I had a terrible time with life po4 batteries with 3 different brands .
Thats my vote . If its a po4 its not for karting . Its not for me .
I went with the casual standart batteries but a quality ones
Just to confirm.
As a matter of fact, one of the racers at local track had a fire during the race started by damaged LiPo battery. Also, one of the batteries we used self ignited in front of me. It was removed from the kart and left on the table. It started with some smoke and after 10 minutes there was a small fire.
After that we stopped using them. They are dangerous even if you leave them in the workshop.
We used 4s batteries which are 14.4V nominal voltage. Fully charged its 16.6V but electrical system had no issues with it.
After that I bought LiFePO4 ( Exide Bike Li-ion ELTX9) and its much better choice. The case is solid and square. It can be secured on the kart safely without risk of damage. Nominal voltage is 13V which is the equal to the lead battery.
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Can you elaborate? I’ve only tried one now but it’s been nothing but flawless on my 125. What specific lifepo4 batteries have you tried?
Lipo batteries are normally pretty safe as long as you only balance charge them, and are careful not to damage the exterior. I’ve never seen one result in fire didn’t break these rules.
This thread doesn’t read well, imho, to a casual observer concerning the state and viability of lithium powered batteries. I would have like to think these issues (reliability, fires) has come a long way in 2025 versus where it was several years ago, but reading all if the comments of the past several months makes the whole space sound just as sketchy as ever.
I really don’t follow the ups and downs of battery technology, but are there not any solid state, or other, newly advanced battery tech that people can use yet? (I know I’ve been seeing headlines about how the next wave of battery tech is just around the corner for a few years now)
Not an expert on batteries but this is what I have been using on my Rotax max karts with no problems. I chose these as they work well on my MX bikes so I thought they should be ok on the kart.
I think it might be more of a packaging and quality-at-price-point issue. Full EV karts seem to generally do quite fine, so I’m hesitant to point the finger at the tech itself… I think it’s more down to the implementation.
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FYI I on the TAG batteries….
“ Good afternoon Adrian,
I was told these are now discontinued as the importer is no longer able to order these from the manufacturer. These are made in China, and the company making them is no longer permitted to shipping them to the US. If you are looking for a replacement battery, I highly suggest the Firepower Featherweight battery we offer. This is the best battery for karts that we know and keep the low weight people expect without losing the convenient karting battery size drivers need. We only use these on our karts.‘
That was from Acceleration kart racing
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Hey! Started using lipos for 2024 season. No problems at all, no more failed starters on x30. Always starts on like second turn. Got some gnarly hits on it but nothing. I have ut on my iame battery mount in a fire resistant bag if it catches fire
The more I thought about this the more I guess I have to disagree. I was going to say that in applications managed by electrical and mechanical engineers it seems like lipo has proven to be manageably safe, but that’s actually continually been proven to be put to the test as ongoing issues with lipo fires involving major brands across industries proves. For applications short of involving electrical and mechanical engineers I can completely see why most racing orgs want little to do with it. That said, I personally don’t care what people want to run on their own equipment - if they’re convinced lipo is great, go for it, but multiple people on this thread whose tales of experience I respect say that it’s been deeply problematic, and I believe them.
I’ve watched some of the videos about the solid state batteries that are supposed to solve all these issues and more. But I guess that technology is still too expensive to produce profitably for most uses now.
Honestly, it’s all interesting, but my Yuasa lead acid battery is currently working fine for my purposes, so it’s all a bit pie in the sky for me. 
2 differing technologies are being discussed in this thread. LiFe and LiPo
LiFePO4 is Lithium iron phosphate and is stable and robust. Overall it is pretty darn safe, has a good temperature tolerance, has a reputation for long cycle life, holds voltage during storage, holds steady voltage during discharge cycle, but has a lower overall energy density. The discharge rating of LiFe packs are generally too low to be suitable for amp draw spikes from starters motors. So with the PO4 packs, starters can significantly shorten the life from the higher current draw relative to the small cell size being used.
LiPo on the other hand is a polymer electrolyte and uses a range of cathodes from lithium cobalt oxide to lithium manganese oxide to lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide. LiPOs very sensitive to rough handling, temperature, poor charging and discharging practice, and have a shorter life cycle. However, they offer a higher energy density and discharge rating. This is a more suitable technology for the current demand, but not at all suitable for safety considerations.
I attempted to use an LiFePO4 battery and we killed it about halfway through a season. It just could not handle the discharge rate. I will not put a LiPo battery on a race kart. My son and I raced RC stuff for several years before going karting. I have personally experienced LiPo pack failures and fires on packs that were properly handled and charged. I have also seen several garage fires and a couple RCs burned down at race events from LiPo failures. Given those experiences I just won’t put one on a kart. The LiFe packs are darn near bulletproof and I have used in a range of low draw applications with no issues ever. In high draw, I have ruined a few.
Even on our bass boat, they had trolling and electronics rated lithiums (LiFe) for years before they released lithium batteries capable of handling cranking amp draws. We adopted the LiFe early and kept a lead battery for the cranker until more recently.
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There is a huge difference between LiPO, LiFePO4, and solid state. LiFe is cheaper than AGM, way lighter, and I have never heard of a LiFe battery going up in flames.
That quote was in regard to solid state, aka next gen battery tech. As far as the rest, I defer to @Chuck_Goodson comments above. 
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Im talking LifePO4 for the weight savings. Just have to find one thats plug and play and works for the VLR motor.