Lithium 12v Battery?

Battery Replacement

If you don’t feel comfortable replacing the 12v battery, find a friend or mechanic that is competent at working on cars and willing to pull panels and remove hard-to-get-to bolts. A competent person can do the replacement in about 30 minutes after watching the videos linked in the next paragraph. My husband is ready to do the third FUV and he doesn’t think it’s a big deal. But then he is competent and has small, agile hands.

FB has some good videos on the process to replace the battery: Part 1 Part 2 

Videos on how to slide the old battery out and slide the new one in.

Why a Lithium Ion Battery

There are some people that are swapping their 12v AGM battery (Interstate DCM0018 AGM) for a 12V lithium. I'm hearing word that the FUV battery controller actually works with lithium batteries well.

We have now successfully replaced the standard battery with this lithium ion version on 2 different FUVs.

30Ah Lithium Battery (LiFePO4) - Tall Version

This battery needs a hex 5mm screw to hook up the ring wires. Watch out, if the screw is too long, you’ll have to use washers. We ended up ordering 100 from Mcmaster because they were M5 x .8mm x 8mm long, a really weird size. We also got stainless. If you need any, I send them out for free, just message me.

Lithium ion batteries run between $200 and $250 and include a built in battery management system allowing the battery to cut off if it gets drawn down below 10 volts. This should have been built into the FUV BMS but for whatever reason was not. Also, both batteries weigh almost half the AGM battery the FUV comes with (7lbs vs 13lbs).

For background, there is a relationship between the high voltage (HV) lithium ion big battery and low voltage (LV) 12v system. The 12v will die if left unattended because the HV pack cycles every 45 minutes to recharge the 12v. After 10-14 days, the HV SOC will drop to zero and will no longer charge the 12v battery and can damage the 12v battery. Arcimoto recommends leaving the vehicle plugged in so that the 12v maintenance system continues to deliver about 13.4v to your LV system.

Brief steps

1. Trip the breaker on the right side
2. Remove the left big panel near the driver’s knee
3. Pull the outside panel away from the edge to give yourself more room to remove the battery 
4. There are 4 bolts that you need to remove to get the battery out.
5. Disconnect the battery.
6. Find the two bolts on either side of the battery - they are a bit below center of each side.
7. Remove the bolt on the left - you can see it. 
8. Remove the bolt on the right - you cannot see so you have to feel for it.
9. Remove the third bolt on the bottom.
10. A longer bolt is underneath and holds multiple ground wires (on older FUVs). To get to it you have to pull out the fender and use a quarter inch extension and u-joint on your socket to remove it.
11. Once you get the four bolts out, you have to push up and out of the way the bracket that holds the fuse. Reverse the steps above.
12. Make sure you push the lever back up on the right side reset.
13. Ensure your fuses are seated.. The battery slides out with some wiggling.