Lion Energy Battery Review – Safari UT1300 Lithium Battery
The Lion Energy Safari UT1300 battery is a great reliable battery option for an RV, Boat or Van. The majority of readers are probably here trying to decide between Lion Energy, Battleborn and all the other Lithium Battery manufacturers. This Lion Energy Battery review will go over the good, the bad and why I personally chose lion batteries over other brands. Would I recommend them to you?
Now having lived on the road full-time for 6 months with 4 Lion Energy batteries, I felt I was able to give an honest review. Maddie and I traveled over 10,000 miles around the United States, while working full-time. I will go over the Lion batteries, why I chose Lion Energy, and how they have performed. To save 15% on ALL Lion Energy products use code 7k at checkout!
Lion Energy Safari UT 1300 Battery Review –
After owning 4 Lion Energy Safari UT1300 batteries for over 6 months, I have decided to give my honest review. I originally owned a Geo Pro trailer, which I swapped in 2 Lion Energy batteries in for the AGM ones. The UT1300 Lithium Batteries fit perfectly in the battery tray on the tongue of the trailer. This was one of the main reasons the lead me to go with Lion Energy over other brands. I wanted any easy replacement with similar sized batteries. They also lasted twice as long as my AGM batteries.
With the two Lion Energy batteries and 400w of solar on our Geo Pro Camper we were able to boon-dock in southern Ohio for 8 days. We had sun 7 out of the 8 days with 1 day being a rainstorm, and never ran out of power! If you only plan on camping a few times per year, two Lithium batteries will do the job. The last thing you want to do is run the batteries to 0% and lose power at night by only having 1 lion battery.
We never had an issue with our Lion Energy batteries in our Geo Pro camper. With our small 1,000w inverter we could make coffee, use the toaster, blender and more! With a usable 210ah the batteries were a game changer over the factory ones. Our upgrade to Lion batteries was a huge improvement. Our original batteries would die at night and we ran out of power twice in the cold. We have never run out of power with our Lion batteries and use them even more!
Why I chose Lion Energy UT1300 Batteries for my Geo Pro Camper –
- Size (They are a group 24 battery, which is the same as a normal AGM battery) –
Our Geo Pro travel trailer originally came with two, 80ah AGM batteries from Interstate. They were HORRIBLE, and wouldn’t even last me 1 night in my trailer without dying. Lion Energy UT1300 are the same size as my previous batteries and fit perfectly into my outside battery box. Battle Born batteries and other brands have larger batteries (the physical dimensions) than Lion and would not have fit in my battery tray. - Price (The cheapest Lithium Batteries on the Market) – The majority of 100-105ah Lithium Batteries are around $1000, with Lion Energy coming in at $850 with my 15% discount code (7k). Lion Energy batteries are the cheapest when they go on sale at Costco. The Safari UT1300 batteries are $699 at Costco when buying two together. The only catch is that you have to buy 2 batteries for a total of $1400. Battle Born and other brands would cost anywhere from $1800-$2000 for the same batteries.
- BMS (Battery Management System) – Almost all Lithium batteries have a built in BMS, but there are some that don’t. Lithium batteries have one HUGE negative, and that is that they cant charge below freezing. Lion Energy’s built in BMS stops the battery from overcharging and keeps it within charging and temperature specs. Lion Energy’s BMS is not better than Battle Born or other brands, but just a cheaper battery.d
- 150A Continuous Output – This might not seem like a big deal but it does come in handy! For example, a 3,000w Victron inverter is compatible with two Lion Energy batteries because of the 150A output. Battle-born would need 3 batteries to be compatible because they only have 100A continuous output. This doesn’t matter much for people with large rigs who plan to run 10 batteries, but it is worth noting for van lifers with minimal space.
- Power Button – The Lion Energy Battery is the only Lithium battery I have seen that comes with a power button. I can quickly hit the power button to see what % of charge the batteries are at. This is crucial for someone who works full-time on the road and relies on power for work. I cant run the risk of losing power, and need to know if I have to conserve power.
Lion Energy Battery Review – Honest Review after 6 months Fulltime
We lived out of our Geo Pro camper for around a 45 days before purchasing a Class A motorhome. The Geo Pro was to small for us, but we NEVER had an issues with our batteries at all. We boondocked multiple times in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and South Dakota without ever running out of power.
