1999 996 New Replacement Battery Advice

Hi, I currently have a porsche branded battery in my 996. It is time to get a new one and wondering if it is best to buy the same porsche battery. The dealership quoted me $306 and I believe it is still a wet battery (not AGM). I was thinking of just putting in an interstate battery from Costco for $120. I was told this particular model allows for aftermarket batteries. The one thing I did notice is there is a clear vent tube for the current battery and not sure if an aftermarket battery has something to hook onto. If anyone can give recommendations as to a good battery for the car, that would be great! Thank you.

Interstate battery from Costco will work just fine. There should be a provision for a vent tube on the battery and it should come with a hose kit.

Yep. I have a Costco Interstate as well. Works great.

I can�t picture there being anything wrong with the interstate or the batteries plus one I bought. There are other more exotic and or costly options, I don�t think that�s where to put my $$$. If you are looking for weight loss, that�s another story.

Another vote for Costco Interstate.

I would consider an AGM battery for a few more dollars.I don't think the brand matters much as apparently they're mostly made by the same company.

Odyssey AGM for me a few bucks more but great burst power for that initial crank.

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Are you serious? One - you have a 99 996 with a Porsche branded battery in it? So your OE Porsche battery is 21 years old? Or did someone be stupid enough to put another Porsche branded battery in it for $$$$$$. The car, any car, doesn't give a damn what kind/type of battery it has in it...really...fact. Get a decent AGM battery with some CCA's and move on. My goodness, I'm surprised people even have to ask this question. A battery is a battery. Oh, and I only buy Porsche coffee for the morning and only drink Porsche wine in the evening. My coffee mug is Porsche branded and so is my wine cup. I wear only a Porsche shirt and shoes while drinking my Porsche coffee and wine. Stick a battery from Costco or Walmart in there. Car won't know the difference. And the clear vent tube is for the older type lead-acid batteries. You don't need it for the newer AGM batteries that do not vent.

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Actually the car does give a damn my original OEM battery in my 997 was only 640cca which made the car turn over slowly which drove me nuts and why I replaced it. I have said this before and I will say it again our cars need at least 800cca and I have no idea why dealerships and battery look up's suggest batteries with less cca's. When I bought my car a few years back the car prior to me owning it went to Porsche for minor service and at that time the battery was replaced with another Porsche / Platinum Bosh battery so this is not that uncommon. On the topic of AGM's Many of the better AGM batteries do have a vent tube port , The Odyssey AGM I picked up had it in the exact same location as my OEM battery and it even came with an adapter in case your vent tube was a different size. The vent tube on AGM's is there more as a precaution than anything but it was nice to be able to stick the house somewhere rather than letting it drop somewhere below into the tray. As mentioned just get a decent AGM battery with high CCA and you will be good to go , while I was at it I bought a premium AGM battery which I thought from a construction and warranty perspective was worth the few extra bucks. My car sure cranks over nicely now when compared to the oem that's for sure.

I've used several of the Exide Extreme AGM batteries, my 2006 BMW had a wet battery and the 800CCA rating. Always had trouble with it running some electrical things like windows in cold weather. Dropped in a 1200CCA Agm, Cost was about 40 bucks over a wet version. That battery was going strong at 6 years old and still testing over 1100 CCA when it got totalled. I use them for the winch/start battery in my Jeep as well, no comparison how much better the winch pulls on a real heavy duty battery.

The vast majority of independent mechanics for Porsche, Ferrari, etc all recommend Interstate batteries specifically. Yes, most batteries are made in the same factory, but they are made to individual brand specs. Interstate is the "nobody ever got fired for hiring IBM" choice in my opinion. Between the non-AGM and AGM versions of Interstate, I stick with the non-AGM version because non-AGM are more tolerant of discharge events and the non-AGM version is 6-7 lbs lighter than AGM. AGM does generally perform a bit better, which is why AGM is always used in modern auto stop/start cars. My last non-AGM Interstate H7 lasted 11 years. I replaced with a non-AGM H6 from Coscto. I don't like using a battery tender when the car is parked, and it's sometimes idle for a week or two, so I prefer non-AGM (and the weight savings is an extra benefit). I don't think you can go wrong with either AGM or non-AGM Interstate.

Main reason I use AGM is the only corrosion issues I've had on my cars were batteries dripping out the vent tube.. Interstae and Excide are the OEM's for many of the other battery companies.

The AGM battery may or may not have a vent hole for the tube drain, but AGM batteries don't need or use the vent. With an AGM you avoid battery acid from venting on your mounting plate. Oops sorry. I have to check this again. Google says I am wrong, but I don't see a vent hole. Jumped the gun. Just checked my Diehard AGM and it has vent holes. I thought they were just using the standard external frame but they didn't mean anything for AGM. Going to fix this ASAP and get the vents on!

