Wheelchair Lithium Batteries

Types of wheelchair batteries

Lithuim wheelchair batteries

Lithium ion is the main component of the lithium wheelchair batteries. Lithium ionizes at the anode during the discharge cycle, producing ions. These lithium ions on the anode travel through the electrolyte to the cathode. Here, they neutralize themselves by binding to ions. The whole process generates electric current, which drives the wheelchair to run.

Currently, lithium wheelchair battery are the most advanced batteries. Also the newest and most efficient battery in the market. Although they are expensive, they become cost-effective over time.

Lithium wheelchair batteries are rechargeable, and are not present in wheelchairs. In fact, in most cases, you will find lithium-ion batteries also installed in mobile phones, laptops, e-bikes, tablets, electric vehicles.

Lithium wheelchair battery are the new standard for portable power in electronic devices. They have many advantages – light weight, almost half the weight of other batteries. Enjoy more power after charging. But the lifespan is 4 to 10 times that of lead-acid batteries. Most people choose a lithium ion 24v 15ah wheelchair battery for their wheelchair.

Conventional lead acid wheelchair batteries

Conventional lead acid wheelchair battery are the cheapest batteries, but they require regular maintenance, need to invest time in maintenance, and need to regularly add distilled water from time to time to prevent the battery from vulcanizing.  Since the conventional lead acid wheelchair battery have a high internal temperature, coupled with the process of electrolysis and evaporation, the battery water loss market also appears, therefore, conventional lead acid wheelchair batteries discharge is faster than others.

AGM wheelchair batteries

AGM Maintenance Free wheelchair battery are generally airtight and require less maintenance than the conventional batteries mentioned above. While the battery still needs to be recharged regularly, there is no need to monitor the level of this battery type if your vehicle is not in use. The difference, however, is that AGM batteries usually need to be activated (most batteries have completed the activation process before leaving the factory). Once activated, there will be a warranty before, if the battery is not often used, generally need to be placed in the battery maintenance period to maintain the charge maintenance state.

Advantages of lithium wheelchair batteries.

Service life

The service life of lithium-ion batteries is usually several times that of lead-acid batteries, making the effective life of lithium-ion products longer. In most cases, the cycle life of lithium batteries is ten times longer than the SLA, which makes the cost per cycle of lithium lower than the SLA. The service life of lead-acid batteries is about 500 to 1000 times, while the life of ordinary lithium iron phosphate batteries can reach 2000 to 6000 times.

Charging time

The lithium wheelchair battery we designed can be fully charged within 1-2 hours. Faster charging means longer battery life, so less battery is needed. However, SLA batteries charge very slowly. In most cycling applications, you need to have additional SLA battery available so that your application can still be used while another battery is charging. In standby applications, the SLA battery must remain floating.

Using lithium battery, the charging is 4~5 times of SLA.

Weight

Lithium is on average 1/2 lighter than SLA. This is especially important in most wheelchair applications, where it is obviously much more difficult to move the battery to charge when you have a heavy and bulky battery in your wheelchair.

Capacity

The capacity of a battery is a measure of how much energy a battery can store (and ultimately release). For the same weight battery, the effective capacity of lithium battery is twice that of lead-acid battery. Lithium-ion battery technology has a much higher energy density than lead-acid batteries. So that means your wheelchair battery will last twice as long as a lead-acid battery.

Depth of discharge

The depth of discharge of a battery is the percentage of the battery that can safely drain energy without damaging the battery. While it is normal to use 85% or more of a lithium-ion battery’s total capacity in one cycle, lead-acid batteries should not be discharged beyond about 50%, as doing so can negatively impact the battery’s lifespan. The excellent depth of discharge achievable with Li-ion technology means that Li-ion batteries have a higher effective capacity than lead-acid batteries, especially given the higher energy density of Li-ion technology mentioned above.

Discharge efficiency

Most lithium-ion batteries are 95 percent efficient or higher, which means that 95 percent or more of the energy stored in a lithium-ion battery is actually usable. In contrast, lead-acid batteries are closer to 80% to 85% efficient. Higher efficiency batteries charge faster and, similar to depth of discharge, increased efficiency means higher effective battery capacity.