Our Geo Pro only had a 1,000w inverter so we couldn’t run the microwave, fridge or AC off of it. We charged laptops, cameras, watched TV, used our coffee pot, toaster and used our electric water heater in that trailer. Our Lion Energy Batteries never had an issue, and held up great the whole time. When we purchased our 2004 Class A, we decided to bring our batteries from that trailer to our new one, because we loved them so much. We have since purchased 2 more Lion Batteries for a total of 420ah.
Our 2004 Motorhome now has 420ah of lithium batteries, 1000w of solar and a 3,000w inverter. We use ALOT more power in our Class A than we ever did in our Geo Pro. I would recommend a minimum of 400ah if you plan on being full-time in a large motorhome. Our 3,000w Victron inverter requires a-lot more power to run than our little 1,000w inverter in our old trailer.
In our Class A we run our microwave, 2 coffee pots (iced and hot), toaster, blender, crock pot, Nintendo switch, TV and plenty of other things. We could never run all these together at once, but we have run both coffee pots and the TV at the same time without any issue. The Lion Energy batteries have held up to everything we have put them through and still to this day have never had an issue with the batteries.
My 4 Lion Energy batteries are wired in Parallel and we had our entire solar system installed by Cameron from Off The Grid Camper. If you are planning to go full-time, and want a serious solar system and battery bank give Cameron a call!
I have had 1 issue with my Lion Energy batteries. I have had my batteries shutoff when three were are 60% and one was at 40%. I spoke to Lion Energy about it, because they died at 40-60% and was giving me a low voltage warning. I have had it happen a few times now and Lion said they believe I need to reset my batteries. The batteries don’t “talk” perfectly with my Victron battery monitor and often gives off wrong percentage of charge. My victron will show the batteries at 90% capacity, yet I check on the batteries themselves and they are all at 60%. I can never trust my victron is accurate with charge percentage, yet it is accurate with voltage! I am still in the works of testing the batteries more to see if this issue continues and if reseting the battery worked. Lion Energy’s customer service has been great, and even offered to swap all 4 batteries at NO cost.
Weight of Lion Energy Battery vs Others – Lion Energy Battery Review
- The Lion Energy UT1300 is the lightest Lithium battery in its class at only 23 pounds. (105AH)
- Battle Born batteries weigh in at 31 pounds which is 35% heavier than Lion Energy. (105AH)
- Dakota Lithium batteries are 32 pounds and are only 100ah.
- Renogy 100ah batteries are 26 pounds, rated for 2,000 cycles compare to Lions 3,000-5,000.
Weight is probably not the most important factory for the majority of people looking to purchase Lithium Batteries. The majority of owners will have this in a large RV, Boat or inside a van. Lion Energy not only is the lightest battery, but it also is the smallest, which means you can fit more batteries into small spaces. For example, I would be able to fit 8 Lion Energy Ut1300 batteries in my small battery compartment on my class A, where I would only be able to fit 6 battle born batteries.
Are Lithium Batteries worth the Cost? Safari UT1300
It depends… and it should! It truly depends how you plan on using your batteries and how often! If you are planning on going full-time lithium batteries are 100% worth their initial upfront cost. You don’t have to worry about ruining the batteries or topping them off with water. There is NO maintenance with Lithium batteries which is a huge relief as RV’s already have plenty of other things to worry about.
If you only plan on camping/boondocking a few weeks during the year the cost of Lithium probably does not make sense. You could instead upgrade to 4AGM batteries for a fraction of the cost and still be able to live comfortably.
Lion Energy Battery vs Battleborn and other brands –
So, would I recommend them after my Lion Energy Battery Review and owning them for 6 months? No, I would recommend you go with Battle-born batteries if you have the room and the extra budget. My biggest fault with the Lion batteries is that they don’t “communicate” properly with my victron battery monitor. The victron monitor always gives me the correct voltage but never the proper percentage. Battle-born batteries work great with victron products and give accurate measures of both voltage and percentage.
The final reason that I would go with Battle-born over Lion Energy is because of the them being a trusted brand in the industry. The majority of full-time RVers are using Battle-born batteries and for good reason. Cameron, who installed my entire solar setup, even stated that Battle-born is his recommendation for clients.
The reason I went with Lion Energy, is because of my old Geo Pro trailer and how they fit into my battery tray and were cheaper. Looking back I would have just bought Battle-born batteries for their trusted reliability.