HMS Beagle wrote:
There are several "lithium ion" battery technologies, and they are not all created equal. LiFe are much less likely to suffer thermal runaway or short circuit fires. The ones in your camera, cell phone, laptop and Dreamliner are not the same chemistry, and are not comparable.
And you read this where, on a battery manufacturer's website? Did you miss the many articles on the Boeing Dreamliner and its suspended production due to the lithium batteries? Do you think that the RV manufacturers and the inverter and charger manufacturers whose products they use are smarter than the engineers at Boeing?
The thermal runaway is endemic to the technology and that is why many millions of dollars are being spent on alternative battery technologies that do not use lithium at all.
There is also no benefit to saving 50-100 lbs. in battery weight for a camper. That is the weight of 6-12 gallons of water. My truck and camper together weigh over 7,000 lbs. and saving 100 lbs. with two batteries, or less than 2% of the rig's weight at a cost of $1200 for two lithium-ion batteries is as dumb a thing as I can think of at the moment.
If I had $1000 to burn on batteries for the camper I would instead donate it to a worthwhile charity and get some benefit out of my donation.
I can buy a good quality deep cycle lead acid battery for $120 that will last me 5 years. That works out to $24 a year. Or I could buy a 100 AH lithium-ion battery for $1299 that maybe lasts me 10 years. That works out to a cost per service year of $130 a year.
Even if I held onto the RV for 20 years, which is not going to happen, the cost would be $65 a year. How does that make any sense at all? Only the military and the banksters that are both using other people's money can afford this waste.