The Best Leisure Batteries for Motorhomes (2025 Buying Guide)
- Chris Wallace-Tarry
- 1 day ago
- 14 min read
The market for leisure batteries for motorhomes has changed since the start of the vanlife boom. Previously, the calculation was simple: lithium leisure batteries were much more expensive than AGM and gel, but performed better for longer. Flooded lead-acid was again much cheaper than sealed, giving it a valid place in certain systems.
That's all changed in recent years. For Shane, putting large-capacity lithium leisure batteries in his new campervan was a no-brainer. In this article, we'll explain why that's the case and break down the buying process, factor by factor. We'll help you size your battery, choose your battery chemistry, and recommend the best leisure batteries for motorhomes of all sizes.
If you're just getting started, make sure you read our full guide on leisure batteries. In that article, we go in-depth into how they work, key specifications, battery chemistries, maintenance, and wiring, and answer a host of frequently asked questions.
Index
Shane, the founder of The Van Conversion, is a campervan professional dedicated to helping people transform ordinary vans into homes on wheels. He has authored Roaming Home, and teaches The Van Conversion Course, guiding many people through their van builds. Shane also writes The Van Conversion Newsletter, where he shares practical tips and insights. After completing two van builds and living on the road full-time since 2020, he is passionate about sharing his expertise with others.
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Our Top Picks
Our favourite leisure batteries for motorhomes all incorporate comprehensive safety features and strike a balance between lifespan and price-per-amp-hour. We recommend Fogstar lithium batteries for all capacities, because their low price and deep discharge tolerance makes them better value than even AGM batteries. At the same time, Fogstar batteries don't sacrifice on build quality, offering superior feature sets, lifespans, and warranties compared to their competition.
Best Small Battery | Best Mid-sized Battery | Best Large Battery | Best Budget Battery | Best Premium Battery |
Fogstar Drift 105Ah Lithium Leisure Battery | Fogstar Drift 230Ah Lithium Leisure Battery | Fogstar Drift 300Ah Lithium Leisure Battery | Fogstar Drift ECO 314Ah Lithium Leisure Battery | Fogstar Drift Pro 300Ah Lithium Leisure Battery |
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Battery Chemistry: Lithium Leisure Batteries vs. AGM Batteries
Your first choice when buying leisure batteries for motorhomes is your battery chemistry. Previously, flooded lead-acid, gel, AGM, and lithium were all worthy of consideration depending on your budget and use-case. Lithium batteries have since become much cheaper as manufacturing methods have improved, edging out gel batteries for longevity and making flooded lead-acid batteries redundant. These days, the choice is between AGM and lithium. There are two key figures here: depth of discharge, and lifespan.
Depth of Discharge (DoD) and Battery Lifespan
A battery's lifespan is usually quoted as the number of charge-discharge cycles a battery can undergo before reaching 80% of its original capacity. These cycles involve discharging the battery to a particular level, or depth of discharge (DoD). The major difference between AGM, gel, and lithium batteries is the DoD they can safely be discharged to. Whilst AGM and gel batteries should only be discharged by 50% to preserve their lifespan, lithium batteries can be discharged by 80% or even 100% without noticeable detriment.
AGM Batteries
Batteries are compared by how many cycles to 50% DoD they can withstand before reaching 80% of their original capacity. This means that AGM batteries' usable capacity is only half of their rated capacity. A good AGM leisure battery typically has a lifespan of 600-1200 cycles.
Lithium Batteries
Lithium leisure batteries can be discharged to 80% DoD without issue, meaning almost all their rated capacity is usable. Some can even be discharged to 100%. Modern lithium batteries have lifespans pushing 4,000, 5,000, or 6,000 cycles, meaning they'll likely outlast the van they're installed in.
The drawback used to be cost, with lithium leisure batteries for motorhomes costing 3 or 4 times more than AGM batteries of the same capacity. As we'll see throughout this article, advances in technology and manufacturing scale are changing this. For example, UK manufacturer Fogstar produces lithium leisure batteries whose cost-per-amp-hour rivals that of AGM batteries.
Lithium leisure batteries' other main drawbacks are their need for a dedicated battery management system (BMS) and their limited cold-temperature performance. However, manufacturers like Fogstar are again stirring the pot by producing lithium batteries with built-in BMSs and heating modules. Indeed, as we go on to compare batteries in detail, we'll see that the choice between AGM and lithium is starting to become a lot more obvious.
Sizing Leisure Batteries for Motorhomes
As we discuss in detail in our full leisure batteries guide, sizing your battery is based on your daily electricity usage in amp-hours. The easiest way to calculate this is by using our energy consumption calculator. To size our battery, we take our daily usage in Ah and multiply it by the number of days we want to be off-grid with no charging inputs.
