Designed to fit. Honest about lifespan.
Labs starter batteries trade a small, deliberate amount of cell life for alternator-safe behaviour. Here's what that means for your warranty, and what you can do if your vehicle's ECU doesn't agree with the install.
Why the warranty is 8 years, not lifetime.
Our standard leisure range carries a fully-transferrable lifetime warranty because cycle life there is well-understood - over a decade of leisure-use field data sits behind it. The BMS aggressively protects every cell; if anything looks off, it disconnects, and that's harmless in an off-grid setting.
Vehicle use is harsher. Higher under-bonnet temperatures, deeper cranking pulses than typical off-grid duty cycles, and charging systems that vary widely from one ECU to the next. The Labs BMS is built to live in that environment: independently switched charge and discharge MOSFETs, a recommended charge window of 14.2-14.6V that sits inside any regulated alternator's output, and over-voltage protection deliberately set at 15V pack / 3.75V per cell rather than the tighter 14.6V/3.65V that most lithium starters use. Tighter thresholds cause false trips during normal alternator operation and throw vehicle panel errors. Ours don't. Automatic reconnect at 14V, and even when the BMS does protect, the discharge path stays closed - the bus keeps power, the alternator doesn't see a load-dump.
What we don't yet have is a decade of in-vehicle Labs field data. So we're not making a lifetime claim here. We warrant 8 years from delivery, same module-based repair-first approach as the rest of the range.
No drop in spec or certification.
The shorter warranty reflects caution about long-term in-vehicle field data - not any compromise in how the battery is made or tested. Every Labs pack is built to the same spec sheet as our leisure range: same cell grading at the factory, same hand-built process, same end-pack QC process in our Cheltenham bay before it ships.
Every Labs battery also carries the same regulatory test passes as the rest of the range - UN 38.3 lithium transport certification, CE and UKCA marking. We don't lower the bar on cells, build or compliance for a research-led range.
Labs is a prototype range. You take on the fit decision.
Labs is research-led. We're still gathering long-term in-vehicle data, and there is no way for us to test every vehicle / ECU / firmware combination in the field. By buying a Labs pack you're agreeing that the fit-decision is yours.
The short version - the binding text is in clause 4 of the warranty terms:
- You are responsible for confirming the battery is right for your vehicle - the specific make, model, year, ECU revision, alternator and charging set-up.
- "We think it'll work" is not a warranty. Any guidance, opinion or "we have customers running this on similar vans" comment from us in pre-sale chat is informal help, not a contractual guarantee of compatibility, and cannot be used as evidence that we claimed 100% fit.
- We are not liable for damage to the vehicle, electronics or any equipment caused by the Labs pack - even where the install itself was done correctly - or for any loss arising from it.
- We are not liable for inconvenience or recovery costs - rescue, towing, missed journeys, lost time, lost business - if the pack does not work in your vehicle.
- The 60-day fit-check return window is the remedy if the pack genuinely won't work with your vehicle. That is the route we offer; consequential costs sit with the buyer.
- Your statutory consumer rights are unaffected. We can't and don't try to exclude liability for genuine product defects, death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or anything else that can't be excluded under English law.
What the 8-year cover includes.
Cover starts the day your pack is delivered and runs for 8 years. It's transferrable - if you sell the vehicle, the warranty goes with the battery.
- BMS failure - any fault in the custom BMS, including comms, balancing, MOSFET stages.
- Premature cell degradation beyond expected wear at 8 years of typical starter-duty cycling.
- Sealed-case failure - terminal mounts, housing integrity, internal wiring.
- Repair-first - we open and rebuild rather than discard. If a module is the issue, we replace that module.
- Free return shipping for any in-warranty fault we confirm in our Cheltenham QC bay.
Where the limited cover stops.
Labs packs are not the right fit for every install. The exclusions below aren't there to wriggle out - they're places where physics or fairness says we can't honour a claim.
- Sustained charging above 15V - some older external chargers run hard equalisation cycles above this. Our BMS log will tell us. Use a TITAN-recommended profile or set your charger to lithium.
- Physical damage - crash, drop, terminal corrosion from water ingress, modified casing.
- Reverse polarity events recorded by the BMS.
- Wear beyond rated cycle life after 8 years of typical service.
- Indirect or consequential loss - we cover the battery, not downstream vehicle electronics. Insure the vehicle separately.
Check the pack via the app if the vehicle isn't being driven.
The BMS hibernates when the pack falls genuinely flat - cells below 3.0V. It's a rare state in normal use, but if a vehicle sits unused for weeks at a time on a parasitic load (alarm, tracker, dashcam) it is possible to get there. When hibernation triggers, the output cuts to zero - which means no central locking, no immobiliser power, and you can be locked out of your own vehicle until the pack is woken with a top-up charge.
The TITAN app is the easiest way to see this coming. If the app reads below ~50% after a long lay-up, drive the vehicle (or put it on a maintenance charge through the alternator) before you next need it. Hibernation is a protection event, not a warranty event - it's still on the owner to keep the pack topped up.
For when your ECU disagrees with the install.
Some vehicles - especially newer petrols with smart alternators, regen, and stop/start - have ECU firmware that refuses to accept anything other than the original OEM lead-acid spec. We've tested against a wide range of common platforms, but we can't guarantee every vehicle on every firmware revision.
So Labs packs come with a 60-day fit-check return window from the day of delivery. If your vehicle genuinely will not accept the Labs pack - charging-system fault that won't clear, ECU rejection, persistent dashboard warning that wasn't there before - we will take the battery back.
Returns under this window have a £15 maximum shipping deduction. Our actual courier collection cost is typically £20-£25; we cap your contribution at £15 and absorb the rest.
This window is for vehicle-compatibility issues only. It is not a change-of-mind clause - we will ask for the fitter's notes or fault codes when you start a return.
Three steps from fault to collection.
Tell us what's happening
Email info@titanlithium.co.uk with your order number, the vehicle (make, model, year, ECU/charging notes if your fitter has them) and a brief description of the fault. We will usually reply within one working day.
We diagnose with you
Most of what looks like incompatibility is actually a charger profile or DIP-switch issue. We will walk through it with you over email or a quick call - if it can be solved with a setting change, we will get it solved.
Collection and refund
If the vehicle genuinely won't accept the pack, we book courier collection from your address. You pay £15 maximum towards the collection cost; the rest is on us. Refund is issued to the original payment method within 5 working days of arrival back in Cheltenham.
The full legal warranty terms.
This page is the plain-English explainer. The binding warranty terms - clauses, exclusions, legal entity and governing law - are on the warranty terms page. Both apply to Labs purchases.
