Uptime Sodium-ion Battery FAQ

The Uptime 24V 160Ah Sodium-ion Battery charges and discharges at -38.2°F (-39°C). It retains more than 96% of its rated capacity at 32°F (0°C) and more than 85% at -40°F (-40°C).

A Uptime Sodium-Ion battery has an internal 350W heating element that runs on incoming charge current, not on the battery’s stored energy.

The battery needs heat only to charge; it can discharge without heat down to -38°F. In practice, solar warms the battery in the morning using the first available energy without reducing the battery’s state of charge. If it’s overcast or storming and solar input is minimal, the battery may not reach charging temperature. Even so, you don’t lose capacity or uptime.

While no battery is completely fireproof, sodium-ion carries a lower fire risk than lithium-ion, largely due to its cathode chemistry. The Uptime 24V 160Ah Sodium-ion Battery uses sodium iron pyrophosphate (NFPP). This structure holds its oxygen atoms tightly, so it’s less likely to release oxygen when overheated. Lithium batteries built on layered oxide cathodes, such as NMC or NCA, can release oxygen more readily under heat, and that released oxygen can feed a fire once it starts.

NFPP batteries also don’t use cobalt and nickel, two reactive metal oxides that can make lithium cathodes more prone to breakdown under stress. Sodium-ion cells also operate at lower energy density than most lithium-ion cells, so there’s less stored energy available if a cell fails.

Finally, the chemistries respond differently to overcharge or short circuits. Lithium-ion is prone to lithium plating, where metallic lithium accumulates on the anode until it pierces the separator and causes an internal short, a common trigger for thermal runaway. Sodium doesn’t plate onto the anode in the same way, making that failure path less likely.

Taken together, sodium-ion chemistry is generally more thermally stable than the cathode materials used in many lithium-ion batteries, which is the basis for its significantly lower fire risk.

One Uptime 24V 160Ah Sodium-ion Battery measures 15.55in × 14.17in × 11.42in (395 × 360 × 290mm). One module fits inside a four-battery GC2 enclosure measuring 20.5in × 14.25in, using 75% of the footprint. Two modules fit a single-row four-battery 4D enclosure measuring 20.75in × 37.8in, using 56% of the footprint.

This means fewer cable connections and, in most lead-acid compartments, extra room rather than a tight fit. If you’re replacing a lithium pack rather than a lead-acid pack, check the dimensions against your compartment, because many lithium packs are designed to maximize energy density, not to match a standard battery size.

Each Uptime 24V 160Ah Sodium-ion Battery weighs 112.4lb (51kg). 

One Uptime Sodium-ion Battery module stores 3.648kWh (3,648Wh). Because you can use the full rated capacity of an Uptime battery—rather than only half, as is typical when sizing a lead-acid bank—one module provides about 5.4× the usable energy of one GC2 lead-acid battery and about 2.5× the usable energy of one 4D AGM battery.

The Math: Lead-acid batteries are conventionally rated to 50% depth of discharge, which yields roughly 670Wh usable from a standard GC2 and roughly 1,476Wh from a standard 4D AGM. Published lead-acid figures vary widely by brand and reporting method, so treat these as typical expectations for batteries of that size rather than exact specs. Uptime figures use the full rated capacity. Maximum depth of discharge is 100%, and the battery retains 75% of rated capacity after 10,000 cycles measured at 80A charge and discharge, 85% depth of discharge, and 77°F (25°C). That rating reflects normal use at 85%, not a full discharge every cycle. You can discharge an Uptime battery to 100% DoD, but you will get the longest life with 85% DoD cycles. 

In most cases, outdoor mobile power systems cycle hard in the winter but not in the summer, so a life expectancy of 10,000+ cycles is conservative in most scenarios.

Comparisons are application-dependent. Confirm voltage, capacity, charge settings, discharge limits, temperature range, certifications, and installation requirements before replacing an existing battery bank, as not all lead acid batteries are the same. We’ve used average values to create a fair approximation.

You can connect up to eight Uptime Sodium-ion Battery modules in parallel, providing 29.184kWh of capacity. Each module stores 3.648kWh.

 The modules communicate over CAN bus at 250kb/s through the COM connection on the top of the battery, and communication is closed-loop: the battery tells the rest of the system what it needs and responds to what the system reports back, so the bank behaves as a single system rather than as separate batteries.

Yes. Uptime Sodium-ion Batteries are a drop-in replacement for lead-acid battery banks and can accept charge from a wide range of sources, including solar, generator, and alternator power. Charge voltage is 28.4V, and maximum continuous charge current is 80A per module. The battery can accept a charge from -38.2°F to 138.2°F (-39°C to 59°C), the same range it discharges over.

The battery must warm up before it can accept a charge at low temperatures, but it does not need a heater to discharge down to -48°F. The heater is sized to bring the battery to charging temperatures even at -38°F, though there may be a delay.

