Bigger front battery?

[4seaer]

Can you put an Optima battery in here or a faster charging battery?

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[TaxmanHog]

Can you put an Optima battery in here or a faster charging battery?

You should only replace with a battery that has similar capacity, the low voltage battery (LVB) charging process might not perform accurately with a larger capacity battery.

 

[bmwhitetx]

Can you put an Optima battery in here or a faster charging battery?

Ditto @TaxmanHog 's comment.
You might want to look at the Lithium or Sodium options - search Ohmmu for example. A few members have gone with them. They claim to work with the Ford BMS system. Pricey though.

 

[Timeless Epoch]

I believe the lightning's LVB is an AGM battery, which at a base level all the optima is.

 

[Kansan]

Can you put an Optima battery in here or a faster charging battery?

I’ve been meaning to test this, but haven’t yet. There are so many similarities between the components in the Lightning and the ICE F150 that I’d be surprised if the 12V battery management system isn’t capable of adapting to a different size battery. The actual BMS part looks similar, but I haven’t checked part numbers.

In my ICE 23 F150 5.0 I changed the H6 out for an H8 battery - substantially higher CCA and AH capacity. I monitored the new battery with an ANCEL battery monitor and OBDLink and made several observations:
- For the first couple of days the BMS charged the battery in unusual patterns, running up to 100% and then lower levels. I believe this was a routine to determine the battery capacity.
- The charge rate is controlled by the BMS and is independent of the supplied voltage (of course the voltage needs to be high enough to charge the battery). The BMS throttles the charge rate depending on battery size, age, temperature, and throttle and brake inputs.
- The desired SOC is determined by the BMS regardless of what you set in FORScan. The target SOC is adjusted based on outside air temperature - it sets a higher target in cold weather. It won’t go to 100% in warm weather.
- Once the target SOC is reached the system runs the 12v like a mini hybrid system running high charge rates during braking and drawing power from the 12v during acceleration. The mpg improvement must be ridiculously small, and goes to show the extreme measures the manufacturers are going to in order to try to notice mileage.

On my Lightning I’ve installed an H3 (same size as OEM) battery with a higher capacity. The LVBMS adapted to that and is functioning perfectly. I didn’t take the time to closely monitor the charging after resetting the BMS to see if it went through the same as capacity check as my ICE truck.

Also on my Lightning I have noticed that the LVBMS is setting different target SOC in warmer weather. It’s charging my battery to about 92% when the OAT is in the 60s and 70s. When the temperature drops back into the 40s and 30s it will charge the 12v to 100%. This is a behavior similar to the ICE BMS.

In my 24 Flash, installation of a larger battery will require modifying the battery box. I’m not certain I want to do that. I’ve considered, but haven’t committed to trying, installation of a 2nd 12v battery similar to what is done in the PowerBoost. The primary driver for this feature is that the H3 battery is too small for cold conditions coupled with short drives. (The same problem I had in my ICE truck - the modules stay on and draw power for a half hour after ignition off and the small battery causes the BMS to throttle the charge rate to the point that it doesn’t fully replenish the SOC. This is solved by the bigger battery and the resulting higher charge rate. )

 

[K6CCC]

What is the objective of changing the battery?

Although I don't know anything but speculation, I would assume there is almost no similarity between battery management on the Lightning and an ICE F150. On an ICE truck, the 12V charging source is the alternator that almost certainly can source massively more current than the DC to DC converter in the Lightning.
As a reference, in my Dodge Ram 2500 PU that the Lightning replaced, I had two group 24 deep cycle batteries as an aux battery. When the engine was running, the aux battery was paralleled with the normal starting battery, but when the engine was off, the aux battery was totally separated from the starting battery. The aux battery was used primarily for 2-way radios and some lights. That worked very well and caused no issue for the normal vehicle 12V electrical system.

 

[Heliian]

a faster charging battery?

To be a faster charging battery, it would have to be smaller.

 

[Kansan]

What is the objective of changing the battery?

Although I don't know anything but speculation, I would assume there is almost no similarity between battery management on the Lightning and an ICE F150. On an ICE truck, the 12V charging source is the alternator that almost certainly can source massively more current than the DC to DC converter in the Lightning.
As a reference, in my Dodge Ram 2500 PU that the Lightning replaced, I had two group 24 deep cycle batteries as an aux battery. When the engine was running, the aux battery was paralleled with the normal starting battery, but when the engine was off, the aux battery was totally separated from the starting battery. The aux battery was used primarily for 2-way radios and some lights. That worked very well and caused no issue for the normal vehicle 12V electrical system.

The OEM battery is undersized and the issue shows up a couple different ways:
- Many trucks have a problem getting OTA software updates because the 12v battery state of charge is too low.
- In cold weather the 12v system can go into deep sleep mode because voltage drops too low. This is exacerbated by using the truck only for short trips.

 

[Kansan]

To be a faster charging battery, it would have to be smaller.

If you’re referring to faster as in how quickly you can raise the SOC, then maybe. But the LVBMS manages the rate of charge and throttles it significantly.

If faster means adding more power to the battery quickly, then a bigger battery is needed and the LVBMS definitely adds more energy the a bigger battery in a shorter time.

 

[Merner]

I'm 99% sure I remember seeing a spot in forscan to select different AH batteries.

 

[K6CCC]

The OEM battery is undersized and the issue shows up a couple different ways:
- Many trucks have a problem getting OTA software updates because the 12v battery state of charge is too low.
- In cold weather the 12v system can go into deep sleep mode because voltage drops too low. This is exacerbated by using the truck only for short trips.

Both of those are issues with the BMS - not the battery.

 

[TaxmanHog]

I'm 99% sure I remember seeing a spot in forscan to select different AH batteries.

Please share, this would be suggested adjustment if changing the proscribed capacity from the Lightning designed specification.

ONE WOULD THINK ..... That if FoMoCo recommended an upgrade in the upfitters guide that this information would have already been shared.

 

[bmwhitetx]

I'm 99% sure I remember seeing a spot in forscan to select different AH batteries.

The part I vaguely remember was a setting that set the target SOC. But it was determined the BMS ignored it IIRC.

 

[Adventureboy]

Faster charging is not likely an option. I believe the BMS limits the speed the little H3 battery can receive a charge to keep from frying it. This charging speed limit will not likely go away with a larger battery and if your driving habits result in a chronically undercharged H3, it will result in a chronically undercharged larger battery too.
That said, an H4 will fit with some tray modifications and may reduce the depth of discharge for some driving habits. Has anyone tried this? If not, I am going to do this next round to see if there is any improvement. My goal is to extend the time the truck can stay connected before dropping everything. Right now, it drops after a day and a half because my second battery is now weak.

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