MT Li lithium power on-board battery: the ultimate power station for your motorhome

The future of electricity storage lies in lithium battery technology. Compared to conventional AGM or gel batteries, lithium batteries can provide almost the entire amount of stored electricity. They are not only smaller and lighter, but also offer almost double the capacity.

What should you look out for when buying?

Before you buy a lithium battery, you should consider a few important things. Above all, the built-in BMS (battery management system) is crucial, as it is responsible for controlling and monitoring the entire system. It also regulates the output power of the battery. If you want to operate an inverter with a LiFePO4 battery, you must ensure that the battery type is suitable for this. Unfortunately, many cheap batteries on the market are not strong enough and therefore switch off.

Specially developed for motorhomes

Lithium batteries that are specially developed for motorhomes not only offer higher performance. They also fit into the battery boxes of most commercially available AGM or gel batteries and have the same round terminals as these. This makes installation and use very simple and straightforward.

Fast charging

Normal on-board batteries (AGM/gel) take a long time to charge, as the charging current has to be reduced early on in order to fully charge them. Lithium batteries, on the other hand, can be charged almost fully with a high current. This means that the charging process is completed much more quickly. However, you should make sure that the charger in your vehicle and any solar regulator are suitable for LiFePO4 batteries. Some battery manufacturers specify a maximum charging voltage and time. Ideally, the charging options are equipped with a special LiFePO4 charging characteristic and can be adjusted accordingly.

LiFePO4 in combination with normal on-board batteries

An interesting option is the combination of an AGM or gel battery with a lithium battery. A special battery computer controls this system and ensures that all the advantages of a lithium battery are utilized. The normal on-board battery only kicks in when the lithium battery is almost completely discharged. This combines the best of both worlds. The PowerUnit system can be charged with any charger, regardless of the charging time.

LiFePO4 on-board batteries are characterized by their high storage capacity, low weight and high cycle stability. The integrated intelligent battery management system (BMS) monitors the batteries internally and ensures the operation of inverters with high output power without any problems. Even with the smallest version (MT Li 85) you can, for example, operate a Nespresso coffee machine or a hairdryer with up to 1200 watts. With the MT Li 105, inverters of up to 1700 watts are possible and with the 120 Ah and 180 Ah batteries, consumers (such as hairdryers, vacuum cleaners or coffee machines) can be operated with up to 2000 watts. Even higher outputs are possible with the MT Li 240 and MT Li 300 models.

The internal BMS not only offers high output power and monitors the battery, but also has several temperature sensors. These are ideal if you use different chargers, solar regulators, boosters or similar in parallel, as they charge the battery optimally in every climate zone. An additional switching input allows you to completely de-energize the battery, which is particularly practical if your vehicle is parked for a longer period of time or if you generally want a main switch function when leaving the vehicle. An auxiliary output allows you to continue using an alarm system or important standby consumers. With the help of the Pro-finder from Thitronik, you can even control the battery remotely via an app. The app also shows you the current voltage and offers a special function: if the voltage of the on-board battery reaches a critical value, a text message is automatically sent to your cell phone.

The battery housings of the MT Li 85 and MT Li 105 are adapted to standard dimensions. This means that these batteries can be easily installed in a standard holder and the existing cables can simply be attached. From battery size MT Li 120, the connection cables can even be screwed on directly, but it is also possible to use adapters for round terminals at a later date.