In short: it recovers, with no negative effect. A full discharge doesn’t damage sodium-ion cells the way it damages a lead-acid bank, and an Uptime Sodium-ion Battery will come back once it receives a charge from solar, a generator, or an alternator. Low-voltage protection cuts in at 12V (0% state of charge), and you should recharge to 100% within two to three months to rebalance the cells. Being able to use the entire rated capacity is part of why the module replaces more lead-acid than its size suggests. A lead-acid bank repeatedly taken to 0% loses capacity permanently, which is why those banks are sized around a 50% limit in the first place.

Recharge an Uptime battery bank to 100% state of charge every six months. There’s no watering, no equalizing, and no terminal cleaning schedule of the kind a flooded lead-acid bank needs, but the periodic top-up does matter.

Two reasons for this: a pack that has been sitting a long time can come back with its cells out of balance and less capacity available than it should have. And state of charge and state of health readings drift while a battery sits. A full charge rebalances the cells and recalibrates the state of charge reading, which is how you get the capacity back and keep your bank in tip-top shape.

Yes, it does. This is fairly standard practice in lithium and lead-acid systems. Battery voltage varies with state of charge, so a DC-DC converter is used to deliver a steady output. The Uptime 24V 160Ah Sodium-ion Battery has a rated voltage of 22.8V and an operating range of 16V to 27.6V, so the voltage it supplies depends on how full it is. If you’ve worked with lead-acid, this is familiar: lead-acid voltage sags as it discharges. Lithium only spikes at the end of the charge range, but its mid-range voltage is often still not close to the 12 or 24VDC your equipment expects.

That variation is fine for some loads, but most equipment performs best with a steady input at its specified (nameplate) voltage. Low or high input voltage can cause shutdowns or premature failure in, for example, a router or camera. A DC-DC converter sits between the battery and those loads and holds the output steady across the full charge-to-discharge range. Because the Uptime battery supports 100% DoD, the minimum usable voltage is 16V, which is also the low-voltage threshold of most 24V DC-DC converters. With a low-cost converter, you can use 100% of the Uptime Sodium-ion battery’s output without voltage swings at the load.

A wide range of DC-DC converters is available from 12 to 48V in a variety of power capacities. Send us a load list, and we’ll tell you which DC-DC converter, or combination of converters, is ideal for you. Many customers also use DC-DC converters to load-shed and protect critical loads, creating more flexible control and replacing breakers.

The Uptime's battery management system logs battery voltage, state of charge, minimum and maximum cell temperature, cell imbalance, and whether a module is blocking charge. Connect the battery to a Victron GX device with DVCC enabled, and the GX becomes the active controller for charge and discharge, sharing those battery health indicators with the rest of the system.

With an internet connection, the GX device sends that data to Victron’s VRM portal. In VRM, you can monitor performance in real time, set alerts for state of charge, temperature, or battery status, and catch issues before they become a service call. You can also grant access to a distributor or technician so they can see the same data you do. 

If the connection drops, the system continues logging on-site and uploads once the network returns, so you don’t lose the record of what happened during an outage, often the exact window you need to review.

An Uptime Sodium-ion Battery can sit unused for months. Switched off and stored at 20%-50% state of charge, it loses 1.8% SOC per month or less at 77°F (25°C), and 2.8% SOC or less at 113°F (45°C), so six months at room temperature costs about 11%. For a seasonal installation or a rental fleet, that means no charge cycle every few weeks. Plan on a full recharge every six months.

The Uptime 24V 160Ah Sodium-ion Battery can be secured with mounting feet, brackets, or straps. This supports vehicle, trailer, and stationary-mounted installations without a custom tray. Connections are located below the battery’s centerline and away from the edges, making it straightforward to secure in an enclosure.

The Uptime 24V 160Ah Sodium-ion Battery is IP67-rated, meaning it’s dust-tight and protected against temporary submersion, so road spray, wash-downs, and dust in open trailer compartments won’t reach the cells. The battery ships with waterproof caps for the communications ports.

Yes. Uptime Sodium-ion Batteries are built around sodium, a non-hazardous, naturally occurring material, which makes them easier and less expensive to recycle than lithium-ion batteries.

Being straight about it: lead-acid still has the best recycling stream of the three. It’s mature, it recovers most of the material, and scrap batteries carry positive value. Sodium’s advantage is in the processing, not in the infrastructure, which is still being built out alongside production.

Uptime Mobile Solutions supports a growing network of distribution partners who provide sales and after-sales technical support. Use our distributor map to find the partner nearest to you. 

Interested in becoming a distributor in your region? Email us at sales@uptimemobilesolutions.com.

Uptime Mobile Solutions was started by Intelligent Controls, an American company that specializes in DC power and energy storage for off-grid applications across a range of markets, serving customers across North America.

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