When I bought my car (2014) the battery was dead (Orielly�s said it was shot and couldn�t be charged). Fortunately there was an Interstate factory somewhere close by (in an industrial park outside of Chicago). I brought the battery to them because according to the sticker it was still under warranty. They explained that they would only replace it if it wasn�t able to be charged. Long story short, they put it on a �deep charge� over night, and the battery lasted me another 7 years� I like Interstate batteries�

Costco sells AGM batteries I have one in my truck

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Similar story. When I bought my 996.1, the Interstate battery that was in it was 5 years old -- it was working fine but I was just going to replace it proactively. I actually placed an order online for a battery back then, but it didn't go through for some reason, so I just never got back to it. The Interstate (non-AGM) lasted 6 more years (total of 11). Replaced it with an Interstate non-AGM H6 from Costco. I think the H6 is a few pounds lighter than the H7, so I now have a 2800lb 996! (2901 lbs - 4 lbs = 2897lbs). Interstate is just a very safe bet, and if you're a Costco member, it's very inexpensive. I didn't care about cost for the battery replacement, I only cared about quality, but Interstate also happened to be inexpensive.

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Not sure where you got your AGM info but its not accurate imho... I've used AGM for decades now in RV's, boats, cars, bikes, jetski, sleds, etc... Very familiar with them, especially Odyssey, but now have a H6 Walmart AGM in one of my 996.1 cars. On sale for $128 a few months ago with a 4 year non pro rated replacement warranty . It works very well. No more slowish hot crank. Full charge gets it higher than any other AGM I've ever had at 12.82volts. Johnson Controls makes it, and others likeDuralast�, Diehard�, Kirkland�, Motorcraft�, and Interstate . JFYI,Brookfield Business Partners bought out Johnson Controls a few years ago... 1) " non-AGM are more tolerant of discharge events" Not sure what you mean by discharge events..? But regardless, if you mean deep discharge,,, AGM are very tolerant of deep discharge. And their long life span and warranty show this... 2) "it's sometimes idle for a week or two, so I prefer non-AGM" Thats where AGM really stands out from wet cell lead acid batteries. A good AGM can sit for a year and only drop a few 1/10's of a volt. They hold charge amazing well, much much better than wet cells, not even a question of this.... 3) " non-AGM version is 6-7 lbs lighter than AGM" For the same weight, its not unusual that an AGM battery offers 1/3+ more power than a lead-acid battery And with no requirement to vent the agm, no acid spills is a great benefit imo. Yes some agm batteries do have vent tubes or more accurately pressure relief valves that very very rarely will need to vent in an unusual circumstances like a total direct full short permanently left shorted out. I've never seen or heard of an agm venting, but if you do get a agm with a vent tube by all means connect it if ya want. But my guess is it will never be used. In comparisons, a wet cell constantly 'breaths' thru its vent tube. jmo

^^ is all correct and accurate.

Two weeks ago I witnessed a AGM battery spewing acid mist out of the vents . The passenger side was vented with the OEM tube . The battery for whatever reason built up so much pressure that it blew out the drivers side vent cover . It literally had a mist stream shooting out over 3 ' away . Granted this is not a normal occurrence but it can and does happen . If I hadn't seen it with my own eye's I would not have believed it . So yes an AGM battery can make a mess just not as easily as a conventional wet cell battery .

