. This voltage range is not acceptable when it comes to vehicles with gasoline engines. And when it comes to the lithium-iron battery, a single cell can deliver its 90 percent charge capacity at around 3.2v.

Combining four of these cells will give you 12.8 volts, and this voltage is perfect for any gasoline engine vehicle.

Another reason for a lithium-ion battery to not last long in any gasoline vehicle is because the charging and discharging pattern of a lithium-ion battery are different from a lithium-iron or SLA battery. You will find a lithium-ion battery in your laptop, headphones, tablet, or smartphone, or even in electric vehicles.

But EVs still have a regular 12v battery, and it is always charging when the vehicle is running so that it can power other electronics in the EV while the EV is not running, and the lithium-ion battery is used ONLY for powering the electric motors.

So, using a lithium-ion battery instead of a lithium-iron battery is not going to do any good for your snowmobile (or any vehicle), and it is going to perform worse than an SLA battery.

In the end…

For me, the lithium-iron battery is the best battery type I have ever used in my snowmobile. It is better than an SLA battery in every way (other than short term cost). It provides stable-voltage, and the biggest thing is that you do not need to worry about it during summer break.

The next time the standard SLA battery dies in your snowmobile, I would encourage you to give the lithium-iron battery a try. Although the upfront cost is higher, a longer life span and fewer problems can maximize your time out in the snow!

Sources:
Lithium-Iron battery discharge rate and properties
Lithium iron phosphate based battery – Assessment of the aging parameters and development of cycle life model