The lithium battery for your Coachman caravan.
Coachman builds some of the most specification-rich touring caravans in the UK, and every one leaves the dealer with a lead-acid leisure battery that can only be half used before you damage it. A TITAN drops into the same service locker, gives you the full rated capacity, charges faster from your hook-up or roof solar, and shaves kilos off a vehicle where every kilogram of payload counts.
Premium British caravans, a tight service locker, and a strong case for lithium
Coachman Caravan Company, based in Hull, East Yorkshire, has been building premium British touring caravans since 1986. The current line-up - Acadia, VIP, Laser, Laser Xtra and the range-topping Lusso - represents some of the best-specified leisure vehicles on UK roads. Several layouts are twin-axle, all sit on an AL-KO chassis, and the fit and finish is in a different class to budget tourers.
The leisure battery lives in an external combination service locker at the front offside of the caravan. Critically, this is the same compartment that houses the 230V mains inlet, so the battery, charger connections and the consumer unit all share a single reasonably tight enclosure. Many models have a battery box opening of around 352 mm wide by 172 mm deep by 190 mm tall. Coachman recommends a minimum of around 110 Ah for the leisure battery, and historically specified a high-capacity AGM to meet the current demands of a motor mover. A TITAN lithium fits the same footprint, weighs considerably less, and gives you close to 100% usable capacity where the AGM offers you barely 50%.
If you own a Coachman motorhome rather than a caravan, the guide at lithium battery for a Coachman motorhome covers that platform. This page is strictly about the towed caravan range.
For the broader picture on caravan battery upgrades, the caravan battery guide covers the fundamentals.
Sizing by Coachman range
Starting points by model. The service-locker battery box is the key constraint on larger capacities - always measure yours, including height above the terminals, before ordering.
| Range | How it gets used | Good fit |
|---|---|---|
| Acadia / VIPSingle-axle, AL-KO chassis, 2-4 berth | Club site touring, hook-up most nights | 100Ah to 120Ah |
| Acadia / VIP with motor moverHigh surge demand on arrival and departure | Regular off-grid or frequent motor mover use | 150Ah |
| Laser / Laser XtraWide-body Xtra is twin-axle; more payload headroom | Touring with heating, fridge, pump, TV | 120Ah to 150Ah |
| Laser / Laser Xtra off-gridExtended CLs, inverter use, solar reliance | Extended off-grid stays, inverter appliances | 150Ah to 180Ah |
| LussoRange-topper, twin-axle options, full specification | Touring with full onboard kit | 150Ah |
| Lusso extended off-gridSubject to service-locker box dimensions | Extended off-grid, larger inverter loads | 180Ah where box allows |
These are starting points, not fixed rules. The honest figure comes from your own loads, not the model name - total them in the battery size calculator. The service-locker battery box is fairly tight on most Coachman models, so measure the internal dimensions including terminal height before ordering. A single lithium replaces a heavier lead-acid and recovers payload on any Coachman - twin-axle ranges generally have more headroom to work with, but always check your MTPLM.
Where the leisure battery lives in a Coachman caravan
Unlike motorhomes, where the battery can end up under a cab seat, in a garage or under the floor, Coachman caravans consolidate everything into a single external combination service locker at the front offside. This locker houses the 230V mains inlet socket, the consumer unit connections, and the leisure battery itself - all in one accessible but space-limited compartment.
The internal battery box on many Coachman models measures approximately 352 mm wide by 172 mm deep by 190 mm tall. This is tighter than it looks once you account for the terminal posts and any existing cable routing. Key fitting points to check:
- Measure the box height over the terminals. The TITAN DIN case is low-profile by design, which helps here - but measure from the battery tray floor to the lid of the service locker (not the outside of the caravan) with the terminals in mind, as a standard lead-acid can have tall terminal posts that a lithium's lower-profile post design does not replicate exactly.
- Cable routing. The combination locker means the mains and 12V cabling share the same space. Check that the existing battery leads can comfortably reach the TITAN terminals before ordering - in most cases they will, but note the polarity orientation of the TITAN case against your existing battery.
- Motor mover wiring. If fitted, the motor mover takes its positive feed directly from the battery or via a heavy-gauge link to the battery. Confirm the existing cable is rated for the mover's surge current (typically 60 A to 100 A on a twin motor unit).
The TITAN case is sealed to IP67 so it handles the damp of an external locker without issue. The RJ45 comms ports drop to IP32 while a cable is connected, so keep any plugged port clear of standing water.
Charging your Coachman caravan battery
A caravan has no engine of its own, so the charge sources are fundamentally different from a motorhome. There are three main ways to put energy into your leisure battery, plus a high-current demand you need to plan for:
1. 230V mains hook-up via the onboard charger. This is the primary charge source for most touring. Coachman caravans are fitted with an onboard leisure battery charger as standard. Lithium charges faster and more efficiently than lead-acid at the same voltage, so a hook-up overnight will typically bring a TITAN to near-full from flat. The important step is to check that your charger has a lithium or "user-defined" charge profile - many modern Sargent and Schaudt units do, but older chargers locked to a GEL or AGM profile will fall short of the lithium's full voltage and undercharge it over time. The charger compatibility list covers which units work with lithium out of the box and which need a profile adjustment.
2. Roof solar via an MPPT controller. Solar is increasingly standard equipment on Coachman's Laser and Lusso ranges, and a popular upgrade on Acadia and VIP. On a Certificated Location without electric hook-up - the type of quiet farm or countryside stop that Coachman owners tend to favour - solar is your primary charging source and an MPPT controller is the correct way to manage it with lithium. A properly sized panel and MPPT controller can keep a 100Ah to 150Ah battery topped up through the season with very little intervention. Use the solar sizing guide to work out panel area against your expected load, and confirm your controller is set to a lithium charge profile.
3. Trickle charge via the 12S / 13-pin plug while towing. The 13-pin Euro or 12S connector that links your caravan to your tow car includes a dedicated leisure battery circuit on pin 9 (12S) or the equivalent 13-pin position. While towing, this carries a low-current trickle charge from your car's battery - typically 5 A to 8 A depending on your car's wiring and whether a relay is fitted. This is not a fast charge and will not meaningfully recover a flat battery during a short journey, but it is a useful maintenance top-up that keeps the battery in good condition between overnight stops. It is completely normal behaviour for a caravan with lithium - no special adapter is needed.
Motor mover: high surge current. If your Coachman is fitted with a motor mover - fitted as standard on many twin-axle Lusso and Laser Xtra layouts, and a popular accessory on single-axle models - lithium is a genuine upgrade over lead-acid for this application. A twin motor mover draws a short but heavy surge of current when it starts and when it grips on a cambered pitch. A lead-acid battery's voltage sags noticeably under this surge, which can cause the mover control box to cut out on a low or part-charged battery. A TITAN lithium holds its terminal voltage flat under surge loads, so the mover runs cleanly and the control box stays happy even when the battery is not fully charged.
Winter storage. Lithium batteries self-discharge very slowly - around 2% to 3% per month compared with 10% to 15% for a lead-acid. For winter storage, charge the battery to around 50% to 60%, disconnect it from the caravan to prevent any parasitic drain from alarm systems or trackers, and store it somewhere that will not drop below -30C (the built-in low-temperature heater in the TITAN BMS will protect the cells from charge damage if the battery is exposed to cold, but the heater needs a residual charge to activate). A brief hook-up once or twice over winter is all that is needed to keep the battery in good condition. Every TITAN carries a custom BMS designed by TITAN with an integrated low-temperature heater that charges safely to -30C, and comes with a lifetime, fully transferable warranty.
