Civic Type R FK8 Lithium Battery Upgrade

This week, I upgraded the OEM battery in my 2019 Civic Type R with a lithium battery from Antigravity Batteries. For members that are unfamiliar with these types of batteries, these batteries are most widely known for being very light in weight and capable of producing high amperage. With the lightweight feature, these batteries also come with a heavy price tag.

I will start by stating the following:
1. 2019 Civic Type R.
2. OEM Battery Size: Group 47, H5.
3. Antigravity Battery is a direct fit replacement (exact same size as OEM).
4. Antigravity Battery weight (30 Ah): 11 lbs.

Basic Comparison:
A. OEM (450 CCA, 60 Ah), approx. 30-35lbs.
B. Antigravity Battery; (1200 CCA, 30 Ah), 11.7 lbs.



Before new battery installation:


Antigravity Battery Installation:



An accessory battery monitor is available from the company, and provides users some neat metrics about the condition of the battery, usage, and the vehicle’s charging system.



Screenshots from battery monitor app:




Notes:
1. In order to prevent the vehicle’s settings (CPU, radio, etc) from resetting during removal of the battery, I used a OBD “memory saver” adapter that I bought from Autozone (?) years ago, and powered the vehicle’s onboard system using the 12v outlet from this jump starter.


2. To maintain the battery, I use a battery charger from Noco (5A) that has a lithium battery mode.


This new battery has a unique feature in its battery management system that reserves starting power in the event that there is a significant amount of battery drain. In other words, the battery will not drain dead. On top of the battery is a Re-Start button to enable this feature, and the battery comes with two key fobs to also remotely activate this feature.

All in all, I am impressed with the workmanship and exact fit and finish of the battery, as well as its Re-Start feature. Although these batteries are not cheap, they do have neat benefits.

I will post here after 30 days to give an update on how it is performing so far. I have had lithium batteries on motorcycles in the past, and they are solid in terms of reliability. I could not remember when I installed my last lithium battery because it has been that long, so that was my main motivating factor for this upgrade in a car.

Very cool I’ve been looking at these but for the price couldn’t justify the bang vs buck

LiFePo battery with equivalent to stock CCA for 1/3rd the price and at around 5 lbs. You do need to drive the car at least once a week to keep it charged.

Pretty cool! I’d run across some LiFePo battery stuff a few years back and a lot of claims that they’d replace Pb acid in a few years (still hasn’t happened). Still pricey and not as economical as changing out Pb acid batteries more often, but if their price comes down a bit more, they could really start to replace Pb acid one of these days. Great weight savings though.

How much?

ExVTEC said:

How much?

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These batteries range in cost between $650-830, based upon the amperage-hour rating of the battery. This battery group is sold with a 24, 30, and 40 Ah rating, with each category having its own CCA rating too. I chose the 30Ah model. As the Ah rating increases, then the weight increases proportionately.

You can inquire and get a quote from the company. They may offer you a discount too.

nice! following. Looking into lightweight batteries lately. Braille also has their version of lithium. $1k is a pretty heft tag since there's other competitors that may or may not be lithium that also weighs about the same as your model or maybe around the 15lb range. Odysseys and XS Power are half the price or lower depending on model...... There's a million models.
Did you actually weigh it? Someone weighed their Braille and it was like 1.5lbs off than the advertised. Not that big of a deal, but just pointing it out.
Nice baller pick up for sure. Also nice that it's the exact size and all. No custom mounting hardware. The added app features are a nice touch! If that size is only 12lbs, smaller sizes will be feather weight. would be a sweet track upgrade!

TypeSiR said:

LiFePo battery with equivalent to stock CCA for 1/3rd the price and at around 5 lbs. You do need to drive the car at least once a week to keep it charged.

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I have always wanted to try one of those. I ended up using a 5 lbs. Shorei battery, awesome in terms of price & performance. Nothing crazy, it’s just friendly budget summer battery. I took it for a test drive, round trip Miami - Chicago, not a single hiccup since then. And yes, the car feel definitely lighter, it is noticeable.

Do these lithium batteries have the same limitations as other lightweight batteries (i.e. not letting the car sit for a long period of time or battery will drain)?

catspaw said:

Do these lithium batteries have the same limitations as other lightweight batteries (i.e. not letting the car sit for a long period of time or battery will drain)?

