488 488 Battery

I have an Antigravity 40Ah in my daily driven 911. Great product. Unlike Ferraris, the battery is mounted high up on the cowl, so the weight reduction really helps lower the car’s center of gravity. But you should figure out the cause of the battery drain. Throwing new batteries in frequently is not a real solution.


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What ah (40 or 60) is suitable and what effect does getting the highest one have? Longer time before completely discharged?

 

I have had great luck with my battery. Escort used my car at a show about 18 months ago and drained it - recharged it and keep it on the battery tender and it has been flawless for two years.

 

The higher amp hour battery have several advantages. But the main three are as follows
1. Last longer before parasitic drain uses all the stored power. This is a given, as it has 20 amp hours more.
2. If the car is hard to start, it will have a greater reserve due to the larger capacity.
3. If the C rating is the same, the 60 amp hour pack will be able to deliver more amps, and thus prevent a low voltage issue. For example, if both batteries have a discharge C rating of 20, the 40 ah will be able to deliver 800 amps while the 60 ah will be able to deliver 1200 amps.

When all is said and done, the biggest problem when the car will not start, is low voltage. Often a battery may actually have enough juice to turn the engine over, but while that is the case, the voltage drops. These ecu's are extremely sensitive to low voltage, and even a drop of 0.1 volt below what is needed, renders the system useless. An advantage of the lithium pack is, that even when quite drained, it still floats at a much higher voltage. This combined with the ability to deliver higher amps than an AGM, means that the battery has a much greater reserve when partially drained.

But all that being said, why on earth would you even consider a 40 ah when a 60 is available? I assure you that you won't feel the 400 gram weight difference or the ever so slightly higher price. You're doing this first and foremost for the reliability, so what's to think about? Bigger is always better in this case.

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I have a 2019 488, took delivery in September 2019. Recently having battery issues and the car won't start...it's happened a few times now. I always keep it on the tender too. Had to have it hauled in to the dealer in Seattle. They replaced the battery, and Ferrari denied the claim since it only had 900 total miles. Dealer said the battery is like $900. Does this sound like I'm getting screwed here? Any suggestions on how to resolve this? Thanks...

 

My post earlier in the thread:

I feel your pain. My ‘17 488 Spider died 10 months into ownership. Always on the tender while not driving the car. FLL fought for a replacement battery for free (Ferrari policy is not to replace if car is not driven at least 2,000 miles/year). Less than a year later the new one died but didn’t need to be replaced.

Sold the car soon afterwards. My next F car car will have an Interstate or equivalent battery rather than the POS Ferrari branded batterry.

 

Anyone know if the battery in the Pista is any different?

 

That depends. If you specced the standard AGM it is the same. If you specced lithium it is worse some say


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My battery was replaced after 24 months and it stayed on the Ferrari tender all the time when not being driven,

 

Let my '19 488GTB sit for ~10 days on the tender and now dealing with near-dead battery. Fortunately, Ferrari going to replace it free of charge. Guess I need to resume the weekly runs to the grocery store.

 

Disappointing to say the least. I have the 458 and these things just don't like to sit, even with the trickle chargers.

 

Save yourself the embarrassment don't leave home without a starter

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Agreed. But you might care at least a bit about weight if your battery was mounted up high like in a Porsche. But that said, Antigravity recommends the 60Ah version for Ferraris because they tend to have higher losses while turned “off”.


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Look, I'm all for saving weight - especially high or rotating. But worrying about 400 grams in a Ferrari or Porsche is completely pointless. If one feels that this matters in the greater scheme of things, let's look at the drawbacks too. Take a 458 or 488 for instance. They lack weight on the front from the factory, which in part is why they understeer as much as they do. Save 15 kg in the footwell and not only are you biasing the car even more rearward, you are also greatly messing with the side to side balance. If you place a 458 or 488 on scales and the cars are set to factory spec, then they are biased towards a 70 kg driver without passenger. The interesting thing is that most of that bias is done on the rear axle. There's usuallu only about 4-5 kg side to side on the front if set to factory soec. Now when you remove that battery, it has the same effect as raising the front right corner. So in effect you end up with a car that is even more balanced towards driver only, which for some is fine, but it is done in the wrong place in both directions. That change is on track much more kf an issue than the weight itself. We can look at this from two standpoints, one which is a practical solution for the average driver who never tracks and has little to no training, and the other whom is a passionate trained driver whom looks to get the most from his car. For the former, all that matters is getting the largest battery possible. 400 grams does not matter, as had it done so, the owner would have fixed the handling issues. In the latter case it would be important to rebalance the car to get it back on point after getting a light battery. But to be brutally honest, I doubt even a seasoned GT Pro driver would be able to tell the difference.
So in simple terms, if the handling issues from the factory does not bother, neither is 400 grams or even 15 kg for that matter. But if a battery is replaced with something much lighter, feeling it or not, that weight saving will go straight down the drain if the car is no balanced. Balance is much more important that such a small weight saving. I'll take 15 kg over poor balance and understeer any day. To put it in perspective, a stock 488 with some loot in the boot actually handles better than if the boot is empty. A modern Ferrari may have a fast and sensitive steering, but the stock alignment is so conservative and safe, it almost spoils the fun.

