[BrianG]

Before this thread goes any further, I would like to remind everyone to keep flaming posts to yourself. Stick to facts. We don't want to alienate anyone.

That said, I would like to address the idea of matching motor surge watts with battery surge watts. Motor surge figures are typically based on the power drawn for a specific amount of time, repeated with a certain frequency, or duty cycle. And even then, the actual surge power can be substantially greater than the rating depending on MANY factors. A motor does not have some kind of "power regulator" which limits the power; those specs are based on various motor characteristics, most notably efficiency and surface area (for dissipation).

Anyway, even though the continuous rating may be somewhat meaningless, I think it would be advised to add that rating to your specs, if for no other reason than to reassure people used to the "old system". Failure to do so may be percieved as hiding something.

Standardized testing has been discussed here numerous times, and most people can agree on some variation of the following testing procedures:

- Continuous rating: Specify the continuous current that can be drawn from the battery along with the voltage and the temperature at that current. Example continuous spec would read something like: "Cell X rated for 100A continuous current @ 3.4v/cell for 90% of the discharge cycle, with no more than 30*F rise in temperature over ambient".

- Burst rating: Again, specify the current that can be drawn from the battery along with the voltage and temperature at that current. But, add the frequency and duration of the bursts. Example spec would read something like "Cell X rated for 200A bursts @ 3.4v/cell sustained for 0.5 seconds, occurring every 10 seconds, for 90% of the discharge cycle, with no more than 30*F rise in temperature over ambient".

Alternately, plot pack resistance graphs vs temperature over various discharge rated. We can then calculate voltage drop on that alone.