How long does lithium wheelchair batteries last?

The above diagram is the cycle life of ELB Deep Cycle LiFePO4 lithium Batteries, the lifespan is more than 6000times@80%DOD.That means if you charge/discharge your wheelchair one time per day, your golf carts battery can last 6000/365=16years. And if you charge/discharge your wheelchair one time per two day, your golf carts battery can last 6000/365*2=32years theoretically.

Did wheelchair batteries maintenance free?

Yes, lithium wheelchair batteries do not need special maintenance, do not need to add water and acid like lead-acid batteries, just need to keep a dry and normal environment. However, it needs to be recharged in time when the lithium battery is out of power within 6 monthes.

How to upgrade the lead acid wheelchair battery to lithium wheelchair battery?

Just tell us the voltage of the batteries, and size of the battery space used in your current wheelchair, and we can provide an alternative lithium battery solutions. It is a simple process.

How to prolong the life of electric wheelchair batteries?

1. Correct charging method of wheelchair lithium battery

Take the time to prevent overcharging. Do the right thing at the right time. Although, compared with lead-acid batteries, lithium batteries themselves have excellent electrochemical performance. However, anything that deviates from the equilibrium state will have safety hazards. To elaborate,

• When charging when need charging. Under normal circumstances, when the wheelchair battery is too low, there will be a reminder when the battery of the golf cart or RV has no electricity. At this time, you need to replenish the battery in time. Although the battery is too low, it will not lead to a direct safety accident, but excessive use will lead to over time. Damage to the battery structure.

• Do not overcharge. The inside of the lithium battery cell is also composed of many components. The new wheelchair battery is fine. If it is used for a long time, the function of which component may decline, so there will be an overcharge safety risk. Generally, many dangerous accidents are caused by overcharging. The explosion of ternary batteries is far greater than that of lithium iron phosphate batteries. Why are phosphoric acid batteries safer than lithium iron phosphate batteries? This is closely related to the properties of the material itself, and details can be found in this article.

• Use a suitable charger. Do not charge batteries with inappropriate chargers, for example, some people will ask if it is possible to charge Li-Ion batteries with a lead-acid battery charger? The answer, of course, is not. Click here to know more details.

2. Correct dischargeing method of lithium batteries

Charge in time to prevent over-discharge. Ordinary wheelchair battery users are not aware of the dangers of overdischarge, because there are usually no reports of safety incidents from overdischarge. Moreover, some even believe that regular deep discharge is good for the maintenance of battery performance. In fact, this is not the case, because the memory effect of lithium batteries can be ignored, and there is no such thing as a deep discharge to eliminate the memory effect. Theoretically speaking, the total cycle life of a wheelchair lithium battery with deep discharge will be greater, but the risk is that over-discharge of the battery will cause the battery voltage to be too low, and it will not be able to charge normally.

3. Correct maintenance of lithium batteries

The temperature is suitable, anti-cold and hot. When idle, the lithium wheelchair battery usually does not have a safety accident. The purpose of daily maintenance is to place the lithium battery in a suitable environment, thereby delaying the aging of the battery. The water side protects against moisture and the hot side protects against sun exposure. Therefore, the suitable environment for daily maintenance of lithium batteries should be four words: ventilation and coolness. These four words should be followed regardless of whether the lithium battery is idle independently or in an electrical appliance.

In the correct use of lithium batteries, the charging method of wheelchair lithium batteries is the most important, because incorrect charging methods will cause safety problems, and discharge and daily maintenance only affect the service life of lithium batteries, and lithium batteries themselves are also a kind of Consumables, no matter what method we take, we can’t avoid its final wear and tear, but we use the correct method to delay its aging.

For more information, please read our article How to extend lithium battery life

Can ELB support OEM and ODM services for wheelchair batteries?

Yes, ELB can accept OEM and ODM services for wheelchair battery, if you need custom battery solutions, welcome to consult us, But we need know,

• Required battery dimension
• Required battery voltage
• Required battery capacity
• Required battery charge/discharge current
• Required battery terminal port