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First of all -- I literally said "I don't think you can go wrong with either Interstate AGM or non-AGM", so I wasn't disparaging AGM, just explaining my reasons for going non-AGM. Second, my non-AGM Intestate lasted 11 years in the 996, which has parasitic drain like most modern cars. A 4-year warranty on the Walmart battery doesn't impress given the 11 years, but I agree non-prorated is pretty cool and unusual. In my vintage car, with no parasitic drain, I just replaced the non-AGM battery that was 15 years old, proactively, -- it was still working fine, I just wanted the piece of mind of replacing it because it was FIFTEEN years old. I never use a tender on either car (I do slow charge it if either has been sitting a really long time, but other than that I don't touch the battery). I think I'm pretty happy with non-AGM at 11 and 15 years. I suspect other people would be too. Both cars crank fine always so I don't need the extra power of AGM. I stated very clearly AGM perform better in my post -- though I think you have severely overstated it at 33% better. Weight wise, the Interstate non-AGM H6 (the model we are talking about for the 996) weighs 38.9 lbs versus 45.4 lbs for the AGM, so it's 6.5 lbs lighter. The amp hours for the AGM and non-AGM are identical at 70. The CCA for AGM is 760 vs 730 non-AGM -- a 4% difference. Cranking amps is 950 vs 910 -- also a 4% difference. That's an "apples to apples" comparison of the same brand and same size battery. I think I'm going to be able to live with the 4% difference of the non-AGM (especially since I just did for 11 years with the prior battery). I've had 3 Optima batteries, 2 red top and 1 yellow top an they all sucked. They worked great for a while, but a after running low from normal parasitic drain while sitting for a long time, they died. I've run the non-AGM low a several times over the years from sitting parasitically too long and it lasted 11 years. When I was proactively replacing my 15 (fifteen) year old non-AGM battery, I wanted to buy one of those vintage 60's batteries (that look like tar-top but are modern batteries inside). They only have them in AGM. When I talked to the seller, he was adamant that you need to run a AGM-compliant trickle charger for a full day at least once a month, even if it isn't low, because the charger has a cycle to repair the cells. I don't want to use a tender and have never needed to use one and I got very long life out of non-AGM. I've also heard from others that AGM's aren't as tolerant to discharge (there are also posts on RL saying same if you read other battery threads). Which battery is best depends how you use it (how long do your cars sit idle?, are they parasitic?, do you use a tender?) For my Macan, which will benefit from the AGM performance advantage with automatic engine start/stop, and which has a charging system designed to work with AGM, I will absolutely use an AGM battery when I need to replace it. Everyone can pick what they want to use for their needs. I gave a balanced overview. AGM performs better. AGM weighs more. Non-AGM have proven to be very durable (11 and 15+ years) in my "worst case" scenario of having cars sit idle for long periods of time without ever using a tender. I think my post was pretty damn good, and accurate, and fair. Apples to Apples Interstate H6 non-AGM vs AGM specs:

So I make some lengthy trips overseas and my C4 sits for months at a time. This last trip (2.5 months) was the last straw for my current battery, which is a AAA group 94r battery. Don't know the age, or how long it's been in there, but it has got to be at least 5-7 years old, maybe longer. Anyway, I am wondering, since the car sits for longer periods of time, if I should go with an AGM battery or stick with a wet cell? Here is what is in storck by me: Walmart has an AC Delco 94r AGM on sale for $195 or an EverStart H7 AGM for $180. AutoZone has the Duralast platinum AGM for $250, Advanced Auto has the DieHard H6 Platinum AGM for $255. I guess the other question is, should I stick with the 94R/H7 or the smaller 48r/H6 Group size, as all the web sites recommend? What would be better for my convertible? Thanks Truth be told, I am tempted to get the Walmart Everstart for $180 and call it a day. Thoughts?

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I went with a smaller, lighter battery for $130, Costco, Interstate. My 99 cab doesn�t really have anything crazy for power draw except heated seats. I�ve had this battery since 2017 and it�s been great. I�ve never used a maintainer, as I always drive my car at least every 3 weeks. I also bought one of those lithium jump-start packs and I leave it in the car just in case.

I am currently running Walmart Everstart wet cell batteries in my Boxster and 996 C4 . Let's face it Walmart doesn't make the battery there are only a handful of manufacturers in the world . I do use maintainers on both . If you have an issue there is a Walmart close by . Their price is very competitive and the warranty is solid . I believe a maintainer is key to making batteries last regardless of wet cell or AGM .

The bulk of the auto products Walmart sells are built/packaged to their spec. Often a lower level than the standard item. Numerous friends have been burned by their tires for instance. Both times I checked , their BF Goodrich All terrains had 1 less ply rating than the standard offering. Their Mobile one oil is also packaged to their spec. It often is missing some of the test ratings. The printing on the bottles is just slightly different. One day when I'm bored I'm going to buy a bottle and send it in for testing with a bottle from a regular auto parts store.. Their Die-Hard batteries are about 1.5 lbs lighter than the ones at the dealer..

I was forced to consider my options and went with a Trickle charger, one weekend I forgot to lock my 996 fully, and after non use for three weeks, it was totally dead battery, the battery is an interstate and less than a year old, prior to this the car was used every one to two weeks and started fine every time. It is my understanding from reading here that the 996 doesn't go to sleep fully unless you lock it with the remote or perhaps even with the key in the door. i expected to have to go down the path of which battery to buy next, however as i am a believer in trickle charging if the tender is smart enough to maintain rather than charge all the time..., i decided to research and then purchase a Ctek trickle charger, it just gives me piece of mind... it was expensive at $140 bucks, but it has several modes for wet cell or AGM and can do motorcycles as well so it can little batteries.. so if like me you are having start anxiety consider a Ctek, which i read is the Porsche brand of choice albeit re-badged.

