Norsk Lithium^® breaks industry ground with a line of lithium marine starting batteries that exceeds most outboard manufacturer specs and will never leave you dead in the water; featuring three sets of terminals and included hardware for flexible rigging, Bluetooth^® battery monitoring via the Norsk Guardian^® App, Emergency Start Reserve (ESR), Thermal Core Heating Technology™, and Deep Sleep™ Technologies

Serious anglers and boaters have been waiting with bated breath for the industry to produce a marine lithium starting battery that meets most outboard manufacturer specifications and provides the required cranking amps (CA), increased battery capacity, as well as reliability, advanced safety measures others lack, and significant weight reduction.

Well, the future is NOW, with Norsk Lithium’s introduction of two marine lithium starting batteries that exceed Mercury^® specifications and provide all of the above—and lots more.

Part of a completely reimagined product lineup, these batteries will be on display at ICAST 2024 in Orlando, July 16 – 19, at Booth 637. We encourage you to stop by and experience them in person – and partake in some Norsk-green libations 4:00 – 6:00 pm on Thursday, July 18th.

“Serious anglers have been waiting for this day,” says Norsk VP of Strategy & Development, James Holst.

Holst continues: “And we’ve been working on a solution to meet their needs day and night for the past two years. But we didn’t just want to meet outboard manufacturer specs; we wanted to exceed them while providing a completely unprecedented feature set that provides everything an angler or boater could want – from installation in bass boats to walleye boats to inshore rigs, you name it – anywhere you’ve got a big motor that needs lots of clean, reliable power.”

Norsk Lithium Marine Starting batteries have been painstakingly evaluated and found to meet, and in most cases—significantly exceed—all performance requirements for lithium starting batteries outlined in the Mercury Marine Performance Bulletin 2022-19R1 released November 2022.

DEAD ON THE WATER: A THING OF THE PAST

First, let’s start (pun intended) with the new marine starting batteries’ most important feature – and that’s something called Emergency Start Reserve (ESR), which allocates 25% of the battery’s capacity as a reserve available on demand.

Say goodbye to emergency jump start packs, with Norsk Lithium you’ll always have the power you need to start your outboard motor at the end of a long day on the water. ESR can be activated with the push of the Power Management button on the top of the battery or via the Norsk Guardian App. It’s like having a jump start pack built right into your starting battery!

• ESR Included on All Norsk Lithium Starting Batteries
• Locks 25% of the Battery’s Capacity in Reserve by Default
• Access ESR from the Power Management Button on top of the battery case or via the Norsk Guardian App

NEW FOR ICAST 2024! Norsk Lithium Marine Starting Battery Models

180AH 12V Heated (Thermal Core Heating Technology)

• Battery Type: Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePo4)
• Cranking Amps: 1200 CA
• Rated Voltage: 12.8V
• BCI Compliant Case: Group 31
• Weight: 46.3 lbs.
• Size: 13 X 6.81 X 9.25 inches
• Lifespan: 4,000+ Cycles, Est. 15-20 years
• Warranty: 10 Year + 2 with Norsk Guardian
• Triple terminals for flexible rigging

MAP $1,299.99

AVAILABLE FALL 2024

120AH 12V Heated (Thermal Core Heating Technology)

• Battery Type: Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePo4)
• Cranking Amps: 900 CA
• Rated Voltage: 12.8V
• BCI Compliant Case: Group 31
• Weight: 34.2 lbs.
• Size: 13 X 6.81 X 9.25 inches
• Lifespan: 4,000+ Cycles, Est. 15-20 years
• Warranty: 10 Year + 2 with Norsk Guardian™
• Triple terminals for flexible rigging

MAP $999.99

AVAILABLE FALL 2024

UNPRECEDENTED NORSK LITHIUM FEATURES & TECHNOLOGIES

“When you compare our lithium marine starting batteries to the competition you’ll find a laundry list of features the others just don’t offer,” says Holst.

“Consider that the vast majority of marine lithium batteries on the market come out of a very small number of factories that offer the exact same battery to a large percentage of companies in the lithium battery space. The only difference is the label on the case. We have partnered with a major consumer electronics provider that takes us out of this manufacturing system. In doing so, we’re able to offer customers never-before-seen technologies and feature sets, as well as significant cost savings that we’re passing on to our customers by charting our own path in the current marine battery manufacturing industry. Want an example of the aforementioned price reduction? Last year’s 100Ah Unheated Marine Battery sold for $899.99. Our new 105Ah Unheated Marine Battery, with all the new bells and whistles and 10+2 year warranty, will sell at $649.99”.

