The weight of a 100ah lifepo4 battery is around 10 to 15kg (25 to 30kg for lead-acid batteries) and has a weight saving of 50% to 60%. Its energy density is a maximum of 120 to 150Wh/kg (30 to 50Wh/kg for lead-acid batteries). Take CATL’s EnerC series for instance. The 100Ah model is 12.5kg (dimension of 300×200×180mm) and features a one-person carry strengthened handle arrangement. Lead-acid batteries with the same capacity weigh up to 28kg and are not permitted to be tilted more than 45° due to liquid electrolyte constraint. However, solid-state mounting of lifepo4 is free at any Angle of 360°, significantly enhancing portability. The actual measurement in the 2023 Berlin Outdoor Show shows that the users who carry a 12kg lifepo4 battery on a 5-kilometer walk (wearing a 15kg backpack) possess a fatigue index 63% lower than that of users who carry lead-acid batteries.
Portability design innovations include modular combinations. For instance, the 716Wh (60Ah equivalent) Bluetti EB70’s lifepo4 battery is only 9.7kg (size 29.2×19.6×18cm) and can be jammed into an ordinary hiking backpack. Its IP67 level of protection allows it to operate in heavy rain (rainfall ≥50mm/h) or sandstorm (PM10 concentration > 500μg/m³) environments, as opposed to lead-acid batteries in which there must be a protective casing (extra weight: 3-5kg). Feedback from an Australian RV user provides the proof: following the replacement of lead-acid by lifepo4, 42kg of load from the car was removed (4 sets of lead-acid battery packs) and 5.3% more fuel-efficient.
The transportation compliance is enhanced. lifepo4 batteries meet the IATA air transport standards (energy ≤100Wh, no declaration). The 100Ah model (1280Wh) can be split into a 12V 20Ah module (256Wh), single module weight 2.6kg, within the carry-on luggage limit. Lifepo4 batteries, according to regulations of road carriage in the US, do not require dangerous goods labels (passed UN38.3 testing), while lead-acid batteries take additional packaging for the presence of liquid sulfuric acid (a cost addition of $15 per piece).
The very high level of environmental versatility enables mobile usages. lifepo4 can still achieve 85% capacity at -20℃ of low temperature (while lead-acid achieves just 45% discharge). Norway Arctic research team’s field test proves a 12kg battery exhibits no performance loss on snowmobile transport at -35℃. The self-discharge rate is only 2-3% per month (5-10% for lead-acid) and is thus ideal for long-time idle uses such as emergency power reserves. During the 2023 California wildfire rescue mission, a 100Ah lifepo4 battery powered the drone base station for 18 hours (150W load), all together weighing a total of 13.2kg. It is single-person transportable and quickly deployable.
Financially, although lifepo4 is more costly upfront (400vs 180 for lead-acid), its 4,000-cycle lifetime (500-cycle for lead-acid) lowers the cost per cycle to 0.10 (0.36 for lead-acid). Experience of German RV user case study is that the six replacement of the lead-acid battery (total weighted 168kg) for cost in 10 years $1,080 and lifepo4 not needing replacement and thereby reducing holding cost overall by 67%.
Improved portable experience is supported by intelligent management. Bluetooth 5.0 BMS (percentage weight ratio < 1%) offers real-time monitoring with mobile phone App. For example, the SOC accuracy of EcoFlow RIVER series batteries can be up to ±1%, and the charging and discharging efficiency is 95% (80% for lead-acid). When an electric scooter was introduced at the Munich Motor Show in 2024, it included a removable 100Ah lifepo4 battery (11.8kg). After a 30-minute charging time, its operating range was boosted to 200km, reducing its weight by 58% compared to the lead-acid solution and its acceleration performance increased by 22%.