Not trying to be a stick in the mud, but it is important that we look at these things from all angles.

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The 488 has an issue with the rear LEDS staying lit 24/7. The crappy stock batteries likely won't last very long. You can spend thousands on a lithium and a special charger but at under $200 you will get years out of a good non-OEM AGM that's pretty simple to replace. That and drive your cars.

BTW no one has addressed switching the battery technology that requires a special charger yet the car's alternator and charging control system is not meant for it. As if the trickle charger needs to be compatible but not the car's own charging systems. The lithium makers and sellers never address this point.

 

whats the process for using this so as not to damage the car's electronics?

 

I would assume it makes no difference compared to jump starting from the battery of another car; by experience the 488 does not complain about it.

 

brailles are very good however, i heard that you can damage the braille easily if you drain it fully like with stuck lights.

the only battery I know against this is antigravity, it has a reserve capacity and you can do a start even after you leave the lights on for a week. The reserve battery can be triggered with an app or a small remote button.

I'm not sure about the size for 488, i think https://antigravitybatteries.com/products/starter-batteries/automotive/ag-h6-rs/ should work. you can get the 60mah one if you plan to leave car very long without tender.

with all that being said, i couldn't get the antigravity because ferrari service told me i'm only allowed to get ferrari branded ones. so neither braille nor antigravity.

 

This is much safer than jumping. I bought the one listed above and here are the instructions. It's pretty much idiot proof and wont let you screw something up https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1521323/Noco-Genius-Boost-Hd-Gb70.html

 

thank you. I actually bought two NOCO genius boost HD GB70 jump packs a while ago but would still be hesitant to use them with all the warnings and cautions I hear from Ferrari about possibly damaging the car.
I was curious if there was a fool proof safe process to use them.

 

Just follow instructions when connecting and disconnecting which is common practice. Think of it as a battery in parallel to the existing one. BTW if you have road side assistance , guess what , they use these starts to get you going. No one wants their car towed for a non starting flat battery.

 

Sorry but IIMO they have told you BS. Their side road assistance uses them There is nothing wrong with good units. What I mean by good are ones that guarantee NO SPARK with connection., and REVERSE POLARITY protection. These 2 items make them IDIOT PROOF so check the unit you purchase.

 

I just installed an Antigravity Battery on my 458. Bluetooth interconnectivity to monitor from iPhone.
I went with the 40 Volt model though I probably should have gone with the 60 volt.
The cranking voltage is superior to any other normal lead battery and it weights 16 lbs. as opposed to the
normal 40 lb. battery. The car has sat in the garage with no charger on it for a week (been out of town)
and the cranking voltage available when I returned was 13.35 V. Pretty darned good.
Anyway, two remotes are included to be able to awaken the battery if it goes dead in order to give you the ability
to start the car so being trapped somewhere is a thing of the past. One remote in the car (not in the glove box)
and another in the garage. The life of the battery is supposedly 10-12 years.
I purchased a CTEK lithium charger from Anitgravity site so it is paired to work with this
unit. The connections to the battery are pretty straight forward with the
charger connector sitting behind the battery cover flap in the footwell. You can probably just pull the connector out
and have it hang into the top of the footwell.
The battery and charger came to $900 and change.
This is new to me so all I can go on is what I have seen in videos, but I suspect that this battery will
mitigate the normal fears associated with a dead battery somewhere in the "wild".
Also, it is quite a bit less expensive than some of the Braille Lithium Ion batteries out there.

 

I used the wrong term for the type of battery. 40ah not 40 volt.