Here's where battery chemistry comes in. Remember that AGM batteries should only be discharged to 50% of their capacity. Therefore, if you're looking at AGM batteries for your campervan, you need to double your total capacity in order to hit your desired usable capacity. By contrast, lithium leisure batteries can be discharged to at least 80%, meaning you only need to add 20% to your total capacity.
For a typical system accounting for daily usage of a fridge, lighting, water pump, 2 laptop chargers, and 2 phone chargers, the calculation might look like this:
Total daily energy consumption: 155Ah
Off-grid (no charging) days: 2
Required usable capacity = 155 x 2 = 310Ah
Using an AGM battery to 50% DoD means we'd need a total capacity of 620Ah. For this setup, we'd recommend a bank of three Rolls Series 5 210Ah AGM batteries, wired in parallel. Read more about series vs. parallel battery wiring here. Rolls AGM leisure batteries recommend themselves for their long warranties and lifespans.
Using a lithium battery to 80% DoD means we'd need a total capacity of 310 + 20%, or 372Ah. In this case, we'd recommend a 460Ah Fogstar lithium battery for its exceptional lifespan of 6,000 cycles, built-in Bluetooth, and integrated heating.
Use our handy calculator to size your leisure batteries for motorhomes. It even recommends batteries based on your desired capacity.
Bear in mind that it's hard for us to say what a battery's usable capacity is, as it depends on the DoD-lifespan curve of each individual battery. You might be happy to discharge your AGM battery to less than 50%, giving you more usable capacity at the cost of a shorter lifespan. Therefore, the DoD you're happy with is your choice, and needs to be made by looking at your chosen battery's datasheet.
Key Features of Leisure Batteries for Motorhomes
The best campervan leisure batteries perform well on key metrics and come with in-built features which set them apart. These include:
Lifespan
As discussed earlier, a battery with a long lifespan for a given DoD is a better buy, even if it costs more upfront.
Warranty and Support
When choosing among leisure batteries for motorhomes, consider the warranty and the manufacturer's reputation for support. Any manufacturer that believes in their product will offer a warranty that covers its stated lifespan. Therefore, watch out for batteries whose warranty is much too short to cover the stated lifespan: consider that a lifespan of 3,000 cycles represents about 8 years of heavy use.
Fogstar's 6-year and 10-year warranties beat any other manufacturer that we've looked at, and go a long way towards covering their stated lifespans.
Heating
Lithium leisure batteries don't do well in temperatures below 5°C. The best lithium batteries have inbuilt heating elements which kick in automatically to keep your battery in its happy place. These usually work by using the initial charging current to heat the battery up before beginning the charge cycle.
Both Shane and I make heavy use of our vans throughout winter. I've previously installed 12V heating pads under my batteries, but these are inefficient and fiddly to wire up. We're putting Fogstar batteries in Shane's new van, which come with internal heating systems as standard.
Built-in BMS
A battery management system (BMS) is essential for keeping a lithium leisure battery safe and healthy. An internal BMS saves buying and installing your own. Both Fogstar and Renogy include internal BMSs as standard in their lithium leisure batteries.
Communications and Monitoring
It's useful to have some way of monitoring your battery's state of charge, charging rate, and discharging rate. Built-in Bluetooth modules allow you to monitor your battery from your phone or computer. If your battery's built-in BMS is smart, it might allow for seamless integration with monitoring and control ecosystems like Victron's GX framework.
All Fogstar lithium leisure batteries in their Drift range come with built-in Bluetooth modules, as do Renogy's 200Ah and 300Ah Pro models, and Victron's Smart models.
In addition to Bluetooth monitoring of your inverter, Victron take things a step further with their 'interconnected ecosystem'. Every component shares common communications outputs, allowing your battery's BMS to talk to your inverter, solar charge controller, and DC-DC charger. This communication means everything works seamlessly together, improving efficiency and adding redundancy to protection measures.
You can take this one step further by connecting everything to a GX device like the Cerbo. The Cerbo collects information on all of your electrical components and displays it as an integrated dashboard on-screen or in the remotely-accessible VRM. This way, you can monitor your whole system's status and performance in real-time, and see historical data like power usage over time and solar production graphs.
Fogstar's Pro batteries feature plug-and-play Victron integration, meaning they interface with the GX ecosystem just like Victron batteries do, without any setup.
Self-discharge Rate
Batteries slowly lose charge when not in use. Low self-discharge rates mean you can happily leave your van in storage without having to worry about trickle charging your leisure battery.
