Cold Weather Starting Tips for Motorcycle & ATV Lithium Batteries
Cold weather doesn’t stop me from riding, and it shouldn’t stop you! Lithium (LiFePO4 or Lithium-Ion) motorcycle and ATV batteries are typically moderate-climate batteries. Still, they can be used in some cold weather conditions with a little bit of knowledge. Let’s look at lithium powersport batteries and their cold weather performance.
Motorcycle and ATV lithium batteries have an operating temperature down to about 0°F. However, we have seen people use them below their operating temperature, and we have even tested them out of a freezer successfully.
While most will have success, some more stubborn applications might need more finesse. Learning a few cold-weather starting tips can help when your normal starting procedure does not do the trick.
Warming the Lithium Battery Before Starting Your Vehicle
Once temperatures reach the mid-40s, warming the battery before starting is often helpful. This doesn’t mean you must wrap your battery in an electric blanket or take a blow dryer out to heat the battery! Instead, we suggest running your headlights, running lights, or an accessory, such as the radio, for 30 seconds before starting your motorcycle or ATV.
This simple procedure will cause the passing of ions in the battery membrane, which effectively starts to heat the lithium within the battery, thereby increasing the battery’s performance. Headlights are always the best option as they take a lot of amperage to run and will heat the battery quickly. However, you may need to increase the warming time to a couple of minutes if you have some low-energy LED lighting on your vehicle.
Lithium starting batteries, especially for motorcycle and ATV applications, have a simulated CCA test done at about 70°F to show how they will perform in average conditions. A standard lead acid battery CCA test is done at 0°F, showing how the battery will perform at extreme temperatures right from the get-go.
In LiFePO4 batteries, the lower the temperature, the higher the resistance is in the battery. This higher resistance results in a lower available capacity. So, the battery may not be able to hold under load at lower temperatures, given its lower capacity state, but running your headlights or accessories will warm the lithium in the battery, lowering the resistance. Less resistance equals an increasing capacity, which increases the voltage under load and allows you to start your vehicle.
If the first attempt to crank the vehicle fails, the amperage pulled by the starter helps heat the battery even more, and the second attempt will perform better than the first. We recommend pausing briefly between attempts to give the lithium a chance to warm.
Failure to pause could drain the battery before it reaches a good starting potential. Remember that it might take several attempts to crank over the vehicle the closer you are to 0°F, so do allow for those brief pauses, which will allow the battery to heat up.
At BatteryStuff.com we value our customers and like to help educate them on the limitations and best practices for optimal performance when purchasing products. You’ll find additional helpful articles on our blog and in our Knowledge Base. Don’t see the answer to your question? Contact us! We are always available for technical help and advice.
