Ferrari 458 Italia dry cell racing battery upgrade

The Lithium batteries Braille makes, are Lithium Ion, not Lithium Polymer. The latter has a better power density, but needs much more care when charging. Li-ion batteries are not spontaneously bursting into flames if not left on a storage charge etc. They are quite safe.

As for the charging system there is no issues either. Yes if the Lithium battery was rated for less power than what the system puts out, but that is not the case. Additionally a Braille Lithium is actually designed to float at much higher volts than the AGM. Trust me, there is no way you can overcharge the battery during normal operation. If that was the case, your AGM would puke out its guts way before the Lithium would catch on fire.

The idea of sticking to OE is quite silly. If anything, I'd say those low quality batteries are a bigger safety hazard than anything. Trying to charge a collapsed battery that won't take a charge can not only overpressurize the battery, but also develop hydrogen gas. Oxygen and hydrogen equals boom. If one does go with a Lithium battery, one should obviously remember to get a lithium charger. The Ctek unit works well and you can get an adapter so that you can use the OE connection point.

If you don't like the idea of a Lithium battery, Braille makes a series of AGM batteries too. They are about as good as an AGM battery gets, and a B7548 will offer you.the best possible performance and safety you can get from an AGM battery in a 458.

I understand that you might not feel safe using a setup you are unfamiliar with, but I don't think there's a reason to advise others against it when that advice is based on a lack of information and understanding of the systems. Don't forget that Ferrari themselves offer Lithium options now, so it's not exactly uncharted waters, and nor is li-ion technology anything new.

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I upgraded my 458Spider to a Braille Li Ion / CTEK charger . Excellent !

I wanted to do the same with the F8 spider. This was an option but later Ferrari rescinded the Option. Don’t know why.

The factory option mentioned something about custom aluminum mounting hardware with the optional Li Ion battery. I wonder if the Factory Li ION (made in Hungary I believe) was a smaller form factor that the standard AGM (Fiamm)?

I plan on swapping in a Braille when my F8 arrives. Much better and lighter too.

Tesla has many innovations in store for Li Ion batteries. One of which is the redesign of the electrical tab. Tesla is creating a strip that runs the length of the jelly roll which increases efficiency and reduced heat too.

Continuing technological advancements will lead to the ability of battery and electrical vehicles to surpass the ICE.

What we love to drive today is the result of 80 years of innovation. Imagine where the electric car will be in 80 years now that it is gaining popularity and a market share.

MC20 will have an all electric sub model. Imagine if there was an Italian sports car powered by Tesla!

 

I’m smarter cause I read your posts!

 

If the battery manufacturer states you must have a specific Lithium charger for these batteries then how do you address the AGM charging profile of the stock electronics in the car? No one has answered this and yet folks still say go ahead buy a $3k battery and charger and dismiss an excellent non-OEM AGM at under $200 that's 100% compatible with the cars charging system.

 

Ray I think the lithium manufacturers are not to be trusted here. A charger is a charge whether its a brick or in the car. The modern car systems now back off the charging to increase gas mileage and reduce parasitic drag on the engine. This means the battery discharges more and represents a bigger load when it kicks back in. Unless you are racing (as in winning trophies and money) there's no need to even consider messing with the electrical system in your $400k exotic. At some point cars will come with lithium friendly charging systems but the existing designs are not forward compatible and should stick with a great and inexpensive non-OEM AGM units. Just my $0.02.

 

I went from Fiamm to non OEM AGM Odyssey battery.

When that battery was meeting its demise, I decided to move up to the Braille.

I bought the CTEK li Ion tender and a Ferrari pigtail adapter so I just plug into the same passenger side location beneath the dashboard.

I saw that the voltage of my car at cold start is just shy of 13v by the dash gauge Left sided display screen. This is a significantly higher level of charge than an AGM.

The car starts effortlessly even when it has been sitting parked for a week or two, such as when left at the airport parking lot, or when it has been at the service center for a bigger service such as annual plus spark plugs. Also since the DCT and EDiff are governed by their dedicated ECUs, you may find better and more consistent DCT behavior. Smoother shifting and fewer awkward pauses. I’m pretty sure about this improvement.

When driving I see a higher level of my system voltage too.

Since I did my own battery swaps, I can attest to the weight loss. The AGM is much heavier than the Li Ion.

I think that if one thinks about the cost and factors in the peace of mind of being able to start the car plus the weight savings, the cost of $2500 or perhaps less since there are other Li Ion choices, it isn’t a crazy decision.

I spent thousands for Ferrari carbon interior and exterior trim. Many bought the titanium lug bolts for the same price as the Braille battery and only lost a few pounds.

Li Ion battery prices will fall and maybe to a level which others find acceptable. When that occurs, I encourage you to re-consider and maybe take the plunge.

