DIY 16s 48V Cells

[Jonessmj]

Building my first battery bank. Looking for some help/guidance on quality and trustworthy cell manufacturers and suppliers. I’ve read some old posts on manufacturers but I know things change often. I’ve scoured Alibaba for cells with the below specs but I feel like I’m looking for a needle in a haystack. On top of that I don’t know who to trust. If I can buy stateside that’d be great, but if I can save 20%+ buying from overseas I’d do it.

1. What quality manufacturers make cells to the below specs?
2. What stateside distributors/suppliers would you recommend?
3. What alibaba sources are trustworthy and well regarded?
4. Bonus: What moderately priced battery boxes (not homemade wood) do you recommend?

3.2V
120ah-180ah
2C-3C continuous discharge
Lifepo4 prismatic

 

[sunshine_eggo]

3.7V
120ah-180ah
2C-3C continuous discharge
Lifepo4 prismatic

LFP is 3.2V not 3.7V

18650store is a favorite, but they do not offer 120-180Ah cells.

 

[augiedoggy]

if you wait long enough you can score great deals on used but tested cells at batteryhookup.com If purchased different cells there a few times and all have performed like new.

 

[Alkaline]

Building my first battery bank. Looking for some help/guidance on quality and trustworthy cell manufacturers and suppliers. I’ve read some old posts on manufacturers but I know things change often. I’ve scoured Alibaba for cells with the below specs but I feel like I’m looking for a needle in a haystack. On top of that I don’t know who to trust. If I can buy stateside that’d be great, but if I can save 20%+ buying from overseas I’d do it.

1. What quality manufacturers make cells to the below specs?
2. What stateside distributors/suppliers would you recommend?
3. What alibaba sources are trustworthy and well regarded?
4. Bonus: What moderately priced battery boxes (not homemade wood) do you recommend?

3.2V
120ah-180ah
2C-3C continuous discharge
Lifepo4 prismatic

You have to decide what you want to spend, I have some recommendations, but they are not going to fit your criteria of saving 20%.

Alibaba is 99% grade B.

Manufacturer Test Report is the only sure way to confirm its grade A.

 

[Steve_S]

IF you buy cells from a US Store, the prices still include duties & fees, just rolled into the price per unit, plus a markup of course.
Warranty / Exchanges if required can be easier but that depends on the sellers, some are good, some aren't (it's universal).

The BIGGY !
There are no ESS LFP that will discharge at 2 or 3 C... DO NOT EXIST !
There are some LFP Variants that can do so BUT those are EV Only and are BYD Blade packs or CATL CTP and NOT AVAILABLE TO PUBLIC.

A 280AH LFP Cell can discharge at 1C (280A) for 1 hour and can take 0.5C (140A) charge for 2 hours.
A Battery Bank with Packs in Parallel can multiply that output. IE 3x 48V/280AH Packs can output 840A concurrently.

A Known Good AliBaba Vendor who does sell Genuine Grade-A Cells with Factory Reports & quality cases which can use different BMS (and cases are adjusted accordingly) at very respectable prices is linked below. You need to open a Chat/Messenger to get an accurate quote for Shipping. Note that they sell Cells, Cases, BMS' and all the bits. It saves $ if you order all your bits from one place, so they can include all the bits into one box, saving on the "per box" fees, plus weight & packaging... believe it or not, it all adds up really fast.

Shenzhen Luyuan Technology Co., Ltd. - Lifepo4 battery, LTO battery

Shenzhen Luyuan Technology Co., Ltd., Experts in Manufacturing and Exporting Lifepo4 battery, LTO battery and 0 more Products.

szluyuan.en.alibaba.com

 

[SeaGal]

120ah-180ah
2C-3C continuous discharge

These two requirements do not make sense - almost contradictory.... and as @Steve_S that rate of discharge is not practical.

Also 2C-3C continuous would only give you useable power for about 15 to 20 minutes.

You will need to consider higher capacity cells with battery packs in parallel if you are looking to discharge at rates of up to 540 Amps.

 

[Alkaline]

IF you buy cells from a US Store, the prices still include duties & fees, just rolled into the price per unit, plus a markup of course.
Warranty / Exchanges if required can be easier but that depends on the sellers, some are good, some aren't (it's universal).

Shenzhen Luyuan Technology Co., Ltd. - Lifepo4 battery, LTO battery

Shenzhen Luyuan Technology Co., Ltd., Experts in Manufacturing and Exporting Lifepo4 battery, LTO battery and 0 more Products.

szluyuan.en.alibaba.com

Umm maybe at one time, but now for buyers in the US 18650 & Ezeal are cheaper and take less time to deliver vs Luyuan especially a quantity of 16 cells (we are talking about all in cost, of delivery, alibaba fees, alibaba sales tax, alibaba transaction fees), you could say its cheaper for larger orders but sun fun kits 48 cell pallets are the cheapest/cell prices I have seen.

I think if you don't have a local grade A vendor you should definitely consider Luyuan, but for most 18650batterystore and Ezealco will be your best bet and will be cheaper overall with considerably less wait. Plus if something goes wrong you have recourse.

 

[sunshine_eggo]

@Jonessmj

These are legit 3C rated prismatic cells:

Topband 25ah lfp 4pack 3.2V Prismatic Cell Lithium Battery

Topband 25ah lfp portable energy storage, two-wheelers, low-speed vehicles, power backup for communication devices and other scenarios.

srikobatteries.com

With a quantity discount of $70.25/4, 16 cells would run you $280 for a 100Ah 12V (300A discharge), 50Ah 24V (150A discharge) or 25Ah 48V (75A discharge).

Paralleling the cells multiplies their current carrying capability, BUT the limit would then transition to the BMS.

You haven't indicated what your end goal is, which might help us better advise you.

 

[Partimewages]

Why would you need a 2-3C discharge. Just curious ?

 

[Alkaline]

battery hookup has 8c discharge headway cells, a lot of the car audio guys use them because they want to keep the weight down so the car can jump around/fall/. I think to win you basically try to break your car with sound.

 

[augiedoggy]

Hes building a golf cart pack. Most commercial golf cart packs are 175a or more continuous discharge and are 105ah or less..
a 105ah pack is normally good for 30-40miles. the performance carts sometimes need more with the 500-600amp controllers and high torque motors. many use the 300/600amp relay type JBD bms or the 200amp JK and some wire multiple packs in parallel to get more amps and capacity.

 

[augiedoggy]

I went with aliexpress 90ah lifepo cells fo my last 16s build... works great but im building a 72v pack now made of bmw/fiat packs (64ah samsumg nmc cells) I put the 16s lifepo pack in my ryobi riding mower..