Quote:
Originally Posted by JoeFromPA
People: You can buy a 30-40 pound lead acid battery with a great CCA rating and reserve power for less than $200. It may not have the lifespan or reserve capacity or super-cold starting ability of this LI-ION battery, but that's a choice you can make.
You don't NEED to buy a $1100 LI-ION battery to get a 30 pound battery capable of starting the car (unless BMW deliberately engineered it that way).
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Yes, you can buy a lead acid battery which physically fits and has the terminals in the same place. The Li-ion battery looks like it's in a standard H6 form factor.
The issue, though, is that lead acid batteries have a different charging voltage that would be damaging to a Li-ion battery. The Li-ion battery charging voltage is insufficient to charge a lead acid battery.
The best case is that the car is able to detect the battery type and adjust accordingly. Less ideal is that the car can be coded for the battery type. Worst case is that the charging system is locked to sub-12V. I don't think we have any definitive answers yet.