 

Still not addressing the need for different electronics to charge the battery on and off the car. I went +6 years on the stock OEM battery and installed an awesome AGM for $200 over a year ago. For $3k you can almost get a nice cup holder! Weight is meaningless on a street car with 731 hp. Of course its a great feeling to do something nice for your Ferrari and this level of expense is meaningless compared to the buy-in and ownership. But its just not necessary and there is a compatibility issue with the electronics.

 

My 458 spider doesn’t have 731 HP.

I understand your concern about the compatibility issue.


Stay tuned since I’m keeping my 458. I’ll let you know how long the Braille lasts and how it performs.

Do you think that the Braille is too strong a battery for the 458 electrical system?

 

No one knows what the effect is since the car's charger is designed to produce the AGM profile and the lithium needs a different one. If you roach anything electrical on that car $3k will be a drop in the bucket. The 458 battery is simple and quick to replace compared to F12/812 so replacing it every few years or longer with a $200 unit is just basic preventive maintenance.

 

I read randomly and I didnt see many installed it in 458.

I would like to hear from you as you experienced for a while now. for how long the battery installed and how long it holds its charge? did you charge it with a normal battery maintainer? maybe no need to be charged. have you faced any electric issues.. etc

thanks

 

Let me try and adress the charging system question as simply as I can.
First off, unlike a Li-Po these batteries do not need a balanced charging system. If you don't know what balance charging is, look it up.

Now the way the system works is like this. The system senses a resistance as voltage in the battery climbs. There is a shut off point for the internal charging system which is set according to a standard for AGM batteries. The charging system on a car normally charges with a max voltage of 14.4 to 14.8 volts max. Once the system senses a specific resistance, it shuts off the charging or start using power from the battery to operate the cars electronics. It depends on the car. But no matter what the system does, it serves one simple purpose - avoiding overcharging the AGM. Overcharging the AGM will result in overpressure and it cause a dangerous explosion.
Now the safety of the Lithium battery is down to one simple thing. Make sure it is built to operate at the same resistance and charging voltage as the AGM. When the Braille reaches this resistance, it is at 13.8 volts, which the battery is designed for. Now the question to ask Braille is this. What is the maximum voltage you can charge their batteries at? I asked, and the answer was 16 volts.
So at the end of the day cpmpatibility is down to the manufacture of the battery. What they do is simply making a battery that works within those same parameters. I ran this by my brother whom is a developer for Bosch Automotive and he confirmed it. This is also why Ferrari can supply their cars with both types on the same charging system. It does not matter if its a classic fixed voltage charging system or the more modern variable voltage systems. They all operate on the same basic principles. How big of a charge the car puts into the battery on the variable systems is stll directly related to the internal resistance and charge level of the battery.

As for not trusting Braille to do this right? What exactly would they gain by lying? It's not line it is hard for them to do, and if their batteries started catching fire, they would lose their place as one of, if not the most respected battery supplier in professional motorsport. They have spent years developing their reputation based originally on their AGM batteries, and they definitely know how easy it is to ruin that reputation. Had a comlatie battery been impossible to make, and had it been a strong selling point for a new company, sure, then be suspicious. But Li-ion technology used in day-to-day items are two decades old and they know how to do it.

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The issue Ray describes is one of those annoying things with Ferrari. This lack of giving the battery a full charge will be the case no matter what battery is used. If the system is set to turn down the charge level at a set point, that won't change no matter what battery is used. I asked about this back in July in relation to something else, and the tech at the dealer said that Ferrari has finally recognized that there was a problem. He said that cars supplied since 2019 have a firmware update which solves this, and that cars are updated when brought in for scheduled service.

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Thanks man for sharing the descriptive experience.

 

Thank you

They haven't reverted back to a fixed voltage system like it used to be in the 458, but they have changed the parameters for how big a charge the battery receives and how it is done. There is nothing wrong with a variable voltage system as long as you let the battery get a proper charge. Many cars now use a variable voltage system, the trick is to get it right. Parking the Pista or 488 after a nice day out lsaves the battery fully charged. That was not the case before, but it is now.

Ray just curious. If you take your car out for a two hour drive, what voltage does your Braille sit at when you park it? The Varta Silver dynamic I use in the 488 sits at 12.7 volts, so it is bang on for full charge. If your Braille sits at 13.8 volts, you actually get a full charge.

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My antigravity is still working perfectly and doesn’t need the tender.

Fully charged it looks to be around 13.3V and drops to about 13.23 over a week. No alerts or weird messages in nearly two months!

Plus I can monitor it with Bluetooth on my phone!

SV

 

Don't know much about battery, but you speaks of logics only in decision making process. That is very convincing.