Pista- Dead Lithium Battery Solution

How was the install?
How is it working?
Can you share the contact for Andy?

 

Please provide the contact information for Andy. Thank you.

 

It’s been said before, but it’s worth saying again. The Pista battery situation sucks. If we can put a man on the moon, Ferrari should have been able to supply the Pista with a proper battery setup.

 

Are you sure that the dealer specifically traced the problem to a temperature sensor in the battery itself? No where in A123's documentation do they mention temperature when boasting about how intelligent their BMS is. Not trying to call you out here, just genuinely curious as I would've thought that A123 would list that as a capability.

See pg. 3-4 in the attached PDF

 

Here's another really detailed document from A123 on the design of battery packs and BMS for EVs.

"Ideally, the temperature of every series element or cell would be monitored by the BMS; however, it is not as important as voltage, and is often impractical in cost-effective systems. A high-temperature condition is typically the result of monitored voltage and current conditions either being out of bounds or caused by an external thermal source." pg. 46

 

Every lithium battery should have temperature monitoring. It doesn’t need to be stated, it’s a given.

 

Should being the operative word because a lithium 12v battery should also last more than 4yrs in a car that’s not driven regularly if kept on a tender.

 

Should last a minimum of 10 years or even 20 with limited use that these see, providing optimal storage conditions. The problem is keeping them fully charged for prolonged periods. For the longest service life, lithium likes to be kept at 40%-60% SOC at around 20 Celsius. The higher the charge and the higher the ambient temperature, the sooner the battery will die. So, keeping the battery fully charged on a tender is one of the main things that are killing the battery.

 

The 296 and SF90 both have a long term storage mode in the menus that will automatically enable after 10 days (I think) to keep the hybrid battery at ~50%, but there's no lithium 12v tender on the market that I'm aware of that allows you to hold the battery at anything less than ~90%.

 

Great news, thanks so much for the update @gthompson. Am I correct in saying that the only question that remains is regarding @MANDALAY's question about the combustibility of lithium and the implications for our warranties?

Also, I skimmed through the thread again to look for pricing and turn time. Can you please share that either publicly or privately?

Thank you again @gthompson for your work. As a likely keeper of my Pista, this is very valuable to me. My car goes in for its annual this week. I'll let everyone know what my dealer has to say.

 

Both questions answered, see post #14 above.

 

If none of the battery electronics are changed, there is no way the vehicle can detect that the cells inside the battery have been changed. There should be no error codes at all.

 

Thank you Pat! I will ask my dealer about warranty implications using aftermarket refurbishment.

 

I can already assume the answer to that...........

 

Same here

 

Doubt that came from the repacked battery. As you said, most likely the temp sensor or just the fact that the car sat without a battery for a couple of weeks and then required a reboot when the battery was reconnected. It could have happened even with a new factory battery.

Anyhow, all good now.

 

Picked my car up today from its annual. Clean bill of health

Word from the service advisor on the topic of this thread:

1. They have had a client who refurbished his Pista lithium battery through what sounded like the same vendor in this thread.
2. The car initially had trouble recognizing/functioning with the battery but after a little work, the dealer was able to successfully perform the relearning process. I believe it is likely the same process described in this thread.
3. The dealer offers the same lithium to non-lithium AGM conversion for about 5k.
4. If there were to be an issue with a component that was covered by the full manufacturer's or Power15 extended warranty, Ferrari would have to prove that it was caused by the refurbished lithium battery.

All the above to say, predictably, refurbish at your own risk. If you want to play it safe, have your dealer complete the non-lithium conversion and then simply replace your lower cost AGM battery as needed.

So far, I seem to be one of the more fortunate ones with no issues and I'm very grateful. With my 458, even on a new AGM battery and plugged into the tender when not in use, it felt like a flip of the coin whether it would struggle to turn on. I feel like with the conversion, I'm going to return to the unreliable days of my 458. I'd love to keep a lithium battery in my car. I hope I'm one of the people whose lithium battery stays healthy for 10+ years.