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Well, my understanding is when alarm is activated and in full protection mode, a small battery drain is constantly happening. In a matter of weeks battery will be dead. With car not locked and alarm not activated, all doors, lids, trunks, etc, closed, the least amount of battery drain occurs... jmo

I have found no difference on my 99 Cab locked or unlocked after 2-3 weeks of sitting. It just starts up. I haven�t measured drain, though, so it�s all anecdotal and a data point of 1.

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Gotcha well same sample size of one, mine didn't go dead until i left it unlocked, i don't have an aftermarket alarm fitted, but who knows what parasitic drain i have if any, i have disconnected the frunk light as i found mine has been fitted with a little LED gizmo with its own electronics, and a heat sink that gets burning hot when its on for longer then a few minutes.. i was suspicious of that and as i don't think the frunk light is that important i just unplugged it.

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Me also, anecdotal. Although I have read voltage of battery while connected to car, without alarm on, doors unlocked, and with alarm on in full protection mode. Can tell you on both my 996.1 & 996.2 the voltage drops slightly from day to day with alarm on. Without alarm on voltage still drops but not nearly as fast. I'll go from 12.8v on agm Walmart battery to 12.5 in a week or 2. Without alarm on might go down 1/10 of a volt in same time frame. Ya, I know a amperage reading would positively tell the whole story. Might do that in the future when my bucket list of 996 jobs is done... For now, I leave both my 996 in garage top down unlocked alarm off. Can go for many weeks like this and still start right up. Not so if left locked with alarm on with a less than perfect older battery. Speaking of batteries, my new Walmart AGM (5 months old) seems to be the best AGM I've ever bought. It charges to 12.8v routinely. Never had an AGM that did that. It spins over the 3.4 with authority and sounds like the most starting rpm I've ever had in this car with any battery....And holds charge extremely well for prolonged periods. Whereas every other AGM I've had over the years(dozens, had many Odyssey agm batteries) only charges to 12.6-12.7, and that is considered a full charge for an AGM.

I put the battery out of my jeep in temporarily while troubleshooting a problem, its a 1260 CCA agm man does that thing spin over, too bad the hood wont close.. LOL

Went and got that Walmart AGM and installed it. All good. If it fails earlier than expected, I'll get another at $178.

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Well, its got a 4 year free replacement, no pro rated crap... Mine says made in GERMANY, does yours..?

Didn't notice that and I check the top of the battery, but didn't see anything. And I don't want to remove it to have a look, I'm too lazy. I'll be in Walmart tomorrow and have a look at the two left on the shelf and let you know.

Alright as long as we're talking replacement batteries and saving weight. Amazon Amazon There are finally LiFePO4 batteries marked for automotive use popping up on Amazon for what I would actually consider to be reasonable prices. Very tempted to pick one of these up. I can drop 30lbs and replace an old battery? 10 year warranty (assuming they're still around. 1/4th the price of Antigravity.

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are these batteries proper for the starters? can they provide the cca required during the winter? I see them on speedboats but only for secondary electrics, not for starting up engines...

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I suppose the specs only go down to 32F, so maybe not great for cold climates. So maybe not a great choice for the winter DD folks out there haha. 800CCA plenty though.

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probably they wont charge well on our cars. they have different charger for lithium batteries. in the mid-long term they might even deteriorate faster due to the incorrect charging procedure.

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Well, the battery manufacturers should include built-in BMS/chargers if they want folks to buy them. Maybe they do?

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I don't know of any lithium battery intended to replace a traditional unit that doesn't have a BMS.

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I saw in the Amazon description for that battery it says, under the warranty section: � NOTES: Please charge the battery with a dedicated LITHIUM BATTERY CHARGER, and no more than 4 batteries in series.� I find it interesting that the battery charger for my iPhone is technically inside the iPhone itself. The cable most people call a �charger� is just a cable, and the outlet section is just an adapter / power source. So I wonder if this lithium battery actually has a charger or not built-in.

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Electrical engineer here. That battery does not have a built in charger. It has a built in connect/disconnect to prevent catastrophic meltdown/fire. It's there to avoid legal issues resulting from fire. Not sure what you would do if it went to disconnect mode while you were grabbing a burger on a hot day. I wouldn't experiment with this on my car unless I had a chase car nearby. But I do like the idea of eventually dropping 30 lbs for good.

There's clearly some reused garbage on that listing that doesn't accurately portray the product. IMO it's only a matter of time before Antigravity's customer base falls off a cliff or they have to seriously revise their margins. Building these things is not particularly complicated and China is better than anyone at this sort of thing at the moment.

