By CLN Energy Limited BSE SME listed, scrip 544347 Lithium battery manufacturer, Noida Published Updated
An e-rickshaw is one of the few vehicles that does almost exactly the same thing every day: a deep discharge, an overnight charge, seven days a week. That regularity makes the lithium against lead-acid question unusually easy to answer honestly, because the duty cycle is knowable and the arithmetic is short. What follows is that arithmetic, with the numbers you supply rather than numbers we invent.
A LiFePO4 pack can be emptied deeply as a matter of routine, holds its voltage until it is nearly empty, keeps close to its rated capacity at a hard discharge rate, tops up in the gaps in a working day, and needs no water. A lead-acid set does none of those, which is what the rest of this comparison costs out.
| LiFePO4 lithium pack | Lead-acid set | |
|---|---|---|
| Usable depth of discharge | Deep, as a matter of routine | Conventionally sized to be only half emptied |
| Voltage as it empties | Holds steady — the vehicle still pulls at 20% charge | Sags through the discharge |
| Capacity at a hard discharge rate | Close to rated | Falls as the discharge rate rises |
| Charging | Can top up in the gaps in a working day | Needs the vehicle to stand |
| Maintenance | None — sealed, no water | Distilled water, checked regularly |
| Replacement cadence | Rated in cycles at a stated depth of discharge — ask for the model's figure | Your own record — you know it to the month |
| Protection | BMS: over/under voltage, current, short circuit, temperature, cell balancing | None built in |
A battery's useful measure is the energy it holds: volts multiplied by amp hours. A 48V lead-acid set of four 12V blocks holds whatever its amp-hour rating gives at the rate it is actually discharged, which is the part that catches people out: lead-acid capacity falls as the discharge rate rises, and an e-rickshaw discharges hard. A lithium pack delivers close to its rated energy at the rate a rickshaw uses it.
Here is what our own packs hold, from their specification tables:
| Pack | Vehicle | Energy | Recommended charge current | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 51.2V 105Ah | E‑rickshaw (L3) | 5.4 kWh | 25 A | 46–52 kg |
| 51.2V 140Ah | E‑rickshaw (L3) | 7.2 kWh | 25 A | 62 kg |
| 51.2V 150Ah | E‑rickshaw (L3) | 7.7 kWh | — | — |
| 64V 105Ah | E‑rickshaw (L3) | 6.7 kWh | 25 A | 55 kg |
| 64V 140Ah | E‑rickshaw (L3) | 9.0 kWh | 25 A | 70 kg |
| 51.2V 200Ah | E‑auto (L5) | 10.2 kWh | 50 A | 107 kg |
| 60.8V 200Ah | E‑auto (L5) | 12.2 kWh | 50 A | 120 kg |
A 51.2V 125Ah and a 60.8V 105Ah complete the L3 range. Every pack works at 0 to 55°C and carries a 36-month warranty. The full tables are on the L3 e-rickshaw battery and L5 e-auto battery pages.
The number that decides fleet economics is not what a battery costs once. It is how many times you buy one over the same years. So the comparison is cycles, and cycles have to be quoted with the depth of discharge they were measured at. Ask for that figure, with its test conditions, on the exact pack you are pricing — ours included.
Put your own replacement cadence beside it. Most operators know theirs to the month, and the arithmetic over a five-year horizon is simply sixty months divided by it:
| If your lead-acid set is replaced every | Sets bought in five years | Vehicle days lost to changeovers |
|---|---|---|
| 12 months | 5 | Five changeovers, plus any failures between them |
| 18 months | 3 to 4 | Three or four changeovers, plus failures |
| Your own figure | 60 ÷ your months | Your own record |
We publish no lead-acid figures here, because the honest input is the cadence you already live with rather than a number we assert about a product we do not make.
A lithium pack charges faster and can take charge in the gaps in a working day rather than requiring the vehicle to stand overnight. Under ICAT test conditions with a 1 kW motor our L3 packs deliver 100+ km on a full charge, and a full charge takes about four hours on a 25A charger. For a single owner-driver that is convenience. For a fleet it is capacity: a vehicle that can top up between shifts can run two shifts.
