Are you an RC enthusiast? You have probably come to this guide looking for the best LiPo battery out there for your RC truck, car, helicopter or some other RC vehicle. The RC world is a complex, highly developed world where people spend many thousands of dollars every year taking their vehicles and aircraft to the next level. RC vehicles these days run on a Lithium Polymer Battery, also known as the LiPo battery. These new batteries are built using new, state of the art technology.
While there are plenty of benefits to LiPo batteries for sale, there are also some people out there who are leery about them due to past dealings or word of mouth stories. While there have been a few issues with LiPo batteries in the past, specifically LiPo battery storage – these days the coast is almost completely clear and there is really no need for you to be worried.
A LiPo battery for sale that you see at the store is almost always going to be much lighter in weight and can be manufactured into almost any shape or size. They are more developed technology over other batteries like the NiMH batteries gives them a much longer charge combined with the ability to discharge a lot more power in moments where high strength electrical current is needed in your RC car. Some RC vehicles require a lot of power, and the LiPo battery picks up the slack where the NiMH battery cannot.
Things to look out for when looking for the best LiPo battery
Like any other product out there, there is several different things you will have to look out for when you are looking to buy a LiPo battery. They are not entirely difficult to grasp and after reading this article you will have all the knowledge necessary to successfully make the right buy.
Keep in mind, that the most important thing to remember is that you will have to know what size of battery your RC vehicle requires. This is the most important step as if you buy the wrong size or voltage, then the battery will not fit or not be powerful enough. Resulting in you having to return the battery and going through the entire process over again.
Going over the LiPo battery’s capacity
This number is often the biggest and boldest on the best LiPo battery’s case because it is one of the most important metrics to look for when buying a LiPo battery. The capacity of a LiPo battery for sale is listed mAh which is milliamp hours. Milliamp hours is simply the milliamp load that can be put on the battery while it is sustained for 1 hour.
The LiPo battery with 2000 mAh will be completed discharged after it has a 2000 milliamp load placed on it for 1 hour. This means that a 1000 milliamp load on the same battery will take 2 full hours to fully discharge.
This means that if your RC vehicle is going to be placing large milliamp demands on any battery placed into it, you will want to make sure that the battery can sustain those demands long enough to finish the race or driving session. This essentially means that you will want to find the medium balance between battery weight and enough capacity.
Understanding the discharge rating (“C” rating)
Without getting into too much nitty gritty technical details, the C Rating is a measure of how quickly the battery can be discharged without causing permanent damage to the battery and doing it safely. The C Rating cannot be determined without knowing the capacity number of the battery. Keep in mind that the “C” in “C Rating” stands for “Capacity”.
Putting it simply, if the best LiPo battery you can find has a discharge rating of 10C, then that means you should be able to safely discharge at a rate that is 10 times larger than the capacity of the pack.
If your LiPo battery has a 20C discharge rating and 2000 mAh capacity, then you could pull 40,000 milliamps of power. 40,000 milliamps are equal to 40 amps.
Avoid purchasing used LiPo batteries
Unfortunately, for even the best LiPo batteries, there comes a time when a LiPo battery that has been used extensively simply loses its performance potential and should be replaced. Therefore, we do not recommend in any way that you buy a used battery. LiPo batteries for sale are not terribly expensive in the first place. Most of the batteries that you will find will come in under $100.
The headache that comes with potential failure from a used battery far outweighs any kind of financial savings you may make in the process. Getting your money back, replacing the old battery, potentially repairing damage to your RC vehicle from the faulty, used battery – are things you may have to deal with. Hence, we are strongly against anyone looking for a LiPo batter for their RC car buying a used battery.
Hard case vs soft case LiPo batteries for sale
The difference between choosing a hard case LiPo battery or soft case really comes down to what you want to achieve with your RC vehicle, and whether you are a serious competitor.
A hard case essentially is the best form of protection from the external factors that are dealt on your RC vehicle. The vehicle is bound to bounce around and take hits over time, and the hard case will protect the battery from those hits. However, the hard case can be a bit heavier than the soft case, which can result in slower speeds and additional weight to your RC vehicle. RC ground vehicles generally use hard case LiPo batteries as this type of RC operating is the roughest.
Soft case LiPo batteries are essentially a LiPo battery wrapped in a soft shrink wrap type of plastic. This help cut weight away from the battery and overall RC vehicle. It will also make it easier to fit the battery in the casing as you will not have to bother with squeezing in the bulky hard case.
Soft case LiPo batteries are generally used in flying RC vehicles like planes, helicopters, etc.
Youme 2 Packs 5000mAh 11.1V 3S Lipo Battery Pack [Best LiPo Battery for RC Cars]
Youme is well known around the RC space for developing and manufacturing incredible LiPo batteries for RC cars. This specific Youme LiPo battery is compatible with well over 50 different RC models. Look on Amazon to see whether your RC vehicle will be able to make use of this LiPo battery.
This battery comes with a 1-year warranty and a 30-day satisfaction guarantee. With a brand-new, Grade A only cell for these batteries, they are built to last.
- Capacity: 5000mah
- Volts: 11.1v
- C Rate: 50C – 100C
- Weight: 0.83lb / 13.26 oz / 376 grams
Dimensions are as follows:
- 1 inches long
- 9 inches wide
- 94 inches tall
This battery comes in a pack of 2. This is a good deal because should one battery go down, you will have a backup. Also, if you need more power then you can run the two of them in conjunction.
Venom 25C 2S 5000mAh 7.4V Hard Case LiPo Battery
This red LiPo battery for sale from Venom is one of the best LiPo batteries out there. With incredible reviews on Amazon, there is no doubt that this is a strong recommendation used by the people here at Power Genix Systems.
