Real-World Winter Performance of 2024 Airstream Atlas E1 Lithium System

[Jvedda2]

Title: How Well Does the Lithium System Hold Up on a 2024 Airstream Atlas E1 in Winter?


Hey everyone,


I’m considering a 2024 Airstream Atlas E1 and trying to get real-world feedback on the lithium battery system—especially for winter/off-grid use.


A few questions I’d love insight on:

1. How well does the factory lithium system perform in cold weather?
   Do the batteries lose a lot of capacity or take a hit in really cold temps?
2. What’s your typical off-grid time during winter?
   With minimal hookups and normal winter usage (heat, lights, fridge, microwave/induction, etc.), how many days can you realistically stay off-grid before recharging?
3. What charging sources are you using?
   Solar only? Generator? Shore power once in a while? What combo keeps you happiest?
4. Any tips for maximizing winter off-grid time (insulation tricks, heat sources that don’t drain the battery, solar panel angles, etc.)?
5. Maintenance/temperature issues?
   Do you worry about the lithium batteries in freezing conditions? Do you use heaters, battery blankets, or other protective steps?

I’d really appreciate any real-world experiences from Atlas E1 owners (or others with similar lithium setups) — especially in cold climates.


Thanks in advance!

 

[booster]

That is a pretty new model and is a class C (yeah lots of manufacturers call them B+ in that size) so you may not get much response here as there a mostly class B owners here.

It looks like the E1 package is 12Kw and 51v batteries and charging, which is getting more common in high end, high battery capacity, RVs.

All lithium systems share a bunch of common benefits and detriments, but the sellers will only tell you the benefits.

The Airstream site doesn't say where the batteries are located, but if you are going to be in freezing weather they need to be in a heated area, which would be diesel powered in the Atlas.

Having a ton of electrical power for everything is nice, but you eventually will need to payback all that energy somehow. They list the alternator at 6900 watts, but usually ratings are for cold alternators and hot alternators often can drop to 60% or so. If you figure 4500 watts hot (65%) it would take about 3 hours to recharge full capacity. That would be at highway speeds and at idle it would be substantially less. The Sprinters also have some restrictive idle times, but I haven't seen the current ones, with fairly long drives in between them. The most late one I have heard was very low at about 15-30 minutes IIRC.

How long the batteries will run before recharge will depend on how much power you use, so doing an energy use estimate would be a good idea. An estimate of how long you need to be sitting and discharging would also help.

User information when you find some will be useful, but you need to compare their use patterns to your, including power use and frequency of driving or idling.

Also be aware that owners of new, high end, expensive, campers are normally very proud of them (rightly so) and it is very common to exaggerate the positive of them. Battery life and fuel mileage come to mind as common examples.

I hope you are able to find some user information on the Atlas, and from a personal standpoint it I will be watching for information on any of the newer high battery capacity units as they are one of the first to use the ARCO alternator regulators and probably ARCO alternators. We have a home built 7500 watt lithium system based on prebuilt batteries so have seen all the good and not so good over time, but it works well for us.

 

[Boxster1971]

I have an Airstream Interstate 19 with E1 and same Volta battery as the Atlas. When you say winter what temperature range are you planning?

Lithium batteries do not do well when temperatures are below 45degF. The Volta system will provide power down to -4degF but will not accept a charge below 40degF. They have to be heated to charge when cold. The Volta Flex-Pack has internal heating pads powered by the battery, which is mounted under the coach where the spare tire is normally mounted on the Sprinter chassis. Attaching the basis Volta guide for information.

Off-grid time is totally dependent on temperature. In summer I'm able to run the A/C overnight by stepping the setting down for better cooling after sunset. Then drive to recharge the battery as the second alternator is the most powerful charging source capable of 6,000 watts charging. If you don't need A/C in mild temperatures, you can easily go several days off-grid without recharging.

Solar doesn't help much mostly because of Airstream's poor implementation.

Shore power is a good second charging source if you aren't driving every few days. I don't think the Atlas with E1 has a generator, but you could easily carry a small portable one like a Honda.

Volta went into bankruptcy and has been recreated as a new company called Voltagen Power Systems. They appear to now be able to offer full support for the former Volta systems. Make sure the 2024 Atlas you are looking at has a Volta battery system warranty provided by Airstream.

