NexPower V2.5 Lithium-ion Pack 6 Month Review.

I wanted to try this pack out with half the weight and 2x the range. It sure does both after owning it now. I pulled my good original battery of 12 years and 130k miles out to give to my Nephew who bought a Prius C with 200k miles from a family friend but needed a battery. It was still in very good shape showing 78% capacity. A lot having to do with me running the batt fan at speed 6 full time and pointing the AC down to keep cool air going to the batt intake.

Anyhow, very noticeable improvement. Drains much slower with the AC for one thing. Also, gets better regen. I did upgrade the bus bars to copper to make sure I get the lower resistance. Before once the bat heated up, it would take in less energy and not regen as strong. I can see it in the Dr Prius app also. The other nice benefits is that the new batt runs cooler. 10-15F on average. It also gives full power almost all the time unless you really drain the batt compared to the NiMH. For MPG was getting 50 mpg on the last tank before changing hand calculated. Now I see 54mpg or more. Mainly due being able to take in more energy but the better regen. Possible also the lower resistance.

Now NexPower is doing Sodium-ion. While they will be heaver and less energy dense. They are cheaper and work better in the cold and are reliable in chemistry. They are also releasing at GT higher performing version which they say will beat the old lithium packs in MPG. Id like to see what others say on that. In the mean time at least this pack is very light and more energy dense.

Anyhow, Im happy I did the swap. I will report back if I have issues or at my 20 year anniversary in 8 years @ 2032 for another update.

 

Sodium is about 3x heavier then lithium. "The energy density of sodium ion batteries is lower. It is only 100-150Wh/kg, while the energy density of lithium energy is 120-180Wh/kg. This means that for batteries of the same size, sodium-ion batteries can store much less energy than lithium-ion batteries."

These are the fundamentals. There are pros to Sodium though in cost and reliability. If it weigh less and has 2x the range like the lithium does that would be awesome. It also says better MPG then the lithium. Once more people use it they will post on it