I have tested the battery drain on many 996/997 cars, even on cars that the owners say they thought that there was an abnormal battery drain on the car... I can say that I NEVER found one that had an unusual drain on it..The rule of thumb is more than 50 milliamps is too much drain even on modern cars...They would all power down to less than 1 amp quickly, then power down to less than 30 milliamps in a few minutes if the car is locked with the remote. If the car is not locked it will take a bit longer to power down to below 30 ma ..If the radio on button is pushed after the key is off, the radio will stay on for 1 hour before automatically shutting down... I did have one 996 Turbo that it took an hour for the dash to power down, but it also powered down below 30 ma after an hour... Most of our cars are equipped with 70 amp hour batteries, so someone can do the math on how long it would take to drain the battery at 30 millliamps.. And after a week of being locked/parked the alarm control will go into sleep mode that further reduces the milliamp draw....( no, I have not done this week long test...lol) All the questionable cars were found to have bad batteries or weak charging systems...or operator error ( most common was turning key off but not removing it)

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Well, translated from China ad gobllygook, seems a new BMS is being used similar to many batteries costing 3 times the $$$. My take on this.... The BMS, will within 1 second, reconnect full voltage once the disconnect condition is remedied. Like a wrench across the terminals will cause an immediate disconnect as it should. As soon as the wench is removed the power will be restored. Thats what i got from the ad..? Whats an E E's take on this ad gooblygook..? Oh, by the way, try the wrench across a lead acid batteries terminals and see what happens.... From Amazon ad: "AUTOMATIC BMS AND MAINTENANCE-FREE: The built-in Battery Management System (BMS) protects your battery from Over Charge and Discharge, Over Current, Short Circuiting, as well as Low and High Temperature for increased performance and longer life. The BMS will automatically cut off the battery and the voltage will drop below 1V. Only when the (BAD..?) circuit is cut off, the battery will automatically reactivate after 1 second (No longer need a higher voltage input to activate). " Wish I needed a battery, this would be my first choice for the 996. Thanks for the heads up Brontosaurus. Amazon returns/warranty have been outstanding for me in the past. In case this LiFiPo4 turns out to be junk(doubtful) its an easy warranty return. jmo.

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To be 1/4 the price of Antigravity is a statement that is a bit out of context so I wanted to comment. Antigravity Battteries pricing is going to always be more than any direct from China factory battery. We are an American company, with 12 employees, paying the extremely high costs of doing business in the USA, and investing in designing and building the best products available. We designed the the first Automotive lithium batteries with built-in WIRELESS JUMP-STARTING so you will never be stranded by a dead battery, an never be locked out of your Frunk if the battery goes dead.Its arguably the best Car battery in the world. We are used by Pagani, and will soon be in some other high end OEM Cars. We also use the most expensive and best Lithium Cells in the Industry, which cost almost 3x more than cheap lifepo4 cells, it actually the same that are used in the Porsche Lithium Battery which is about 2x the price of ours, but the AG battery does way more with its better BMS and Built-In Wireless Jump Starting. When you look at Amazon Chinese Batteries for sale with those low prices, they are usually made by a factory in China who goes direct to Amazon, they have no overhead, no warehouse costs, and can simply ship directly to Amazon. They have no employees in the USA to pay insurance for, nor can you simply call or email them for information as a Customer.. The don't have to have liability insurance on the products themselves as we do. They don't have to market the products since they just sell on Amazon only. I can go on, but its just not apples to apples in comparison and never will be. I am not saying you should buy from Antigravity, or that the product is not good, it is truely up the the Customer to decide and their perspective and needs. I just wanted to take a moment to point out factors that go into the cost of a product for a business operating in the USA. Competing with an Amazon based business from China with a price that low will never be comprable to what we do in terms of pricing or quality.

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Appreciate what you are building. Question, what are the near term and long term trends as it pertains to your cost of building the product. Any hope that the prices will come down in the future or new products will be developed for more reasonable prices. No question it's an expensive battery that many of us have an interest.

