Oliver Lithium Pro Package

[Patriot]

Just saw this in the Oliver FB forum. Looking forward to learning more about this!

 

 

Edited May 28, 2020 by Patriot

[John E Davies]

“Powered by Lithium” Cool.....Where do they put the electric motors, in the wheel hubs?  Can you drive the trailer remotely (back up and self park)? Range and top speed? I am not really interested unless the trailer can go camping by itself, when I am locked at home.

Seriously, if it is a factory lithium option I might be interested in a retrofit when my AGMs die. Depending on the $$$$$. 

John Davies

Spokane WA

 

Edited May 28, 2020 by John E Davies

[Overland]

Good news on the batteries, but good lord I hope they don't really plan to add that logo.

[DavidS]

Oliver put me in touch with prospective buyers, and ten days ago I showed them my Ollie. (Yes, we all tested our temperatures before meeting, and we all wore masks and used hand sanitizer.) 

The prospective buyers said that their Oliver sales rep told them that lithium batteries would be a factory option quite soon.  

Edited May 28, 2020 by DavidS

[Patriot]

3 hours ago, Overland said:

Good news on the batteries, but good lord I hope they don't really plan to add that logo.

Agreed, no lithium logo per Oliver’s comment on the Oliver Owners FB page. I also saw a comment from Oliver saying lithium batteries will run the AC.  Spoke with Anita this morning, she said details of this package would be released In the weeks to come. The Ollie is on its way to the Hiawassee Rally to show off the new lithium pro package.

 

 

Edited May 28, 2020 by Patriot

[SeaDawg]

Love the gif. Pass the popcorn.

Tests have been done in Australia on far more efficient ac units than the Dometic units available to the US. and, we've all seen Overland's experiment. Will it run ac? Sure. How long....

However,  I'm really glad Oliver is getting into lithium. Maybe then, they'll offer a dc danfoss compressor refrigerator . 😄

Sherry

[BlueHighways]

Our build date is late July and they told us it should be an option by then. 
Pickup date is mid Sept.

DMc

Edited May 29, 2020 by DCdude

[SeaDawg]

Seriously,  I've been suffering from a bad case of amp hour envy ever since I  saw Overland's setup.

I'm very happy that Oliver is getting into the mix. My house is gridtied, and  can run on my lithium batteries and my solar during power outages.  I  can only imagine how much fun it would be to have that much battery power, and depth of discharge,  in my trailer. 

Any mention of which brand batteries Oliver plans to use?

[WhatDa]

It’s good news. I just hope it’s a legit option and not just a few battleborn thrown into the battery tray. 
 

lithium pro to me would be a roof full of solar, 30+ SEER heat pump, induction stove, and Danfoss/Secop fridge.  Then it deserves the powered by lithium badge. 

[rideadeuce]

Finally! Going down to the service center in a couple weeks hope to maybe take a peek. 

[topgun2]

"Finally! Going down to the service center in a couple weeks hope to maybe take a peek. "

Normally when we send "spies" on a mission they are told to be secretive.  Perhaps a full frontal assault will take them by surprise?  In any case - the usual applies - if you are caught we will deny any knowledge of your existence.  "Family"?  What family?  Mike? Ride a Triple?

😁

[Mike and Carol]

I’d be interested in this.  My AGM’s are still healthy but can’t last forever.

[GarryandKristi]

On 5/28/2020 at 4:35 PM, SeaDawg said:

Love the gif. Pass the popcorn.

Tests have been done in Australia on far more efficient ac units than the Dometic units available to the US. and, we've all seen Overland's experiment. Will it run ac? Sure. How long....

However,  I'm really glad Oliver is getting into lithium. Maybe then, they'll offer a dc danfoss compressor refrigerator . 😄

Sherry

An amp-hour is still an amp-hour and there and when you consider having to invert 12 to 120 volts, there is quite a price to pay in amperage draw. My guess is that instead of being able to run about 1 hour with agms, you might get double?  Then of course you have depleted you power supply if off shore power. So I think “running the ac” is more of a gimmick promotion. 

[Mainiac]

The unit was at a Rally. According to Phil's video it has 2  (maybe 3?) group 24 batteries. Supposedly they will run an ac for up to 4 hours, run time. The batteries supposedly will charge from flat to full charge, in 4 hours. (Said will release in a couple of weeks, as they are "fine tuning" the specs?).

[Overland]

Assuming that Oliver is using the LFP version of the Progressive Dynamics charger, which is 80 amps, then that charge time suggests ~300 Ah total. 

I doubt you’d get 4 hours of AC off that except in absolutely ideal conditions. Probably 2-3 hours is more likely. 
 