Built-in Safety Protections
A good leisure battery for campervan use incorporates safety features to prevent dangerous malfunctions. My leisure batteries are installed under my bed; I'd never be able to sleep at night had I installed a battery that didn't have the following protections:
High temperature: prevents my batteries from charging or discharging beyond a safe temperature range
Over- and under-voltage: protects my batteries from over- or under-charging in case my solar charge controller or DC-DC fails to detect the fault
Short circuit: protects my expensive battery in the event of a short circuit, acting as a redundant safety measure in addition to my fuses
Over- and under-current: protects my battery's chemistry from detrimental charging and discharging currents
The Best Leisure Batteries for Motorhomes
Every battery we recommend here stands out in its size category for lifespan, warranty, and price-per-Ah. They all feature essential safety features, and the best of them feature bonus quality-of-life features like in-built Bluetooth and heating modules.
A key point to note when comparing the stats of AGM and lithium batteries: because AGM batteries can't be discharged as deeply as lithium batteries, their price-per-Ah ratings can't be compared side-by-side. As we explained earlier, we can't tell you what a battery's usable capacity is, as this depends on the DoD you're happy to go to. Therefore, we only compare rated capacities here. To accurately compare two batteries, study their datasheets and decide on the DoD you'd be happy with for each.
Best Small AGM Leisure Batteries for Motorhomes
Sub-100Ah batteries have their place in the systems of vanlifers who:
are light on electricity usage, charging phones and laptops and not much else
don't need loads of off-grid autonomy, either due to short trips, lots of solar production, or lots of DC-DC charging
spend time in campsites
Rolls' 85Ah Series 5 AGM batteries are rated to 1,200 cycles at 50% DoD, which stands out among their competitors with lifespans of 800 or 600 cycles. The deep cycle design means it can be safely discharged beyond 50%, with a tradeoff in lifespan.
Best Mid-sized AGM Leisure Batteries for Motorhomes
Batteries of this size can support higher loads and a bit more off-grid autonomy. They're perfect for solo vanlifers who only charge devices and get lots of sun, or couples who regularly visit campsites. They can also easily be doubled up, often more cheaply than buying a single battery that's twice the size.
Rolls' 110Ah AGM batteries offer very competitive value for their capacity, but sacrifice overall lifespan.
Rolls' 115Ah Series 5 AGM batteries are built for deeper cycling, meaning you get a better lifespan at 50% DoD or more usable capacity for a 800 cycle lifespan.
Best Large AGM Leisure Batteries for Motorhomes
AGM batteries of this size can support a fully off-grid, low-usage setup alone providing you've got good solar generation. In my first van, I had a 220Ah AGM battery supported by 300W of solar. I used this setup year-round, but only ever powered two laptops and a small 12V fridge. More intense usage in less sunny climes would require you to double up on 200Ah batteries.
Rolls' 110Ah AGM batteries offer very competitive value for their capacity, but sacrifice overall lifespan.
Again, Rolls' 210Ah Series 5 AGM batteries are built for deeper cycling, meaning you get a better lifespan at 50% DoD or more usable capacity for a 800 cycle lifespan.
Best Small Lithium Leisure Batteries for Motorhomes
When we compare modern lithium batteries to AGM, the game changes completely. All the lithium batteries we recommend here offer enormous lifespans and roughly double the usable capacity of equivalent AGM batteries. They're also about half the size and less than half the weight. The most competitive lithium leisure batteries are those from Fogstar and Renogy, whose price/Ah are incredibly low compared to other lithium batteries and lower than most AGM batteries when you account for their deeper DoD tolerances.
A 100Ah lithium battery could comfortably support a solo vanlifer living fully off-grid with low electricity usage. Fogstar's ECO series are exceptionally affordable by lithium battery standards whilst retaining a great warranty period. They slightly sacrifice on lifespan, and don't include Fogstar's normal in-built Bluetooth and heating modules.
Renogy's Mini 100Ah lithium battery competes with the 100Ah Fogstar ECO above, but edges it out on value, lifespan, and an absurdly small size. Just be mindful of the comparatively short warranty, which doesn't come close to covering its stated lifespan.
The next step up is the heated version of Renogy's Mini 100Ah lithium battery. For a slightly higher price, you get a built-in heating module, making the battery ready for year-round use.
Finally, Fogstar's Drift 105Ah lithium battery comes top of the pile for this category, featuring built-in Bluetooth, a heating module, and the longest warranty we've seen, which more than covers its long stated lifespan.
Best Mid-sized Lithium Leisure Batteries for Motorhomes
If you want to power a 12V fridge full-time and off-grid, 200Ah of usable battery capacity is about the least you can get away with. It's also a very comfortable capacity for shorter trips and higher usage, or vanlifers who split their time between off-grid and campsites.
The only battery we feel is worth recommending in this category is Fogstar's Drift 230Ah lithium battery. All other batteries of this size are either more expensive, or lacking on important categories like warranty and extra features. We're installing three of these in Shane's new van, giving him a 690Ah battery bank which will keep his induction hob kitchen running throughout winter.
