Battery, we need them to turn our engine over and power electronics devices in our modern vehicle. They are as heavy as they come, 40, 50 and some times 60+ lbs for conventional lead acid battery. We have one of those lead anchor in our Porsche and sits right on top of the fuel tank and front axle. I want the dead weight off and replace with a smart and efficient lithium battery. My criteria are as follow:

Weight: Less than 10 lbs is a must. Our OEM battery is over 40 lbs. I want this weight off as much as possible

Brain: Yes, you read that right. I want a battery with brain where it can shut off itself when power is low so I don't have to jump start my car or hot wire from the fuse box just to pop the front hood

Protection: Prevent overcharge or discharge related damage

Remote control: A remote push button to turn the battery back on if it shut itself off due to low voltage

There are several options on the market including the new Porsche Li-ion battery. But the problem with these battery is that they weight more than 10 lbs (13 lbs for Porsche brand), has no brain or remote control and cost some pretty pennies.

After much research, I decide to get a Voltphreaks 5.5 lbs VPH 750 battery. It has everything I was looking for and weight merely 5.5 lbs and cost less than the Porsche battery. Here is their website with some technical description: Voltphreaks 5.5 lbs VHP 750 lithium-ion nano battery

Here is a look of the battery switch process and comparison

Voltphreaks fresh out of the box



Let's remove the heavy OEM battery by first removing the plastic cover then loosen the right base anchor bolt





Remove the 3 lbs OEM battery base



Battery remote control wire can gain driver compartment access through a left side black plastic cover (this opening is used for interior air filter if you have a right sided driving vehicle)



Remove the two Philip's screws and gently pull the cover back to revel interior access





Drop the remote control wire through the opening. I wrap some electrical tape on the wire section that makes contact with the body of the car to prevent tearing the wire cover



Remote switch at the driver side compartment next to the foot pedals. I zip tie the switch next to the black plastic bracket. The top of your foot will kick the plastic bracket and will not touch the switch





OEM vs Voltphreaks battery





41 vs 5 lbs lol





OEM battery plus battery base come up to 44 lbs - that's about an extra 7 gallon of fuel you carry around every day

 

The hardest part of the whole switch is making the battery bracket. You don't need to make something fancy like what I did but this give you a general idea on how to secure the smaller Li-ion battery.

I got an aluminum sheet from ACE hardware for the bracket since they are light and easy to work with.



I measure out the length and width of the battery and the distance between two bolts on the body panel (this is where you secure the battery) facing the battery compartment and bend the sheet with the help of a vice. Wood block was used to sharpen the bend (beat the crap out of metal sheet lol)



Test fit looks pretty good



I also made a center brace to prevent the battery from moving up and down. I drilled 4 holes on the center brace then secure it with aluminum rivets. Ignore the extra holes ... they are for cooling lol.

Flat side of the rivet facing the battery. I used couple self adhesive plastic spacer on the center brace to help it fit perfectly





Here is a look of the finished brace

I cut out a none slip plastic mat from Lowe's for the bottom and back side of the battery for extra cushion



You will have to get two longer bolts (about the twice the length of the OEM bolts) from a hardware store to secure the bracket. You may also need to bend the aluminum bracket ever so slightly to make it fit right. Here is what is looks like once installed





Now you have lost 39 lbs total with this mod. This is about 6 to 7 gallon of fuel in weight so the front of the car will be slightly higher. I measured about 1/4" or 6 mm higher each corner on my car. To compensate for this change, I lower each side of the car by turning the suspension height adjustment by two 360 degree turns.



Finish product with everything installed. Connect the remote control wire and push the little button next the the red positive terminal and you are in business!





The car felt great yesterday at Laguna Seca with 39 lbs lighter in the front. The car tun in better. Battery works fantastic too! I intentionally left the interior lights on with both doors open and front hood and rear engine lid up to see how long it take to drain the battery. It took more than 4 hours for the battery to trigger the low voltage shut off. All I had to do is push the remote bottom and we got juice again. Start the engine and the battery was quickly charges. I had no problem at Laguna Seca yesterday and the battery work great with all the electronics without triggering the low voltage shut off. I will give more feedback in 3, 6 and 12 months for long term follow up.

Addendum:

Rad aka NJ-GT gave me a good suggestion that I should put some form of cover between the Li-ion battery and the fuel tank below just in case something happen to the battery that it won't damage the fuel tank case as shown below.



It's a pretty easy mod. You can get a thin aluminum sheet form your local hardware store. Trace out the shape of the heavy OEM battery tray and cut it with a metal sheet cutter.





Test fit the aluminum sheet and I wrap the sharp edge with door edge molding





Finally I cut out a none slip plastic mat from Lowe's for the aluminum sheet and the cover between the Li-ion battery and the fuel tank case is done

 

I'll be doing this soon. Looking forward to your review. Thanks for posting.

 

$1300 that little joker better last forever and a day even at that size. Losing the weight isn't even half the battle, keeping the charge is. Let us know how it holds up.

 

Yes, will post 3, 6 and 9 months review later

Yeah, not cheap even though it's less than Porsche Li-ion battery. This battery will last 5- 10 years and in this time frame I will likely go through couple regular light weight none Li-ion battery and each at $200 per. Most of these none Li-ion light weight battery weigh 20+ lbs and I don't want to jump start the car each time they die especially on the track. Considering all the options and benefit, I rather spend more now for less headache and more weight loss benefit

 

Braille seems to be a better value ~$150 for 6 - 9 lb batteries. They have Lithiums as well

Tirerack sells them.

http://www.braillebattery.com/index.php/batteries/b106/

 

I got one before and return it. They don't last long in any usable way and if your battery go dead there is no way to open the front hood except jumper cable

 

nice!!

 

their Lithium batteries start at $950 and go to $1950

$148 for a 6 pound non-Li battery.

whats special about Li ??

 

All Li car batteries are expensive... partly new technology and marketing.

The Li's, in general hold more Amp/hr per weight (mass).

Example, their 6 lb battery has 10amp/hr versus the 4 lb 36amp/hr (Li ion).

I'd like to know if more folks had issues with Braille. I'd think TireRack would drop them if it were a common problem....

 

Well said on Li battery. The 6 lbs Braille conventional battery is suitable for a moped and will die very fast on a 6 cylinder car like ours. It will not be able to keep up with all the background elctronics even with engine off. It doe not handle all the charge and discharge cycles well like a Li battery

 

Nice Writeup!!!

Please keep us updated over the next few months on how it works.. I dont mind 15lb Odyssey PC680 for 100.00 myself.. 100.00 per Lb could be shaved off elsewhere and in the rear where its really needed IMO.. I also had 1 of these Voltpreaks explode on an Evo we used to track.. We had some Electrical issues with that car so i cant point the finger at the battery 100%..

Mike

 

Hey Mike, I sure hope my Li-ion battery don't explode on me ... good thing there won't be any acid to wipe up

It's harder to lose weight on the butt like everything else in life
Will keep everyone posted in the next couple months

 

Jumper cables in the fuse box work even if there is no battery connected. Ask me how I know. (forgot to connect my PC680 and closed the hood) Big sigh of relief when it worked.

 

lol, that's what I am trying to avoid