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Here's a chart of CATL's expected LFP price. Raw materials have fallen off a cliff -- it's not at all surprising that we are seeing cheaper alternatives. I can certainly appreciate that there's something to be said about having software being built here in the USA, but it is a bit funny for you to accuse Weize of not having any USA presence when just a bit of googling reveals that they do have a US presence that has a similar or greater footprint than yours given their other businesses. You are buying the same commodity LFP cells (I see you use a couple different vendors (TalentCell, A123, etc) as suppliers). Not much proprietary about it save for the interface to the battery. I did a bit more poking around too. Looks like if you REALLY want to roll the dice you can get 60AH for $110 on Aliexpress lol https://www.aliexpress.us/item/32568...720003781568_2

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This would be a no-brainer versus a standard battery for me, but I'm not sure I'd trust a generic battery with this much power from a fire perspective. The scooter batteries are notoriously bad as fire hazards, so that would give me caution. By all appearances, this looks like a quality battery, but I probably still wouldn't go for it out of an abundance of caution (once there is more feedback on a particular brand, then I'd be far more inclined).

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We are actually looking into building a Basic Model Line that is a barebone Lithium Auto Battery just to compete on at a lower price point. Will we compete with the Chinese direct company price selling on Amazon, nope and that is not our point We will still have a software based BMS, and better quality components. Theres a couple other things we are implementing hopefully by the end of the year, but those will not decrease the price of the Flagship RE-START Models.

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Bronto, I think you may assume Antigravity should lower the prices just because you pulled up some pricing showing the lowering cost of Lithium Batteries in general... but it really doesn't work the way you think it does... again its out of context. Here's the point, those companies that make the best in Lithium Cells like A123 System ( we haven't used Talent for many years) are not selling cells cheaper even though your convienent graphic shows Lithium prices going down. That is not how it works, A123 just doesn't care if the price of Lithium Cells from other manufacturers has gone down all around them, they make what is known to be the best high-end cell and they will keep their prices high, they don't lower them to compete with the cheaper selling cells on the market. You think Brembo is going to discount because players like Wilwood and such? So what do you expect a very small but innovative company like Antigravity Batteries is supposed to do? You want us to try compete directly with Chinese companies with the advantages I spoke of above? You want us to lower the prices so much that we can't make profits to grow and do our thing and bring in the newer technology as quickly as we do? You mayhave arguments against each thing I might say here, but I know this market quite intimately and our prices are what they are and it not to over-price anything. Again, it is up to the Consumer to get what works for their pocket book and requirements. It just appear to me that these pricing arguments come from a position of thinking we are charging too much with an intention to do this as a means of taking advantage... it nothing like that whatsoever. By they way we will be coming out with some Chargers in the up coming monthsn.... and you know what.... they also will be better and offer more than the other products on the market. Built-In Voltage Testers, Digital Read out of Amps and Voltage, Power Supply and a Lithium BMS Re-Set Feature etc.... again we just want to make the best in it class type of stuff. That just what we do. But I've said my piece on that pricing subject. Sorry to de-rail the thread.

Fender makes an American guitar that�s about 2X the cost of the Mexican guitar, which is, let�s say, 90-93% as good ($2200 vs $1100). Buying American for 2X the cost is doable, but it�s still interesting that even Fender has to source electronics and other parts from outside the USA. Perhaps AG�s idea to source a minimal battery for 2X is a good idea, because I don�t feel comfortable putting a generic brand name battery in my 911.

https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/2024...hip-37095.html

So what actually causes a lithium battery to overheat and catch fire and how do you prevent this from happening?