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It definitely has that limitation. The Shorai in my STI can only go for 5 to 7 days before going flat.

The restart feature of the Antigravity battery is a nice feature. Not all models have it.

I got an ATX30RS for $350. It is cheaper than the group 47 version and has the same reserve capacity. However it has lower CCA and physically smaller. I still have to get around to mounting it.

Out of curiosity… why is it these batteries are only lasting a week? I get that the ones being picked seem to have about 1/2 the reserve capacity of an equivalent Pb acid battery. Still... I thought LiFePO4 didn't have a high rate of self discharge... and was an advantage of all the Li-based battery designs. LiFePO4 gave up some outright energy density for some other advantages that made it better/safer as an automotive battery.

Is this just based on y'all having a lot of parasitic loads when the car is off? The only batteries I know of (and isn't the ones were talking about) that had a lot of self discharge were NiMh or NiCads. Li-based stuff should do as well as Pb acid.

Just curious. I try to keep up with battery tech stuff in general... and I wouldn't have thought cutting RC in half using these new batteries would make it a 1 week battery in a Civic.

charleswrivers said:

Out of curiosity… why is it these batteries are only lasting a week? I get that the ones being picked seem to have about 1/2 the reserve capacity of an equivalent Pb acid battery. Still... I thought LiFePO4 didn't have a high rate of self discharge... and was an advantage of all the Li-based battery designs. LiFePO4 gave up some outright energy density for some other advantages that made it better/safer as an automotive battery.

Is this just based on y'all having a lot of parasitic loads when the car is off? The only batteries I know of (and isn't the ones were talking about) that had a lot of self discharge were NiMh or NiCads. Li-based stuff should do as well as Pb acid.

Just curious. I try to keep up with battery tech stuff in general... and I wouldn't have thought cutting RC in half using these new batteries would make it a 1 week battery in a Civic.

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For the purpose of this post, I want to state that one type of battery that someone may have purchased for a specific application does not necessarily apply to this battery. I had an Odyssey PC680 (AGM) mounted in a MeLe box for track days on my previous STi, but it was definitely not intended for daily use.



This battery serves as a replacement battery, with the exception that it may not let the vehicle run longer on reserve power (ie leaving the lights on) than a deep cycle or traditional battery. You can purchase a higher Ah rating, but this will add weight to the battery, so I tried to aim for the middle ground (30 Ah).

For illustration, there is no sign of irregular or degradation of the State of Charge (SoC) over this 24 hr period. The voltage stability is what is expected.



As I mentioned earlier, my lithium battery in my motorcycle still has more than 80% of its SoC, and the battery is about 8-9 years old. It’s been a while, and I don’t pamper it. During the winter season when I don’t use it, I’ll keep it connected to the trickle charger, but the battery will keep a standard charge just like any other battery. I am confident this battery will hold its SoC easily for 1-2 months, with just the car alarm turned on.

Has anyone tried to measure the parasitic load that a stock Type R has? I am really interested in a lightweight battery if it can go at least 14 days without running.

Very useful and worth upgrades for sure. Two thumbs up!
but I just can't justify the price range....something like this I was thinking about $200-300 but $600-$900 is very steep imo.

Unless an owner has an actual need for a 12v lithium battery, such as the minute weight savings for tracking a car, it's a really poor upgrade due to the cost and extreme safety issue a lithium battery introduces.

• Lithium batteries require the use of electrolytes that are explosive when exposed to the atmosphere, so if the car is ever in an accident and the battery is punctured, it will burn north of 1,000F (usually exploding in the process). To see what this looks like on a small scale, view YouTube videos of people intentionally puncturing smartphone batteries.
  See this post (the above has been edited to remove factually inaccurate information)

12v lithium batteries are extraordinarily more expensive than high-amperage AGM batteries, and if requiring the extra amperage for electronics, invest in a HO [High-Output] alternator from Ohio Generator or Mechman (~$500 for one that outputs ~250A - >300A, depending on the size of the OEM casing).

• An automotive battery is only there to start the engine and provide a buffer for the voltage and amperage coming from the alternator... that's it. When the engine is running, the alternator is what runs all electrical components, with a small portion of the extra amperage used to charge the battery from the previous engine start.

AFAIK, the only practical use of an automotive lithium battery would be if the car is being tracked, but beyond that, the return on investment is nil.