The lithium battery for your Auto-Trail.
Auto-Trail builds their motorhomes and campervans in Grimsby on the Fiat Ducato for most of the range and the Ford Transit for the F-Line. Whether you run a compact Expedition campervan or a Grande Frontier A-class, a TITAN DIN lithium fits the same locker and gives you the full rated capacity every trip - not the 50% you get from the AGM that came with it.
The Auto-Trail range and what to expect
Auto-Trail VR Ltd, part of the Trigano Group and built in Grimsby, covers a wide span of the UK motorhome market - from the compact Expedition campervan through to the flagship Grande Frontier A-class. Most of the range sits on the Fiat Ducato, which is the same platform behind a huge share of UK coachbuilt motorhomes; the F-Line coachbuilt uses the Ford Transit instead.
Campervans in the Expedition, V-Line and Adventure families tend to have more constrained battery lockers than the coachbuilt models, but they still take a standard DIN leisure battery and benefit enormously from the switch to lithium - particularly on shorter trips where you never quite fill a lead-acid back up before the next one. The coachbuilt Excel, Imala and Expedition Coachbuilt models have more room and suit larger banks. The Frontier and Grande Frontier are where a proper off-grid set-up starts to make real sense, with space for 180Ah and beyond.
To compare across the wider UK motorhome brands or read the full background on living with lithium in a motorhome, the motorhome battery guide covers it all.
Sizing by Auto-Trail model family
A starting point by range. Factory AGM capacities vary and are not always published, so the honest number comes from your own daily loads rather than the badge on the van.
| Model family | Typical use | Good fit |
|---|---|---|
| Expedition / V-Line / AdventureDucato campervan, compact layouts | UK site and touring | 100Ah to 150Ah |
| Excel / Imala / Expedition CoachbuiltDucato coachbuilt, more habitation space | Regular touring, some off-grid | 150Ah to 230Ah |
| F-LineFord Transit coachbuilt, F60 to F74 | UK site and touring | 100Ah to 180Ah |
| Frontier / Grande FrontierLuxury coachbuilt and A-class flagship | Full-timer or heavy off-grid | 180Ah to 330Ah |
These are starting points, not fixed rules. Total your own loads in the battery size calculator for the honest figure. Larger banks can be run as matched packs in parallel, or step up to a single bigger battery where the locker allows.
Where the leisure battery lives on an Auto-Trail
Battery location varies by model, year and build - and because the range spans from compact campervans to full A-class motorhomes, there is no single answer. Common locations include:
- External nearside skirt locker, behind the cab. Found on a number of coachbuilt models and some campervans, this is often the most accessible location. The flat DIN case fits cleanly, and there is usually room to mount a DC-DC charger and fusing alongside.
- Under the dinette seat or via a floor hatch. Common on campervan layouts and some coachbuilts. Access can be tight and the terminal height matters, so always measure clearance with the seat base or hatch cover in place before ordering.
- Under-floor compartment near the front passenger area. Used on some Ducato-based coachbuilts. Again, measure the space rather than relying on a brochure figure.
- Rear drop-panel or spare-wheel locker. Found on older and legacy models such as the Apache, Cheyenne and Comanche. Less common on current production but worth knowing about if you are buying used.
The honest advice is: check your owner's handbook for the specific layout in your model and year, measure the space (including the full terminal height with cables attached), and match it to the battery dimensions before you order. Battery trays and locker shapes vary by converter batch - do not assume a brochure figure will translate to your van.
Charging on current Auto-Trail bases
A motorhome charges from three sources: mains hook-up via the onboard charger, roof solar through an MPPT, and the engine alternator while you drive. Lithium takes all three faster than lead-acid, so a decent drive or a sunny afternoon puts real capacity back rather than a trickle. The 200W solar fitted as standard on most 2026 Auto-Trail models is a useful top-up, and a properly set MPPT will fill a lithium faster than the same panel would fill a lead-acid of the same size.
The alternator is where current Auto-Trail bases need a little thought. Both the Fiat Ducato and Ford Transit in current production run a variable-voltage smart alternator that will not reliably fill a lithium battery on its own. The fix is a DC-DC (battery-to-battery) charger, and we would fit a Victron Orion every time. It gives the lithium a clean, controlled charge from the engine and protects the starter battery at the same time. A standard split-charge relay does work, but it is not the most reliable way to charge lithium and some relays cause a backfeed that quietly skims around the top 15% off your usable capacity. Feeding straight off the alternator with no relay and no DC-DC is not something we recommend.
Check your existing charger against the charger compatibility list, plan the roof with the solar guide, and size the battery around the gap your charging cannot cover overnight. Every TITAN carries a custom BMS, charges safely down to -30C, and comes with a lifetime, fully transferable warranty.