By chatgpt: Lithium batteries can overheat and catch fire due to several factors, most of which are related to their chemical nature and the way they're used or manufactured. Here�s a detailed breakdown of the causes and prevention methods: ### Causes of Lithium Battery Overheating and Fire: 1. **Thermal Runaway:** - **What It Is:** Thermal runaway is a self-sustaining reaction in which the battery's internal temperature rapidly increases. This occurs when the heat generated inside the battery exceeds the heat dissipated, leading to a dangerous rise in temperature. - **Cause:** It can be triggered by overcharging, short circuits, or physical damage that causes the battery to short internally. 2. **Overcharging:** - **What It Is:** Overcharging happens when a battery is charged beyond its voltage capacity. - **Cause:** This can lead to excessive heat, causing the electrolyte to break down and potentially trigger thermal runaway. 3. **Short Circuits:** - **What It Is:** A short circuit occurs when the positive and negative terminals of the battery connect directly, bypassing the circuit's load. - **Cause:** This can be due to manufacturing defects, puncture, or damage to the battery, leading to rapid discharge and excessive heat. 4. **Physical Damage:** - **What It Is:** Any physical damage to the battery, such as punctures, crushing, or bending. - **Cause:** Damage to the battery can lead to internal short circuits and thermal runaway. 5. **Manufacturing Defects:** - **What It Is:** Errors during the manufacturing process can create internal flaws in the battery. - **Cause:** These defects can include impurities in the electrolyte, poor assembly, or contamination, all of which can cause the battery to fail and overheat. 6. **Overheating:** - **What It Is:** Exposure to high temperatures (e.g., leaving a device in direct sunlight or in a hot car). - **Cause:** High ambient temperatures can cause the battery's temperature to rise, potentially leading to thermal runaway. 7. **Poor Battery Design:** - **What It Is:** Batteries designed without adequate protection circuits or with poor thermal management. - **Cause:** Inadequate safety mechanisms can make batteries prone to overheating and catching fire. ### Prevention of Lithium Battery Overheating and Fire: 1. **Proper Charging Practices:** - Use the charger designed for your specific battery or device. - Avoid overcharging by unplugging the device once it's fully charged. - Do not leave charging devices unattended for extended periods, especially overnight. 2. **Avoid Physical Damage:** - Handle batteries and devices carefully to avoid dropping or puncturing them. - Keep batteries in protective cases if they are not installed in a device. 3. **Temperature Control:** - Do not expose batteries to high temperatures or leave devices in hot environments, such as inside cars on a sunny day. - Avoid charging or using devices in very hot or very cold conditions. 4. **Use Batteries within Their Recommended Limits:** - Avoid using the battery at extreme charge levels�try not to drain it completely or charge it to 100% frequently. - Avoid high-drain applications that draw too much power too quickly from the battery. 5. **Regular Inspection:** - Periodically inspect batteries for signs of damage, swelling, or leaking. - Replace batteries that show signs of wear or damage. 6. **Quality and Certified Products:** - Purchase batteries and chargers from reputable manufacturers. - Ensure the batteries have built-in safety features such as overcharge protection, thermal cut-off, and short circuit protection. 7. **Storage Practices:** - Store batteries in a cool, dry place, away from flammable materials. - If storing batteries for an extended period, keep them at a partial charge (around 50%) rather than fully charged or fully discharged. Lead-acid batteries are generally safer in terms of fire risk, making them a preferred choice for applications where safety and reliability are prioritized over energy density and weight. However, they come with their own safety risks, particularly related to hydrogen gas production and the handling of corrosive materials. Proper usage, handling, and disposal are key to mitigating these risks.

No question, it would be great to save weight with the next evolution of battery technology. But I have used the Interstate H7 ($170) for years. I don't know what it weighs. Never had to worry about a fire and I look at it as I look at rotors, brake pads, tires and yes even the water pump. It's a consumable that I typically replace every 3-5 years. Takes 5 min. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the new battery technology continues to evolve into weight savings and cost savings.

yeah me too. I dont think that the weight savings worth the risk. Obviously a US or a European battery producer may provide higher quality products with the higher premium and safety standards compared to a chinese manufacturer. I think for these batteries, cost should not be a concern. Safety should.

To the antigravity guy... Love what you are doing. Many of us are very interested frI m a weight standpoint, so keep educating us on your products and FABs. Sure, some will go for every bell amd whistle, but a low cost, no frills, lightweight and safe battery is a necessity for the masses. Keep innovating.

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Again, this is a very funny statement when you only have to step out of the airport in any major city in China to realize that all of their 2-stroke motors have been replaced with electric bikes. Last I was there in 2023 it felt like 40% of the cars had green plates. People need to wake up and realize that China is not the joke it used to be for so long. There's a whole lot of other problems there for sure, but at least in this realm, they're moving very fast. Also lol at Antigravity claiming that their batteries are somehow so special that their supplier is somehow immune from competition from other vendors. When the input cost of the main component that goes into your product drops by half, it's a race to the bottom. If AG choose to not pass that along to the consumer someone else will.

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My electric bike is chinese with chinese batteries from deep mainland china. My996 is not getting a chinese battery even if Elon Musk himself says so. Not now at least!

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ain't that the truth...

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This is definitely true. That said, the quality from China can be all over the map from absolutely excellent to pretty much crap. A quality brand will ensure that Chinese-made products are spec'ed to top quality manufacturing and materials. There are also many Chinese branded products that are excellent -- and that's not a rare case, but there are others that are low quality. The problem is discerning which is which. That's less critical with most products (where the prospect is works well / doesn't work well), but more critical in batteries. The batteries in some scooters and eBikes have been particularly bad -- I'm guessing (completely) that those eBikes/scooters don't have the battery management systems that most automotive batteries typically have. Hopefully somebody who knows more can shed more light on that.

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I love Varta Batteries !! We sold them at our Official Porsche Center as more economical replacements for the Porsche Branded Moll Batteries... That said, while the Lithium Ion Batteries are powerfull and light...but the Old School Lead-Acid Batteries are still the best $$ per mile value when treated properly.. The Varta Batteries are distributed in the US by Interstate, but are only to be supplyed to Audi-Vw dealers so are difficult to obtain...

