Lead is Dead: Why lithium batteries will rule the RV world

In this episode, we talk to a leading expert on lithium batteries – Sean Nichols of Battle Born Batteries, one of the best known companies making lithium batteries for RVs. Sean tells us that lead is dead, that the old lead acid batteries found in most RVs are rapidly being eclipsed by more powerful and efficient lithium technology. He explains just what lithium will – and will not – do for the RVer and how they can be made to reliably work even in very cold weather. Sean Nichols will be coming up soon in our interview of the week. Also in this episode, your questions, RV news if the week and an off the beaten path report from the Burketts. Show Notes for Episode #236 April 3, 2019 of The RV Podcast: WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK JENNIFER Before we get started, two housekeeping notes. One, in this podcast we will mention a bunch of different resources, news stories and web links that will give you more information about the things we’re talking about. Whenever possible, we build in direct links to those topics on the shownotes page for this episode. You can find that at rvlifestyle.com/236 MIKE Also, you may have a question you’d like us to answer, or a comment on the things we’re discussing. If so, we invite you to leave us that question or comment on the special voicemail number we have for the podcast – it’s 586-372-6990. If you are driving and can’t write it down right now, just go to the RV Lifestyle travel blog at rvlifestyle.com and scroll down the page. You’ll see that number prominently posted on the blog. Mike and Jennifer at the beach We share our whereabouts and plans We’re down in Florida on the Emerald Coast enjoying a spring break vacation with family The next big trip will be to Phoenix Arizona and the huge Super B Small Motorhome RV Show. Once again, Jennifer and I will be attending the Super B RV Shownear Phoenix. The dates this year for the show are April 11-14 and it will be held at what is now known as State Farm Stadium (formerly University of Phoenix Stadium) in Glendale, AZ, Jen and I will be doing meet and greets Friday and Saturday, as well as video live streams direct from the show. Over 100 Class B and short Class C RVs will be on display. There will be some new products being shown at the show for the first time, as well as new floor plans being introduced. Manufacturers represented include Winnebago, Leisure Travel Vans, Pleasure Way, Midwest Automotive Designs, Fleetwood, Tiffin, Entegra, Roadtrek, Hymer and Thor Motor Coach. Sponsored by LaMesa RV (which has RV dealerships in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Florida), this is the largest RV show in North America that features only small RVs. Attendees can see in one place all of the latest floor plans and the and most popular motorhomes from the top manufacturers. People coming to the show will be able to talk with factory reps, RV manufacturing company owners and RV experts and celebrities. Dean Corrigal from Leisure Travel Vans will be there, our own RV Lifestyle Personal Chef MJ Curry will be talking about cooking in an RV kitchen, and there will be a seminar on solar power presented on Saturday, April 13 at 11:00 am by David Copeland from Van Dyke Enterprises. We’re in our second week of ownership of our new Leisure Travel Vans Unity FX. We have it being detailed tomorrow. Look for a video on the YouTube RV Lifestyle Channel thus week in the 2019 Mercedes Sprinter chassis and the big improvements it offers compared to previous Sprinter chassis used on RVs. Jennifer has sheets and bedding coming for the Murphy Bed. I need to order a cellular booster. Probably won’t install it until we get back to Michigan in late April. Considering lithium… as you’ll hear in the interview Next 7 Stop Adventure Guide is coming out. Probably next week. It will be on Utah and joins the one we did on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. RV LIFESTYLE NEWS OF THE WEEK MIKE Judge rejects request to form a creditor committee to slow the sale of Erwin Hymer Group, maker of Roadtrek A judge has rejected the request of several creditors of the bankrupt Erwin Hymer Group North America, makers of Roadtrek, to form a creditor committee, according to a report in the RV Daily Report. The creditors wanted the committee to slow down the sales process. JENNIFER Heading to Alaska's Denali this summer? Plan on carrying out EVERYTHING If you're planning to hike Denali, North America's tallest mountain, any time soon you'll be asked to carry out your own human waste. Why? The Alaska glacier with approximate 66 tons of human waste from previous hikers is starting to melt and, well, authorities don't want to add any more you-know-what to the problem. MIKE Does RV Industry trends point to coming recession? An Indiana newspaper produced an interesting read over the weekend, analyzing RV industry trends to determine if a recession is on its way. Overall RV