4.35V LG E1 - capacity tests at 4.35V and 4.20V

I've previously testedSanyo UR18650ZTAand this time i've got anoother 4.35V cell - LG E1.


The battery was bought from my reliable supplier (Queen Battery) and tested withZKETECH EBC-A20and a self-made battery holder. It's a PC-connected battery tester supporting 4-wire measuring and discharging at up to 20A.


I've used version 3.0 of my battery holder based on 0.5mm thick pure copper terminals



I've followed all the prescriptions of theIEC61960-2003standard concerning battery's capacity measurement. Before each discharging cycle each battery was charged at standard charge current mentioned in its datasheet to charge end voltage. Before each discharging or charging i've held a 1-1.5hrs pause. The environment temperature was 23.0-24.5C. To be sure in results i've done each testminimum twice(usually 3-4 times).


LG ICR18650 E1

The cell is marked as LGABE11865 0247I048AB.


The main specs from LG E1datasheet:
Nominal energy:12.0Wh
Minimum energy:11.6Wh
Nominal voltage:3.75V
Standard charge current:0.93A (0.3C)
Maximum charge current:1.55A (0.5C)
Charge cut-off current:50mA (100mA used)
Charge end voltage:4.35V
Max. continuous discharge current:4.65A (1.5C)
Discharge cut-off voltage:2.75V
AC impedance at 1KHz:?70m?
Max weight:49g

Measured initial DC IR at 3.1A in fully charged condition was 563m?

Measured weight of the tested cell was 47.52g


Capacity test results
At 4.35V charge:

The nominal energy at 0.2C doesn't reach 12Wh declared and the capacity is a bit higher than 3000mAh. Look at the 5A curve - it's really a heavy load for this guy. I'd not discharge it at more than 2A.

At 4.20V charge:

At 4.2V charge the capacity goes down to 2600mAh. The character of curves remains the same, just the numbers get lower.


COMPARISON

Let's check how much we lose by using 4.2V charge instead of 4.35V.
At 0.2C/0.62A:

Here we lose 13% in capacity and 14% in energy.

At 2A discharge:

The same 13 and 14%.

At 5A:

We lose 12% in capacity and 13% in energy.

So in general we lose about 13-14%.

LG E1 didn't show any fantastic results. It's real capacity appears to be about 3000mAh and 5A discharge seems to be too much for this cell. E1 could be interesting for those who need a high voltage cell for low drain (up to 2A) applications.

Here is the video version of this review:


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Thanks for the review.

So it's a 2600mAh cell overcharged. Nothing special.

Looks like they start to apply the same cheating as smartphone manufacturers. Unfortunately, this will wear down the battery up to 6 times faster. Too bad if someone like LG started to do this.

Um, it doesn't really work that way.

It's designed to be charged up to 4,35V.
Some additives can be used that up the charge voltage of the cell, but decreases the overall amperage the cell can actually deliver, without actually damaging the cell.
It's designed to be cycled that way. 4,20V charging will just make the cell last longer.

This is a useful cell where a higher average voltage during discharge can be very useful, like in flashlights or inverters, etc.

Sorry, but I strongly disagree.
They said that on phone batteries too and they all fail way faster than normal.

You cannot alter a chemical reaction to produce different voltages. No such thing as "designed to". Maybe at most optimized to be overcharged (as in taking less damage than the average, which so far has not been proven anywhere, by adding a catalyst or improving the lattice quality/reducing anomalies). Anything above 4.2V is overcharging no matter how you name it.

Any of my cells produced in the last few years can be overcharged to 4.35 without anything apparently happening, but their life will be shorter, just like it's shorter for these.

If you have any doubt about this, get something like a Samsung pink 2600mAh and C/D test vs the cell presented here until their capacity starts to significantly reduce. You will notice that there is no significant difference in life-time / cycles-2-death.

The Facts
I do agree with Overmind to a certain point. But there have been chemical changes added to some of these batteries to allow them to be "Overminded" oh sorry overcharged safely.
That being said there is a trade off. Lower Cycle Life.
Theory is planned obsolescence of the consumer good by the time the battery is dead it's time to get a new and improved something.

https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/confusion_with_voltages




Wolf

Yes, that was the trade-off.