SOLID STATE OR WET CELL BATTERY FOR MY ATV?

A DIRT WHEELS FAN WRITES: “Our family has a hunting camp up in the Sierras near Susanville, and we visit it many times during the year (especially in summer to escape the summer heat of southern California). But not as much in the winter months. We have taken up there and left a couple of older ATV’s for general use and recreation. We have found that the batteries barely last a couple of years unless we remove them and bring them home for a charge and then return them on the next trip. My daughter tried a solar battery charger but there is limited sun what with all the trees around the storage shed. Would you recommend we keep ferrying the batteries each trip or look at maybe a solid state battery instead of a conventional type? Even though they are much more expensive at least at the beginning. Fyi, they are a 1999 and a 2000 Honda TRX300’s if that helps.” – Val Davidson & family, Los Alamos, CA

OUR PRO ANSWER: Interesting that you ask that question, Son! I asked myself that same question 12 years ago when solid state batteries first became a thing. There are essentially three types of batteries that you can choose from. The conventional wet (Flooded) cell, which is the cheapest of the three but has the shortest life if left unattended for long periods of time. The AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat Flooded) battery adds about $10 – $15 but can more than double the battery life and doesn’t seem to mind long periods of disuse due to its low self-discharge rate. The third type is the Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) solid state battery, definitely the most expensive by on average tripling the cost of a conventional lead-acid wet-cell battery. However, the self-discharge rate is the lowest by far and can set in disuse for six months with little loss of power. Way back in February, 2013, I installed one of the then new Deltran Battery Tender Li-ion batteries in a Honda ATV. Thirteen years later, it will still reliably start the quad, even on a below freezing day up at my cabin, even though Deltran no longer produces batteries. So, I vote for the more expensive solid state battery due to its resistance to discharge and its incredible service life.

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