An in-depth look at the new Antigravity Battery for Sprinters. A full lithium replacement for Sprinter vans with the added "restart" feature which means you will never find yourself with a dead battery again! owlvans.com/pr...
To me, 1)- this would be a no brainer just for the automatic cut-off alone. Nothing worse than coming back from an all day hike and see a dim light on as you walk up to the van. 2) - I'm not sure if these are suitable for winching but if so, getting a full 100% 80Ah of battery capacity and know that you can keep working until it cuts off and know you can still start the van is great. 3) - 10yr garanteed life span is great. 4- 50lb wieght savings is a nice plus. BUT - Having said all that $1200.00 for an 80Ah Lithium??? Not only is that way out of line with current lithium dollar/Ah pricing of even the most expensive batteries but it most certainly knocks it WAY down the priority list when building out a new van. At $600 - $700 it would move back to "no-brainer" and I would be ordering now instead of writing this.
I agree with most of that you’re saying. We love how great a solution this is for the sprinter so we wanted to sell them. We obviously don’t make the batteries so we are at the mercy of the manufacturer on pricing. Honestly I don’t have a lot of experience with battery manufacturing so I can’t comment much. My thought is the additional technology in the battery plus the remotes raise the cost above a dumb lithium battery of the same AH
@@johnwillenborg Agreed. Didnt mean to be negative. Prices on EVERYTHING are way up the last couple years - not your fault. I think its great that its available and that you are carrying it but still, for me, it will have to wait.
Good information. I didn't know. I always hv problems starting my van. The battery indicator always shows low. Even when I get a new battery every year. I still ask for a jump if I go to Walmart or I have to leave van running. Than if I wait till next day at Walmart the van starts. The mechanic says it is not battery not alternator. I added a ground wire from the engine not to the metal of the van. It help very little.
usually Lithium charging requires a different curve than AGM. Wonder how this is managed? Also up in the north, colder than -20C is not uncommon and Lithium battery does not charge below 10C or 40F. Will research more but seems interesting
From what I have read the BMS (Battery Management System) in the battery controls how it is charged. As for the cold, the battery is technically inside the van and when they talk about the temps it is the actual cell temps inside the battery. So as long the cell temps are above 32 degrees internally it is all good.
@@2superblus If your van stands in the cold a long time, the battery cells would become as cold as the outside air and it takes a long time to heat them up without any external heat applied directly to battery because they are so dense. That’s why any lithium battery that is used in cold climates comes with a way to preheat them. Without battery warmers if your battery would be near depletion and you start the van, battery would be very quickly exhausted as it can’t recharge and it takes quite some time to heat the battery by heating the cabin. I would never buy lithium battery and expect it to perform if it doesn’t come with built-in warmers.
@@californiaballer I have been using lithium batteries since 2014. If you put a draw on the battery in cold weather like turning on the headlights or blipping the starter a few times you can warm the battery from the inside out. Once current starts to draw the battery will warm fast and charge like normal. I have personally used these batteries in -21F temps overnight and started it in -7F temps in the am. This has been done since I installed one in my rig in 2018.
@@2superblus Lithium batteries can accept charge when they are pre-heat to about 45 degrees. You’re telling me that a dead cold battery would rapidly reheat from -7 to +45 in just few moments you’re running headlights? Once you start the van, alternator is going to supply all the electricity necessary to run car power train and electronics. The battery would no longer supply energy and would rely only on the external heat coming from the cabin to rewarm itself before it can accept any charge. I’ve been dealing with lithium batteries in the cold for few years and I know that if they get cold, depending on the density and number of cells it may take hours running the directly applied warmers before battery can accept charge again. This anti-gravity battery is much smaller and lighter, so maybe it would take less time. But certainly much longer then just few moments. And supposedly the battery was already very low from the van standing idle for couple of weeks? I can easily see a scenario when a very cold very low battery would just never be able to recover unless external heat is applied.
@@californiaballer the built in BMS controls the charge rate protecting the battery. The batteries heat up pretty darn quick as you put a draw on them.
Hi, I was wondering on s side note.. I noticed you have four cup holders under your climate control panel.. I would love for you tell me the part number of that top panel, I'm in the UK and we don't get that option. Instead we get two large pockets, mercedes doesn't seem to know what I'm talking about.. thanks in advance, keep up the good work bro!!
@@johnwillenborg It literally just pops up with a trim tool, no screws on it or anything.. dealers only managed to find one that has 2 Cup holders on left pocket but the cut out for manual gearbox on the right.. my van is auto so thats no good to me.. been searching high n low for this panel online but no joy.. lol
For some reason they are not showing up in the site search. We are working on ficing that. Here is the listing in the mean time: owlvans.com/products/antigravity-lithium-sprinter-battery
Lithium batteries CAN NOT be ran down to zero without damage. Lithium batteries have microprocessors built in to shut them off and regulate the charging input. Your phone, cordless drill, laptop, hoverboard, ect. all have this. This microprocessor failing (cheap Chinease crap) is the reason there are so many lithium battery fires throughout the county.
Hey Magna! We totally understand your concerns, we at AGB have been producing lithium batteries since 2009 and we wouldn't be here still if our batteries were catching fire regularly. We have spent all this time perfecting our BMS or battery management system to ensure that our users can be comfortable installing these without the fear of any failures, whatsoever. Part of what our BMS does is manage the ReStart feature which controls the battery from draining entirely this is what allows the customer to be able to start their vehicle even in an instance where they may have left something running while they were away. Cheers
If you watch enough RU-vid test videos you will realize that most quality lithiums give you the full rated power before shutting down while still saving enough jiuce to protect themselves and be able to recharge.
Paying the price for this right now. Expensive lesson learned. I am using Antigravity batteries in my motorcycles and now my Sprinter. Expensive for a 1.5 year old AGM as well......