3 100Ah batteries is what I’d expect, since they’ll fit easily in the battery tray. 

Edited May 30, 2020 by Overland

[SeaDawg]

10 hours ago, GarryandKristi said:

An amp-hour is still an amp-hour and there and when you consider having to invert 12 to 120 volts, there is quite a price to pay in amperage draw. My guess is that instead of being able to run about 1 hour with agms, you might get double?  Then of course you have depleted you power supply if off shore power. So I think “running the ac” is more of a gimmick promotion. 

I politely disagree. That you can run the ac off lithium, even for an hour, is far more than I can do with two group 27 agms.

He never said you could run it 24/7. And, I'm sure there will be qualifiers. 

Amps to amps, useable, if I  replaced my agms with lithium, I  could safely discharge to 90 per cent. I try to  keep my discharge at 25 per cent on agms, to extend the life. Even if I go to 50 per cent on deep cycle agms, I would double my capacity with lithium.

I work with lithium at the house. I won't upgrade my agms in the trailer til my agms die, but oh, I would love to. In my little trailer, I  doubt  3 would fit in the tray. But, even two would really expand my battery power.

Everything comes with a price.  In the case of lithium batteries,  it's a sizable one. I wouldn't opt for them, unless you were like us, camping off grid, virtually all the time. If you have access to power cords most of the time, fla or agm is fine, cheaper, and quite efficient. Imo. 

Edited to add, we rarely use ac, because we can't,  without power cord. What would be great for me, is being able to run my fridge, charge phones, and use an inverter to run an induction hotplate from my battery.

Everything changes. Evolution.

Sherry

Edited May 30, 2020 by SeaDawg

[Overland]

True, you might not be able to run the AC all night and recharge in the day, but being able to put the AC on for a lunch stop or to cool down the trailer quickly before cooking dinner is a real benefit in real life. 

[ScubaRx]

There will be more to the Lithium package than just adding batteries......

[Overland]

That could only mean that they’re adding a hybrid charger/inverter, which imo is really the key to getting the most out of them. (Maybe also Bluetooth monitoring, but then you can get that with a $200 battery monitor. )

Still, I’m of the opinion that for an E2, 400 Ah is the minimum to make LFP beneficial over a standard setup. Less than that, and you’re just spending money with little practical gain, though arguably it’s a better base system to expand upon. For an E1 it’s a different matter - even 200 Ah of LFP would be a benefit.  600Ah is the real goal for an E2, which should be possible, if you’re creative with placement, or willing to do a separate BMS with generic batteries. 
 

But all this is just talk until they tell us what they’re offering. 
 

Edited May 31, 2020 by Overland

[Mrfleck]

Hello Everyone. We just sold our class b van and we are starting to look at trailers now. Ollie's are at the top of my list, but the three things I really do not like are - No lithium option, not awning style windows and no compressor fridge. It sounds like they might be getting ready to solve all three of these concerns! At least I read on Facebook that they are engineering the awning style windows. The compressor fridge is just a guess as most offer that with a lithium option. This forum has been an invaluable tool and it looks like Ollie owners are a great bunch. I am looking forward to joining the owner side of the equation in the near future. Thanks for all of the great information. 

Mike

[John & Nancy]

Oh yea!  We pick up hull # 626 (demo) available Sept 8 which has Lithium ion Batteries, 340 watt Solar package & 3000 watt inverter.

[SeaDawg]

John & Nancy, congratulations!

We'll all be looking forward to your photos.

Sherry

[Ray and Susan Huff]

21 hours ago, Mrfleck said:

Hello Everyone. We just sold our class b van and we are starting to look at trailers now. Ollie's are at the top of my list, but the three things I really do not like are - No lithium option, not awning style windows and no compressor fridge. It sounds like they might be getting ready to solve all three of these concerns! At least I read on Facebook that they are engineering the awning style windows. The compressor fridge is just a guess as most offer that with a lithium option. This forum has been an invaluable tool and it looks like Ollie owners are a great bunch. I am looking forward to joining the owner side of the equation in the near future. Thanks for all of the great information. 

Mike

Awning style windows would be great.  I wonder if they will be on the 2021 models.

 

[Ray and Susan Huff]

8 hours ago, John & Nancy said:

Oh yea!  We pick up hull # 626 (demo) available Sept 8 which has Lithium ion Batteries, 340 watt Solar package & 3000 watt inverter.

Congratulations!!

[John & Nancy]

Thanks!  I mixed peat for the 'Nature's Head'  composting toliet, it takes about 12 oz of water per gallon of peat.  I moistened 4 gallons & put in gallon ziplock bags, enough for 2 fill ups.  We have so much to learn!