LiFePo are starting to make a splash (pun intended) in the marine sector now that costs have started to fall, but lead acid still rules the roost. I have 4 AGMs and one Lithium in my vessel.
I have heard that large contracts on LFP batteries have touched under 100$/kwh in China, but on the retail side i have never seen anything cheaper than 300$/kwh ever sold. I guess even touching something like 200$/kwh retail is a big deal and might happen sooner than later with the flood of battery makers coming in.
Yeah, China domestically got really good at LFP chemistry. The US doesn’t make LFP domestically, and from what I understand it’s overall less common outside of China. I’m a big LFP fan. Under-rated and already capable of many things people claim for new chemistries (long cycle life, much safer, low cost, using very abundant minerals, etc).
I'm on year 3 with some AGMs. I bought used group 24 AGM batteries from a local used/recycler battery joint that were used in large hospital battery backup applications - they're typically never cycled but once for testing and always kept topped off. Very common to find these kinds of batteries in bulk a few times a year where I'm at. The flooded batteries (mostly Interstate) that I used in years prior would last at most two years even when properly maintained. The FL heat just nukes those things.