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One minor weight reduction under your current strategy is to use and Interstate H6 instead of an H7. That's what I did last time (replaced my 11-year-old Interstate H7 with a new Interstate H6). The H6 has more than enough power in my experience. Costco carries the H6 for a very good price. Not sure of the weight difference between the Interstate H7 and the H6 is (wish I weighed my old H7 in retrospect) Also, the non-AGM version of Interstate batteries weigh about 7 lbs less than the AGM versions. I've stuck with non-AGM because they last an eternity in my experience versus AGM, and they are also lighter. My non-AGM Interstate lasted 11 years -- was going to replace it proactively at 6 years, but then decided to see how long it would last. My non-AGM battery in my vintage car (that does not have a parasitic drain like modern cars) was still going strong at 15 years old. I did proactively change that battery at 15 years, but the old one was still fine.

Good info guys. Wish interstate would show the weights on their website. Somebody probably does.

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Just look up any H6 or H7 lead acid battery of the same amp hours as the interstate battery you are interested in and it will be the same wieght because it will generally have the exact same amount of lead/acid it in to achieve the same Amp Hours. Any differences will be in ounces since they are in the same size case being it is standardized.

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Though I explained the situation with accurate facts you choose to make false comments like " If AG chooses to not pass that along to the Consumers someone else will." Ok, I get it now, your one of those guys that believes what they say can't be argued because you just know too much. Good on you, I think its best you stick with Alibaba and Amazon for your product choices, and we'll continue to do what we do. Then we are all happy.

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I had that Weize 60ah on my watch list months ago but it went unavailable. I see they now have a 105ah version for $430. I'll keep an eye on it as my current 5yo flooded battery sounded labored recently (not driving much tho).. If I see a coupon or flash sale I might go for one. I found this teardown vid on youtube for one of their other products: You Tube I do see they use LFP cells which are much less likely to combust. Not to pile on Anti-Gravity too much but I agree, their price per ah is way too high for my liking and I'm not interested in the built in jumpstarter with remote. I'd be more interested in a lower cost version without this feature.

If anything, that video scares me away from buying that brand. I�m also guessing that folks are willing to take the risk buying low cost batteries is because they are using them for solar, which means thousands of dollars in cost differential. If we are talking just a single battery for a Porsche, it�s not worth the risk IMO.

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Here is an old post of mine from another battery thread: https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...l#post18658651 Text of that post is cut & pasted below: It looks like that Costco link is no longer valid, but for Interstate H6, there was a 6.5 lb difference between AGM (45.4 lbs) and non-agm (38.9 lbs). I don't know what difference there is between H6 and the slightly larger H7 is though. Old Post : I replaced my 11-year-old Interstate H7 with an Interstate non-AGM H6 from Costco last year and have been very happy with it. I went non-AGM intentionally just because I think traditional batteries handle discharge events better than AGM, and I don't like using a tender all the time when parked. The H6 non-AGM weighs 38.9 lbs ( https://costco.interstatebatteries.c...733&Country=US ) versus 45.4 lbs for the AGM H6 -- so non-AGM is 6.5 lbs lighter in H6 form. I can't find the weight of the Interstate H8 AGM, but I imagine it's significantly heavier than the 38.9 lbs of the non-AGM H6. Of course, if you really care about weight, Anti-Gravity is the way to go, but there are some meaningful weight savings going with the H6. I kind of "settled" for the H6 after being unable to find the Interstate H7 I had before, but I haven't found the non-AGM H6 to be deficient at all, and the weight savings are an added benefit -- so I'm glad I ended up with the H6. Your mileage/usage may vary however .

The Interstate H7 is 42-52lbs depending on CCA size (790 vs. 850).

Good info. I have used the H7 non-AGM for years. $170. I'll take a look at the H6 non-AGM which is a couple of pounds lighter just for the heck of it. I would have to check my records but i believe i started using interstate batteries in 2006 when my indy replaced the oem battery for a cheaper price and the H7 non-AGM has worked well ever since. Just get a trickle charger for cold weather winters. No complaints.

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lol if that scares you then you may as well not buy any batteries ever! they all look like that, even the 4x cost AG.

What�s strange is that Costco�s website shows only the H6 fits my car. If I try to go to other websites, the H7 does not fit either. Mine is a 99, so maybe they changed options after that. Here�s a thread in the 996tt section comparing them

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In my 2000, and I would guess, all 996�s, it will accept H6, H7, and I think also H8. I think they all have the same height and depth dimensions, just vary in width (H6 being the least wide).