Best Large Lithium Leisure Batteries for Motorhomes
300Ah lithium batteries are a good size for most fully off-grid vanlifers. With a battery of this size, you'll have 2 days of autonomy with no charging input whilst powering laptop and device chargers plus a 12V fridge.
Battery banks bigger than this are reserved for bigger families or off-grid vanlifers using high-wattage appliances like induction hobs, TVs, and large fridges. If this is your case, Fogstar's 460Ah and 628Ah batteries would be our recommended choice for the core of your high-capacity system.
In the 300Ah category, our first recommendation is Fogstar's Drift ECO 314Ah lithium leisure battery. This battery gives you better value for money than any AGM or lithium battery we considered in our comparisons. You still get Fogstar's excellent lifespan, but sacrifice built-in Bluetooth and heating.
A more fully-feaured option is Fogstar's flagship 300Ah lithium battery, which features the full set of built-in features and Fogstar's standard 10 year warranty.
Finally, we have Fogstar's Pro range. In addition to all the above features, Pro batteries incorporate a built-in battery balancer and plug-and-play Victron integration. Active balancing is essential for series setups, and so Fogstar Pro batteries with their built-in active balancers are perfect for series wiring.
Plug-and-play Victron integration makes these batteries a no-brainer if you're wiring up an all-Victron, Cerbo GX-monitored system. Other batteries would require fiddly calibration and setup in order to work within Victron's ecosystem. Fogstar's Pro batteries integrate seamlessly as soon as you wire them up.
Conclusions and Our Favourite Manufacturer of Leisure Batteries for Motorhomes
Our comparisons make it clear that lithium batteries are becoming the only reasonable choice. Manufacturers like Fogstar and Renogy are making lithium batteries of exceptional quality whose cost-per-rated-capacity competes with that of AGM batteries. Whilst it's hard to exactly compare cost-per-usable-capacity, it's clear that these batteries give you more capacity per pound sterling than AGM. They're also more compact, lighter, and have much longer lifespans.
It's easy to recommend Fogstar as our favourite battery manufacturer. Whilst Renogy are a valid alternative for certain capacities, they generally don't compete in terms of cost and built-in features. Victron, whose other electrical components we heartily recommend, also fail to compete here. Their lithium batteries are much more expensive and do not have internal BMSs, meaning you need to buy and wire one yourself. In general, Victron batteries don't offer Fogstar's lifespans, warranties, or built-in features. Check out Fogstar's range of premium, affordable lithium batteries for your electrical system today.
Optional Extras: Shunts and Battery Management Systems
Some batteries come with everything you need built-in to the battery. If your chosen battery lacks some features, it's a good idea to add them as external components.
Battery Management Systems
As we explained earlier, a battery management system (BMS) is essential for keeping lithium batteries safe. A BMS manages the electricity going to and from your battery, ensuring the voltage and current is always within the battery's safe and optimal range.
If your battery doesn't come with a built-in BMS, we highly recommend Victron's VE.Bus BMS, which can connect to other Victron components via its VE.Bus port.
Shunts
A shunt is a simple device that monitors your battery's state of charge, its charging rate, and its discharging rate. It's almost an essential add-on to your battery setup; I can't imagine not being able to see how much charge my battery has left and how quickly it's charging.
Any battery with a built-in Bluetooth module has a built-in smart shunt. If your battery doesn't have Bluetooth connectivity, we recommend connecting a Victron SmartShunt to give you easy monitoring of your battery from your phone.
Final Thoughts
You should now be fully equipped to size and choose leisure batteries for motorhomes. In our view, a Fogstar lithium battery is the right choice for any application due to their excellent value and competition-beating specs. They further recommend themselves with three distinct ranges: the Drift ECO range for budget builds, their flagship Drift range for a balance of price and feature set, and their Drift Pro range for high-spec systems.
If you need more information on leisure batteries before buying yours, check out our comprehensive guide for answers to all your questions.
Don't forget to subscribe to The Van Conversion Newsletter for everything you need to get started with your own van conversion (we'll send you a free wiring diagram when you join).
If you're looking for some guidance with your van conversion, you might be interested in our book Roaming Home, or in our online course The Van Conversion Mastery Course. You'll learn directly from our founder Shane how to convert a van into your dream home - no prior experience needed. Shane also offers one-to-one consultations, where he'll help you with any aspect of your build in a face-to-face video call. All consultations come with a free copy of Roaming Home and our Diagram Pack.
Finally, our Van Conversion Ultimate Guide lays out the whole van conversion process in easy-to-follow sections with tools, materials, and step-by-step instructions. It's the perfect companion for your van build.
Until next time.