coming attractions...

Regarding some tariff exclusions, worth the read, and in the "Not so hip anymore is it?" department...

I've been thinking batteries, advancing tech, and my place in the merry-go-round that some call progress. At best, it's perplexing and at its worst one can feel the creeping tendrils of insanity knocking on the door.

I find myself in this condition because someone recently asked me about what I thought regarding someone's discussion of their new 1200 amp hour lithium battery house bank which cost out nearly $14K.

The first thing that popped to mind is that someone who needs that sort of power storage is using lots and lots of power. Looking further at their system, the fact that they have 1200 watts of solar panels pretty much underlines that theory. So, not someone downsizing to a cruising boat and a life of simplicity/frugality...

Not that there is anything wrong with their choices just that, at least for me, I find it requires a bit of mindset adjustment to better understand their thought process.

The second thing that popped to mind was that it was more than time to look at the current costs of lithium batteries for "So It Goes" and to see if they'd make sense for a more, shall we say, dedicated cheap seats cruiser. So I did some checking and boy howdy lithium batteries are still some kind of expensive.

Aboard our boat we have a house bank of roughly 400 amp hours made up of six-volt golf cart batteries. Which would cost me somewhere between $500 to $600 to replace and looking at what's available in lithium the best deal around seems to be right at $1K for a 100 ah battery...

Sure, I'm well aware that comparing amp hours/prices of lithium and lead acid chemistry is akin to comparing apples and oranges but it does give you a hazy idea of where things sit which is that lithium is just a bit too expensive for my volkscruiserish ways and means...

Still, lithium does have an awful lot of advantages...

So, what's a poor boy gonna do?

My first reaction to any product that I can't afford or justify its cost is to do research, simplify, get creative, and build it myself. Lucky for me there are already a lot of folks around who are way ahead of me and it appears that it is very much possible to build your own battery blocks and a 400 or so amp hour lithium bank is both doable and affordable without much in the way of rocket science involved.

Downright accessible.

Lithium powered VolksCruiser.

Kind of has a nice ring, does it not?

Listening to The Ramones

So it goes...