Three of them, and in a fleet they add up faster than the purchase price:
Against that, lithium asks for two things in return: the right charger for the chemistry, and a battery management system doing its job. Every CLN pack ships with the BMS built in, handling protection against over and under voltage, over current, short circuit and temperature, with cell balancing, and the L3 and L5 packs are IP67 rated with app monitoring available.
Cost per kilometre is the number fleet owners actually compare, and it is built from three figures you can get for any battery:
Battery cost per kilometre is the first figure divided by the second; add the third divided by the second for energy. Run it for both batteries with your own quotes and your own replacement record, and the comparison stops being a matter of opinion.
Worth saying plainly. If a vehicle runs rarely, sits for long periods and is rarely discharged deeply, the cycle-life advantage barely gets used and the case weakens. If the existing charger cannot charge a lithium profile and will not be replaced, the pack will not perform as rated. And a fleet with a spare-battery swap model already working will want to check that the swap logistics still make sense with fewer, longer-lived packs.
Voltage first: a 48V lead-acid system becomes 51.2V in lithium, because sixteen LiFePO4 cells at 3.2V give 51.2V. A 60V system maps to 60.8V, and 64V to twenty cells. The vehicle does not change; the label does. Capacity follows the duty — longer shifts and heavier passenger loads want 140Ah or 150Ah, city running is comfortable on 105Ah, and an e-auto (L5) runs on 200Ah.
The full range, with each model's specification, is on the e-rickshaw battery page, and the voltage mapping is explained in more detail under lead-acid to lithium replacement. For a fleet conversion, send the mix of vehicles and the daily running, and we will size it pack by pack rather than by category.
Under ICAT test conditions with a 1 kW motor, CLN's L3 packs deliver 100+ km on a full charge. Real range moves with passenger load, terrain, tyre pressure, driving style and the controller, so the figure worth working from is the energy: about 5.4 kWh in a 51.2V 105Ah pack and about 7.7 kWh in a 150Ah. Range is that energy divided by what the vehicle draws per kilometre.
In India, L3 and L5 are vehicle categories: L3 covers e-rickshaws and L5 covers e-autos and heavier three-wheelers. The batteries follow the vehicle. CLN's L3 packs run 51.2V, 60.8V or 64V at 105Ah to 150Ah; its L5 packs run 51.2V or 60.8V at 200Ah, holding about 10.2 and 12.2 kWh. Outside India, "L5" is also a size code for a 12V car starter battery, which is a different product altogether.
One matched to the vehicle rather than a brand name: lithium iron phosphate chemistry, the right voltage for the motor and controller, capacity sized to the daily running, a BMS with temperature protection, a sealed IP67 enclosure for monsoon roads, a charger built for the lithium profile, and a warranty honoured by whoever built the pack.
Usually yes. Match the voltage first — a 48V lead-acid system takes a 51.2V lithium pack, a 60V system takes 60.8V — then check the charger suits a lithium profile and that the pack fits the tray. Tell us the make, model and year of the vehicle, and we will confirm the fit rather than assume it.
About four hours for a full charge on a 25A charger for the L3 packs, and it can be done in the gaps in a working day rather than requiring the vehicle to stand overnight. For a fleet that is the difference between one shift and two.
Divide the battery's cost by the cycles it is rated for at the depth you will use, then divide that by the kilometres you get on one full charge. Add electricity per charge divided by the same kilometres. Run it for both batteries with your own quotes and your own replacement record — that comparison is the one that decides a fleet.
For anything discharged regularly — an e-rickshaw, an inverter with frequent outages, a solar system — lithium iron phosphate is usually better: it can be used far deeper, holds its voltage, needs no water and lasts many more cycles. Lead-acid still costs less to buy and suits a battery that sits idle and is rarely discharged. Compare how many batteries you buy over the same years, not the price of one.
It depends on how hard the vehicles work. The case is strongest where a vehicle earns daily and discharges deeply, because in that case the number of times you replace a battery over the same years decides the economics. Where vehicles run rarely and sit idle, the cycle-life advantage goes unused and the case is weaker.
Standards and government figures link to the organisation that publishes them. Figures about CLN products and deployments come from our own specification tables and project records, linked here so they can be checked. CLN Energy is among the LFP battery manufacturers in India building L3 and L5 traction packs in-house, at its Noida plant.
Become a
Partner
Comments: