How are you all approaching the Battle Born situation?

Bit late to this party but wanted to get the collective wisdom of this lot before I do something daft with my motorhome build.

So Battle Born — always felt they were suspiciously American in their marketing, all swagger and very little actual data. Never trusted them personally, went Fogstar Drift in the end and sleep soundly. But I know a few of you have Battle Borns sitting in vans and boats across the UK paying premium prices for what's starting to look like a questionable proposition.

The failure stories doing the rounds aren't just isolated incidents either. Early BMS faults, cells going out of balance earlier than they should, customer support that's... across an ocean. Not ideal when your leisure battery decides to have a moment at a campsite in the Scottish Highlands with no signal.

My actual question is: for those of you running Battle Borns in your setups, are you seeing any early warning signs through your Victron monitoring? SOC drift, weird charge curves, anything your BMV is flagging?

Wondering whether the smarter play for anyone affected is to start capacity testing now rather than wait for a dramatic failure — a proper discharge cycle with logged data tells you more than any warranty claim.

Also curious whether anyone's successfully argued a warranty case from the UK, because I imagine that conversation goes brilliantly.

Seriously though — what's everyone's current read on this? Stick, replace, or just monitor obsessively until something actually breaks?

PhilPowell | Posts: 847 | Location: Shropshire

@FormerCop don't worry, you've not missed the boat entirely. I went through this exact rabbit hole last spring.

Honestly, the "suspiciously American" feeling was enough for me to look elsewhere from the off. Ended up going with EVE cells in a DIY build through a UK supplier — far better value per kWh and I actually know what's inside the pack rather than trusting a badge.

Worth considering: support, warranty claims, and shipping costs all get complicated when you're dealing with a US-headquartered company post-Brexit. Had a mate with a warranty issue and it was a proper headache.

What's your rough budget and capacity requirement? That'd help narrow things down — there are some decent assembled options from European manufacturers that won't leave you chasing customer service across five time zones.

Titch | Posts: 2,341 | Location: Array

@FormerCop the "suspiciously American" pricing situation is very real — I ran the numbers last year before settling on Fogstar Drift cells for my tiny house array and the difference was genuinely eye-watering once you factor in shipping, import duty, and the inevitable customs lottery.

For motorhome applications specifically, the BMS communication integration is worth obsessing over. Battle Born's native Victron compatibility gets talked up endlessly, but honestly Fogstar paired with a decent Daly or JK BMS talking to my Cerbo GX works flawlessly.

Worth noting: UK warranty support for American manufacturers is essentially "good luck, mate" territory. When my neighbour had a cell imbalance issue, the back-and-forth across time zones nearly finished him off entirely.

What's your intended capacity? That changes the conversation considerably.

MistyRigger | Posts: 1,156 | Location: Scottish Borders

@FormerCop the motorhome context matters quite a bit here — weight and physical footprint are real constraints that desktop spreadsheet comparisons often ignore. For what it's worth, I went with Fogstar Drift cells for my van build last year and honestly couldn't be happier. UK-based support, sensible pricing, and they didn't make me feel like I was buying into a lifestyle brand.

That said, @PhilPowell and @Titch will likely have more hours with various chemistries than me. What's your planned capacity and how are you intending to charge — solar only, or split-charging from the habitation circuit as well? Makes a difference to which BMS approach makes sense before you commit to anything.

ZFS_OffGrid | Posts: 412 | Location: Array

@FormerCop went through this exact faff last year. Ended up with Fogstar Drift 100Ah cells in the static and honestly couldn't be happier — half the Battle Born price and the BMS actually talks to my Victron properly via the comms cable.

The "American premium" is just brand recognition tax at this point. Cells are cells.

Only wrinkle with motorhome installs is vibration tolerance — worth checking the spec sheets properly rather than taking anyone's word for it, mine or otherwise. Some of the cheaper Chinese-branded stuff is a bit sketchy on that front.

Fogstar are UK-based which matters when something goes sideways under warranty. Had a duff cell, sorted within the week. Try that with a US company posting from Nevada.

PanelMatt | Posts: 847 | Location: Array

Fogstar Drift is where I'd be looking if I were doing a motorhome build right now. The 206Ah cells are properly competitive on price and the UK warranty situation is so much less of a headache than dealing with a US brand if something goes sideways.

That said — what's your inverter/charger situation? If you're already Victron ecosystem it's worth making sure whatever cells you pick have a BMS that plays nicely via VE.Can or at least talks properly to the MPPT. Had a mate bodge together a cheap pack and his Cerbo couldn't see half the data properly.

For a motorhome specifically I'd also think hard about physical dimensions before committing — space under dinettes isn't always as generous as the tape measure makes it look 😅