Panasonic discontinues lead-acid batteries – what now?

Because of Panasonic's decision to exit the lead-acid battery sector, we are seeing an increase in inquiries and uncertainty about replacement batteries. Now that the manufacturer is withdrawing completely from this field, no newer models will be available.

For every lead-acid battery from Panasonic, a suitable alternative from another battery manufacturer can also be found, even if the batteries don't always correspond 1:1

Exactly which battery represents the best alternative for a particular area of application needs to be determined for each individual case, as various factors are involved:
• How much power should the battery provide? What application is it needed for?
• What service life can you expect for a given application?
• What are the technical prerequisites?

Battery maker GS YUASA tells us what needs to be taken into consideration when selecting a battery:

Lead-acid batteries come in all shapes and sizes. To find the right battery for the intended use, two main pieces of information are needed: the battery load and the planned operating time / autonomy. But what if you don't know the load in amps that an electrical device or motor actually draws? In this case, the power specification in watts can be converted to amps by dividing by the system voltage being used.

Example: An electrically operated tool is specified at 12 V/120 W. To calculate the battery load: 120:12 = 10 A. The battery chosen must then be able to supply this load for the specified operating time.

Based on a range of information, the right industrial battery can easily be determined online with the aid of GS YUASA's battery configurator. The configurator offers both direct calculation to find the right battery for a particular job, and also indirect calculation to discover the autonomy of a certain battery based on its load. For special applications, the load profile can also be determined, in case load and autonomy vary and short-term, high load pulses occur.

The possible service life of a lead-acid battery varies depending on its use in standby and cyclic operation.

In standby operation, the service life is dictated by the manufacturer's classification into Eurobat classes, e.g. Eurobat class 3-5 years, 6-9 years, or 10-12 years. The service life is shortened if the battery is exposed to higher temperatures than specified, for example, or if it is incorrectly charged. Normally, it has reached the end of its service life when it still has 80% of its rated capacity.

For cyclic operation, the manufacturer specifies how many cycles can be achieved for a given discharge depth. The deeper the discharge, the lower the number of charging cycles until the battery reaches the end of its service life. The depth of discharge is given as a percentage of the capacity required per duty cycle. That is, once the battery has reached a certain number of cycles, its service life is over. In intensive operation, this can be the case after just a few months. Prerequisites here are correct storage and handling.

At Schukat electronic, as alternatives to the discontinued Panasonic products, we offer our customers the excellent products from GS YUASA, one of the world's largest manufacturers of lead-acid and lithium ion batteries.
Our range includes industrial batteries for everything from simple to highly sensitive applications, covering standard commercial (3-5 years), general purpose (6-9 years), and long-life (10-12 years) batteries, as well as batteries specially designed for cyclic applications. GS YUASA controls all sensitive components used in the manufacturing process and, with its high level of vertical integration, ensures standardised high quality for every single battery it produces.

► We have assembled an overview of possible replacement batteries in this table.