Some of those features?

Deep Sleep Technology

One of the most maddening, frustrating and time-consuming problems any boat owner can ever be forced to deal with is having to track down a passive or phantom draw that slowly and painfully sucks the energy out of boat batteries.

Sometimes these low amp draws point back to faulty wiring that needs to be painstakingly tracked down and rewired. At other times, the source of the problem is the boat owner themselves. Ever accidentally left a radio or light on in your boat? Or perhaps you’ve forgotten to turn off all the master power switches? Yeah, we’ve done that more times than we care to admit and our oversight typically resulted in a boatload of dead batteries which is why we knew we needed to come up with a fix that would address the problem and provide an “easy button” solution.

“Enter our Deep Sleep concept, where we can use the BMS brain that sits on top of the battery to make it really easy for users to shut down every battery in their boat through the Norsk Guardian app with the simple touch of a button,” says Holst. 

“Press the button, and all the batteries go into Deep Sleep, stopping current from hitting the battery terminals. This also makes sure that if your boat has any parasitic voltage draws that your batteries aren’t going to drain when docked, in the parking lot, or long-term storage,” offers Holst.

Holst elaborates: “And instead of having to crawl through your compartments and flip switches—we typically remember the master switches immediately after the cover is safely and securely on the boat—you can stand by the side of your boat looking like the smartest guy at the launch, hit one button in the Norsk Guardian app, and presto, all the batteries disconnect power to the terminals in an instant. Same thing for waking them back up when you’re ready to hit the water. Just open the Norsk Guardian app and tap a button. That’s just another example of how we’ve made our new batteries more efficient and user-friendly.” 

Norsk Lithium has gone yet another step further by building in a Power Management Button right into the top of each battery.

All Norsk Lithium marine batteries have a built-in State of Charge (SOC) battery meter built into the top of the battery case that provides an SOC read-out with a quick push of the battery management button. This feature provides a quick visual check of the battery’s status without the need for the App on your phone. That same battery management button will also give you the opportunity to wake up the battery from Deep Sleep. A simple tap of the button and your battery wakes from Deep Sleep and you’re ready to roll.

Thermal Core Heating Technology™

“All of our new starting batteries are heated because we recognize that there are numerous situations like early- and late-season tournaments or fishing trips where starting batteries must charge off the alternator below 32 degrees,” says Holst.

“While most companies just hope their batteries will never be used in these extreme situations and make sketchy promises, we use thermally-conductive potted material to ensure uniform and consistent heating for charging in sub-zero conditions,” offers Holst.

Voltage Transient Suppression

Consider Norsk Lithium’s Voltage Transient Suppression (VTS) technology, which is an integrated safety feature that is designed to protect the outboard’s charging system, as well as any devices connected to the starting battery such as pumps, lights, sonar units, shallow water anchors, downriggers, etc. from a voltage spike that occurs in the highly unlikely event the battery’s BMS disconnects the cells while receiving a charge from the alternator. “We like to think of VTS as the safety feature we hope you never need, kind of like an emergency brake or an airbag in a motor vehicle,” says Holst. “I’ve never had an airbag deployed in any of the vehicles I’ve owned. That said, I’m not going to buy a car without one. The same thought process should apply to your choice for starting batteries” he concludes.

What Voltage Transient Suppression does is significantly suppress the voltage spike that can occur if a BMS in a lithium marine starting battery disconnects, potentially allowing excess voltage from the outboard alternator from damaging the outboard’s charging system and or anything connected to it. Testing Norsk’s VTS system has shown the ability to keep the voltage transient that occurs during BMS disconnect of cells when the alternator is delivering a hefty 30A current to the battery below 17 volts. Without VTS, the voltage measured is often well in excess of 30V which is high enough to damage connected accessories or even the outboard charging system.  

“We have a fantastic BMS design but things can happen. As insurance, we’ve built in the technology others don’t offer to prevent any damage from occurring in the event of a BMS failure. And the best part is this protection is built right into the battery and doesn’t require any additional wiring or external hardware,” offers Holst.

The Final Word in Lithium Marine Starting Batteries

With all the news above, there should be no more ambivalence about converting to a lithium marine starting battery. And, with a design that meets and exceeds most outboard manufacturer specifications – in addition to technologies and features that you will not find anywhere else—the choice is clear—Norsk Lithium.