Drift PRO - (probably) the best leisure battery in the world

There is no denying that our Drift LiFePO4 batteries have made waves across the UK Leisure Battery market. Since launching the product 11 months ago, we’ve shipped over 3000 Drifts to customers across the UK - and that number doesn’t look to be slowing down any time soon.

One of the things we’ve enjoyed since launching the Drift product is the many conversations with customers, not just about their beloved motorhomes, boats and solar arrays, but also about their electrical set-ups, and how enhanced functionality of leisure batteries would make their life easier. This set us on a  journey, starting in November 2022, designing and crafting possibly the best leisure battery in the world - the Drift PRO. 

But, what is it about the Drift PRO that makes it so great? It’s not just the price (which is always a great feature here at Fogstar), it’s not just the 300A JBD BMS, the plug and play Victron integration, the serviceable metal case, or the external JK Active Balancer. No, the great thing about the Drift PRO is its vast multifunctional application, offering more power and more potential than any other leisure battery on the market.

There is no denying that the Drift V1 is a fantastic addition to the UK leisure battery market, and these batteries won’t be going anywhere soon - in fact, the Drift Pro just enables customers a much wider choice when it comes to selecting the right battery option to suit their application. So, let’s have a deeper look at the brand new Fogstar product that’s about to revolutionise the UK Leisure battery market…

Let’s talk about the features of the Drift PRO

When designing the Drift PRO we knew this unit needed an upgraded BMS, enabling us to provide a better solution to those using Inverters of >3000W. The 300A customised JBD BMS is a world first, created by Fogstar, offering the highest continuous discharge of any leisure battery on the market. This will allow users to power inverters up to 3500W.

If that wasn’t enough, the BMS has been further customised to allow seamless integration with Victron equipment, such as the Cerbo GX. Plug and play is the name of the game. 

Connecting the Cerbo GX couldn't be easier. Using the interface cable, connect the CAN port on the battery to the BMS-CAN port on the Cerbo GX, the BMS then integrates with the Victron system with no additional steps to the user.

RS485 and CAN comms ports also open doors for a wide range of simple integrations with your chosen hardware. 

Active Balancer - the best of both worlds

This moves us onto one of the most anticipated features of the Drift PRO, the Active Balancer. An Active Balancer is a component that redistributes the current from the cells with a higher SOC, to cells with a lower SOC, thus creating an even distribution of current across the cells. In our Drift PROwe’ve made the decision to use an external Jikong (JK) Active Balancer (one you plug in manually) not a permanent in-built one, this gives our customers the best of both worlds - the option to use an Active Balancer should they want/need it, and no long term consequences of doing so. There are a few reasons why we’ve taken this approach. 

Firstly, because our Drift PRO batteries contain matched and balanced Grade A EVE cells, you should not have to use an Active Balancer often, if at all. We recommend plugging the device in every three to six months, for two to three cycles (depending upon levels of cell disparity - if any). Upon checking, it may be the case that your battery doesn’t need any redistribution of current across the cells - this is absolutely fine and you don’t have to use it.

Secondly, a permanent Active Balancer unit, built into the battery, draws a hell of a lot of power (>1Ah per day on average) even when it’s not being used. This is a massive drain on the battery - especially for those using their batteries off-grid. The Jikong (JK) BMS used with our Drift PRO is Bluetooth enabled, allowing you to manage the balancing of your battery independently of the standard parameters on the Fogstar Drift App. You also have the option of installing the desktop software and monitoring the status of your balancing via a laptop.

Active Balancing is a very new technology in the battery world, so building this function into our Drifts with no long term performance data would be a mistake. We would rather wait and see how the technology performs over the next few years before committing to using it permanently in a product with a 10 year warranty. If you’re using well balanced, matched, Grade A cells - you shouldn’t need to use one, we’ve simply included it as an added extra at our customers’ request.

What is the cost of the Drift PRO?

The development of the Drift PRO is all part of our quest to make Lithium affordable and accessible to customers on all budgets. In fact, our 12v 280ah Drift PRO retails at just £1099. 

If you’re a Camper or Boat conversion specialist, our Drift PRO will open doors for you and your up-and-coming builds, get in touch with our Customer Service team for more information on our trade accounts.

So there we have it, an introduction into the Fogstar Drift PRO. As you can probably tell, the Drift PRO isn't just a leisure battery. It's a revolution in portable power. So don't get left behind. Your adventures deserve the best. 

Take a look at the Drift PRO range, which is in stock now!