I was just shopping around online for SLA batteries and found a great deal of variance in pricing from one manufacturer to another. B&B 22ah are around $75 each, while I saw a source for UB12220 batteries(Universal) also rated 22ah but costing only around $45. Does anyone have any experience with the cheaper batteries? What does one give up?.
Tim O'Brien
some folks here can paint this much better than me, but, 22ah is not always 22ah,,,, some batteries are rated for high capacity discharge over a short term, others are rated for high capacity discharge for longer durations, while others may have the voltage and the amperage, but can only hand it out lightly over long periods. Some are designed for deep discharge before recharge while others are meant as "just in case" usage and are friendly to being trickle charged and maintained for occasional use. Some battery stats that should be looked at are, how many "duty cycles" (charge/discharge/recharge) can they take? voltage? , AmpHour rating, for what current load over time? shock/vibration vulnerable? Whoever you buy from make sure they understand you wish to use them in an electric vehicle, and they may be able to help you narrow your search somewhat.
I found a nice battery from Interstate battery for $75.00 on sale if I bought a case. Case being 4 batteries in a box. It was CSB Brand Model EVX-12200 and was pleasantly surprised when it out performed Yuasa batteries. It was a lot heavier and test on load meter and impedance meter far better too. A full 14.4 pounds where as BB battery was 12.5 pound down to 11.9 pounds. All different weights. Another good thing was terminals are on top making for ease of connections to fuses and wires. Pounds of lead equals more AH and range usually.
KB1UKU