Lithium Battery Power or Dakota Lithium: How to Choose
Comparison
Comparing Lithium Battery Power with Dakota Lithium
The short answer
Both build lithium batteries for boats, carts and off grid rigs, and the headline numbers look similar. The differences sit underneath: what cells are inside, what the pack can be wired into, and whether anyone will build to your application. This page sets out what Lithium Battery Power publishes about itself, and the questions to put to any brand.
What should I actually compare between lithium battery brands?
Six things, and amp hours is only one of them.
1. Cell type and quality, because that is what decides year four rather than week one. 2. The BMS, what it protects against and how it behaves when it trips. 3. Series and parallel limits, which decide whether the battery can grow into the bank you eventually want. 4. Ingress rating, so you know what the battery survives where you are mounting it. 5. Whether custom builds exist, if your application is not a standard size. 6. Who answers the phone when the setup is unusual or something goes wrong.
Everything else on a comparison chart tends to be the same claim written two ways.
What does Lithium Battery Power build?
High output lithium systems in 12V, 24V, 36V and 48V, from a base in Clearwater, Florida.
LBP has distributed more than 25,000 batteries worldwide. The range spans trolling motor kits, deep cycle packs, chargers and the Powerbox, and it covers marine, RV and van, solar, golf carts, commercial and industrial equipment and communications. Custom builds are a genuine part of the business rather than a footnote, which is the relevant fact if your application does not fit a catalogue number.
What is inside an LBP battery?
Premium cylindrical cells, with a Battery Management System built into every pack.
The cell format is a deliberate engineering choice rather than the cheapest available route, and it is the thing LBP points at when asked why its packs hold performance over years. The BMS watches temperature and short circuit conditions, shuts the battery down before damage occurs, and balances cells against each other by adjusting charge rates.
How do the published limits compare?
Here is what Lithium Battery Power states. Ask Dakota Lithium, or any other brand, for the same list rather than taking a chart’s word for it.
| What to ask | Lithium Battery Power publishes |
|---|---|
| Maximum in series | 4 |
| Maximum in parallel | 4 |
| Ingress rating | IP65, not submersible |
| Cell format | Premium cylindrical cells |
| BMS | Built into every battery |
| Expected life | 5 to 15 years, or 2,000 to 5,000 cycles |
| Weight against lead acid | About 70 percent lighter on average |
| Bluetooth monitoring | On selected models, via the Battery Genie app |
| Charger warranty | 1 year manufacturer’s warranty |
| Custom builds | Yes |
| Base | Clearwater, Florida |
This table is deliberately one sided, because it only contains figures Lithium Battery Power publishes about itself. Filling in a competitor’s column from memory or from a third party review is how comparison pages end up wrong, and a wrong number helps nobody choose.
What question separates two brands that look identical?
Ask each of them to size a bank for your actual setup, then listen to what they ask you back.
A company that asks what you are powering, how long you run it, what charges it and where the battery is mounted is working the problem. A company that answers with a product number has skipped the part that decides whether you are happy in two years. This costs nothing to test and it tells you more than any spec sheet.
The second question worth asking is what happens when something goes wrong, and who you speak to.
Are LBP batteries a drop in replacement for lead acid?
In most applications yes, with two things to check first.
Voltage has to match, which is the same rule as any battery. Charging is the part that catches people: a lead acid charger can be wrong for lithium, and a solar charge controller must be lithium compatible. Where an inverter charger is doing the work, aim for bulk at 14.4V, absorb at 14.6V and float at 13.6V, and never go above 15V.
What about running a mixed bank?
Do not mix chemistries in the same bank.
Lead acid and lithium charge and discharge differently, and a bank of both will be governed by the weakest behaviour in it. If a system is being converted, convert the bank rather than half of it.
Where do I go from here?
- The lithium battery guide if you are still deciding on voltage
and capacity.
- Trolling motor sizing for boats.
- RV and van or
golf carts for those conversions.
If the honest answer is that you need something that is not on a shelf, that is what the custom side of Lithium Battery Power exists for, and it is worth a call before buying anything.
Talk to someone who builds these
LBP builds custom packs as well as shipping standard sizes, and the team will size a bank to the boat, the cart or the rig before anything is bought.
Contact the teamCall 727-223-9831
Keep reading
- Choosing a lithium battery, without guessingHow to pick a lithium battery by voltage, amp hours and application, what a BMS actually does, how charging differs from lead acid, and where the limits are.
- Sizing a lithium battery for a trolling motorHow to match voltage and amp hours to a 12V, 24V or 36V trolling motor, what decides a full day on the water, and how lithium changes the sizing maths.
- All guidesEvery guide on lithiumbatterypower.com in one place.
Last reviewed 2026-09-16Lithium Battery Power