sales were up in 2018, but the industry is reporting seven months of overall declining RV shipments, reduced work weeks at some RV factories and even some unpaid furloughs. JENNIFER Man falls to death at Grand Canyon National Park while taking selfie A man from Hong Kong who was taking a selfie at the Grand Canyon National Park fell and dropped 1,000 feet to his death last week. He was the second death in the park last week leading officials to warn against putting personal safety at risk while seeking the perfect selfie. This part of the podcast is brought to you by RadPower Bikes,an electric bike manufacturer offering direct to consumer pricing on powerful premium electric bikes. Now with free shipping LISTENER QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK Hi ..have been listening to your pod cast very informative. I wanted to ask what kind of gas mileage do you get with your new leisure RV. How does it do in the mountains, did you get the Mercedes diesel? and if you tow a car ? I have been looking at them and just on the edge if their is enough room? It is just me and my small dog and in the near future I want to sell everything and full time. Looking for your input. Thank you,..Russ Imagine if you can, a problem arises with your new MH. Would you let us know about it, and because of your blogging, would the service you personally get be different than the general public? I don’t mean to throw you under the bus, but I believe it’s a fair question. They know you will inform your subscribers so they will want to make sure you are 100% satisfied. We on the other hand don’t have your influence so they would not necessarily treat us the same way they would treat you... Or would they? Dave RV INTERVIEW OF THE WEEK Sean Nichols of Battle Born Batteries Our guest this week is Sean Nichols of Battle Born Batteries, one of the best known companies making lithium batteries for RVs. Sean tells us that lead is dead, that the old lead acid batteries found in most RVs are rapidly being eclipsed by more powerful and efficient lithium technology. He explains just what lithium will – and will not – do for the RVer and how they can be made to reliably work even in very cold weather. Here's a transcript of the interview: Speaker 1: Tell me about Battle Born Batteries. Speaker 2: Battle Born Batteries are the best lithium batteries on the market. They're drop-in replacements for lead acid. We have a few different models. We make them in Reno, Nevada. They're designed and assembled here in the States. We do import parts from around the world. Each one of our batteries are built with lithium iron phosphate, which is the safest kind of lithium that you can use. It's the most thermally stable, so you're not going to run into a lot of issues that you'd run into with more of an automotive type battery. The batteries come on the Battle Born side with a consumer warrant of 10 years. It's an eight year full replacement, and a two year repair fee or prorated warranty, so it's the best warranty in the industry. Speaker 2: We really stand behind the product, and the reason we're able to do that is we know every step of the manufacturing of the battery. We take quality very seriously. We're able to back our product with a 10 year warranty. I don't think there should be a company out there selling that doesn't have the ability to offer a 10 year warranty. Because if you cycle the batteries every single day, it'll only be 3,650 cycles. And we say right up front, everyone says the last 3,000-5,000. Stand behind your product and people stand behind you. Speaker 1: There is so much confusion. Lithium batteries in RVs in particular, how reliable is lithium now for the RV? Speaker 2: It's pretty good. We've got a pretty simple system. We work with all the suppliers that are already in your RV, so we don't ask you to use anything weird. If you take it somewhere to get serviced, there's not going to be anything weird in there. Even our battery, it looks like a regular battery, but it's clear labeled lithium. Speaker 2: I think that cold temperature charging is what people get worried about. There are times, if you don't have the right protection of the batter you can actually ruin the battery by charging it when the temperature's too cold. That is something that a lot of manufacturers miss. We were the first people to come out with cold temperature charging protection. If our battery is below 25 degrees it will not take a charge. Our battery management system will not allow you to destroy the battery. We have it so ... it behaves almost exactly like a lead acid battery, basically. You're not going to be able to destroy it. You just use it. Speaker 2: It won't take a charge below 25 degrees until it warms up above 32. Guy in Michigan, we sell a heat solution that wraps around the battery. That heat solution basically is made by Ultraheat in Elkhart, so an American made product also, like our battery. It's designed for the battery. Some people do that.