Electric vehicles have now been developed for over 20 years, and in recent years a new star has appeared in the electric vehicle battery market: the lithium battery. So, which is better, the lead-acid battery or the lithium battery?

Advantages of lead-acid batteries:

1. Good safety. Lead-acid batteries are hardy; no matter how they are knocked about, a little repair lets them keep working.

2. Low price. A lead-acid battery costs about one-third of a lithium battery, which shows how cheap it is.

3. Recyclable and repairable. Lead-acid batteries are easy to recycle; after they wear out, you can trade them in at an electric vehicle shop, pay the difference, and get a new set, minimizing the loss, which is a real benefit for users. The lead in the batteries can also be recovered and reused, reducing environmental pollution.

Disadvantages of lead-acid batteries:

They are heavy, limited in capacity, and relatively short-lived; a lead-acid battery usually lasts within 400 deep charge-and-discharge cycles, with a service life of about two years.

Advantages of lithium batteries:

1. Light weight and small size. A lithium battery is about two-thirds the volume and one-third the weight of a lead-acid battery. At the same volume it has higher capacity, and the lower weight makes the vehicle lighter and increases the range by about 10%.

2. Long life. The average life of a lithium battery is about four years, roughly 1.5 times that of a lead-acid battery; it can handle over 500 charge-and-discharge cycles, has no memory effect, and is strongly shock-resistant.

3. Resistant to overcharging, with good charge-and-discharge performance. At normal temperature, a lithium battery can be charged continuously for 48 hours without swelling, leaking, or rupturing, keeping its capacity above 95%. With a dedicated charger, it can also be charged and discharged quickly.

Disadvantages of lithium batteries:

Lithium batteries are expensive to make; the equipment is costly, and labor accounts for about 40% of the manufacturing cost, so their price is roughly three times that of a lead-acid battery. This triple price does not offer a high cost-performance ratio and can feel showy rather than practical. Lithium batteries also cannot be recycled; when worn out they can only be thrown away or buried somewhere, and after thousands of years later generations might dig one up as an antique. The most important issue is that lithium batteries carry a risk of fire and explosion, especially when uninformed consumers are cheated by dishonest sellers into buying poor-quality lithium batteries; in a vehicle whose sealing is not good and which is prone to dampness and poor contact, this can lead to potential safety problems.

Through the introduction above, we believe you now have some understanding of which is better, the lead-acid battery or the lithium battery, and we hope you choose the battery that suits your own needs.