This Venom LiPo battery comes in with Venom’s patented universal plug system that will allow for connectivity with all different RC vehicles. This battery supports well over 75 RC vehicles that are out on the market right now. Simply look at the battery on the Amazon page to see if your RC model is listed there on the site. The plug is compatible with the Traxxas Plug, Tamiya Plug, Deans Plug and the EC3 Plug.
Here are some of the important specifications for the LiPo battery from Venom:
- C Rate: 25C
- Volts: 7.4v
- Capacity: 5000mAh
- Weight: 11.3 0z (320.3 grams)
Dimensions for the LiPo battery are as follows:
- 43 inches long
- 81 inches wide
- 94 inches tall
While warranty terms and conditions aren’t listed publicly, a simple message sent to Venom will get any warranty cases sorted out.
Gens Ace 5000mAh 11.1V 3S 50C 3 Cell LiPo Battery Pack
Gens is often regarded as the best LiPo battery brand due to their incredible ability to constantly manufacture batteries that stand the test of time. The raw materials that these LiPo batteries are comprised of come from Japan and South Korea. This LiPo battery is no different as it is one of the most highly ranked on Amazon and is used by many different RC enthusiasts and professionals.
This battery comes with a XT60 Plug and Deans Plug – meaning it can be used in well over 50 different RC vehicles. The Balancer Connector Type is the JST-XHR, this is standard for LiPo battery connector types. This battery is specifically designed for the Traxxas RC Cars, Slash VXL, Slash 4×4 VXL, E-Maxx Brushless, E-Revo Brushless and Spartan models. Included with the battery is also a user manual that we personally enjoyed reading – very helpful.
- C Rate: 50C
- Volts: 11.1v
- Capacity: 5000mAh
- Weight: 0.84 pounds
The dimensions for the battery are listed below:
- 1 inches long
- 81 inches wide
- 94 inches tall
This is truly one of the best LiPo batteries out there as it can be quickly recharged and has been designed by over 200 professional engineers using over 20 years of experience.
Floureon 2 Packs 30C 2S 7.4V 5200mAh Lipo Battery Hard Case
Floureon knocked it out of the park once again with this battery pack that comes with two batteries. Highly revered throughout the RC community, we could never not recommend a Floureon product.
Used for and compatible with so many different types of RC vehicles, we wouldn’t be able to put the full list here on this article. Instead we recommend that you visit the Amazon listing and make sure your RC make and model is supported there. It comes with a Dean Style T Connector if you plan on using it for a RC Quadcopter or FPV.
The specifications for this LiPo battery for sale are as follows:
- C Rate: 30C
- Volts: 7.4v
- Capacity: 5200mAh
- Weight: 282 grams / 9.95 oz
The dimensions for this LiPo battery are listed below:
- 51 inches long
- 89 inches wide
- 98 inches tall
Whether you plan on using this battery with a RC car, airplane, helicopter, truck, boat – or something else, it will surely be compatible.
Gens Ace 7.4V 5000mAh 50C 2S LiPo Battery Pack
Yet another incredible LiPo battery coming from Gens Ace. This battery like the Gens Ace battery listed earlier used raw materials sourced from Japan and South Korea. There is a Deans Plug included with this battery as well. Your make and model of RC vehicle will more than likely be compatible with this battery, but make sure to double check before buying.
Gens Ace uses an incredible strict production process which results in a high quality single cell capacity, voltage and resistance. Gens Ace has also integrated an automatic stacking technology as well, resulting in a much better performance. We have also found that the battery has a very long life cycle.
The specifications for this battery are listed below:
- Capacity: 5000mAh
- Voltage: 7.4V
- Discharge Rate: 50C
- Weight: 304 grams
The dimensions are as follows:
- 5mm
- Width: 46.5mm
- Height: 25mm
We strongly recommend this LiPo battery from Gens Ace. It is in our minds that it is one of the best LiPo batteries for sale out on the market.
Do not expect good performance in cold weather
Some of our readers come from parts of the US that can get very cold during the winter. This applies to most Northern US states, as almost every single one of them has at least 2 to 3 weeks of cold every single winter.
The temperature that you should not be using your battery at all is 14F or -10 Celsius. Not even the best LiPo batteries will operate at this temperature properly. However, you should not be using it even if it is a bit warmer than that. We recommend that you cease driving your RC car powered by a LiPo battery at 30F. This will ensure that not catastrophic failures occur when driving that could potentially lead to a costly repair bill for your RC car.
Make sure you are properly charging your LiPo battery
It is incredible important that once you have found and bought the best LiPo battery for your RC vehicle, that you learn how to properly charge it. This charging process is not overly difficult, but there are few very important steps to make sure that you are fully aware of.
You never want to overcharge a LiPo battery as this can vastly shorten its life cycle. This can be avoided by getting yourself a computerized charging device that monitors the charge of your battery and cuts off the power from reaching it once it has reached the desired charge.
Final thoughts
While there is a lot of information that needs to be learned to become proficient on the best LiPo batteries, the reality is, majority of these little units are simply plug and play. It is in the LiPo battery manufacturers best interest to ensure that these batteries are easy to use, safe and reliable. This is how they earn their money.
If you have just entered the RC World, then probably by now you have realized it is much more complex and deep than just RC cars racing around a dirt track in a field behind someone’s house. There are full fledged international competitions taking place every year, and there is some serious money to be won as well.
Going forward, we recommend that you just have fun with the RC world and your different RC toys. After all, with all this information, the idea of, “work hard, play hard” comes to mind.
Hopefully by now you have found the best LiPo battery for yourself and you are well on your way to become a RC master.