Voltagen Power Solutions - Li-Ion Power for RV, Fleet & Marine

No idling. No noise. No compromises. Access reliable, automotive-grade power for any mobile application at the touch of a button.

voltagenpower.com

 

[booster]

Great information Boxster. I thought Airstream had given up on Volta after all the early problems they had and couldn't seem to fix. The "new" system looks to be two boxes now and put inside the RVs. One box for the batteries and another for the charging and inverting? It does look like they are still using the car chemistry batteries and not LiFePo4. Airstream is using the Zeus/Arco alternator charging parts now, so I wonder if the new Volta is also?

The OP may be looking at 2024s that are now being sold as used and have under 2000 miles on them, as I saw a few of them when I searched what they are. The guess would have to be that they are sold units that had Volta issues and were bought back, I think. Some are under $200K.

 

[Boxster1971]

Great information Boxster. I thought Airstream had given up on Volta after all the early problems they had and couldn't seem to fix. The "new" system looks to be two boxes now and put inside the RVs. One box for the batteries and another for the charging and inverting? It does look like they are still using the car chemistry batteries and not LiFePo4. Airstream is using the Zeus/Arco alternator charging parts now, so I wonder if the new Volta is also?

The OP may be looking at 2024s that are now being sold as used and have under 2000 miles on them, as I saw a few of them when I searched what they are. The guess would have to be that they are sold units that had Volta issues and were bought back, I think. Some are under $200K.

Airstream did give up on Volta for the 2026 models. They switched to Battle Born batteries for all their Touring Coaches and Travel Trailers. They use the Arco/Zeus alternators on the Touring Coaches. Remains to be seen how that will work out.

Airstream installed the Volta battery under van and Power Distribution Hub (PDH) inside as a +$20K option on Sprinter based Interstates for 2023-2025 models. The PDH is a black box that contains the alternator controller, inverter/charger, DC-DC converter for 12VDC, solar controller and fuses. The PDH was a new product from Volta and source of most of their problems.

https://voltagenpower.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/VPS-PDH-30-Spec-Sheet-12.14.23.pdf

When Volta folded they cancelled all warranties. Airstream did the right thing by offering a 5-year warranty to salvage their customers.

Volta E1 Package Warranty Update

www.airstream.com

 

[@Michael]

"A: The update involves rewiring the power system, installing new software and firmware, upgrading the touchscreen interface, replacing fuses, and adding hardware components to improve charging reliability."

That's quite an update.

They switched to Battle Born batteries for all their Touring Coaches and Travel Trailers. They use the Arco/Zeus alternators on the Touring Coaches. Remains to be seen how that will work out.

If I had a choice between Battle Born and Volta for my camper, I'd tent camp.

 

[Boxster1971]

"A: The update involves rewiring the power system, installing new software and firmware, upgrading the touchscreen interface, replacing fuses, and adding hardware components to improve charging reliability."

That's quite an update.



If I had a choice between Battle Born and Volta for my camper, I'd tent camp.

I did the Airstream Volta update myself with help from Volta and Firefly customer service. There was no way I was leaving my van at dealer for 2-3 weeks for a job that only takes a few hours. Probably means I won't get the extended warranty, but I can deal with that.

The Volta battery actually has a good track record and was used by Winnebago for nearly a decade. It was also used exclusively by Story Teller Overland until last year. Liberty Coaches built on the Prevost bus cahssis also use the Volta battery. The problem with the Airstream installation was the PDH, a new product from Volta as I mentioned above. Volta was also having trouble sourcing alternators and inverter/chargers. As a small vendor they also got hit hard by supply chain problems during COVID. All that led up to Volta's bankruptcy.

 

[Jvedda2]

Thanks everyone I am now leaning towards the Winnebago EKKO. we plan on using for skiing and it was down to 5 degrees this past weekend so the Atlas would not have done the trick

 

[booster]

It appears that Voltagen has gone back the Magnum, at least for the 3000 watt inverter version. If the pic they have online is correct it appears the be a "Dimensions" brand that would be from Magnum. It appears to be case specific to Voltagen and a rack mount style. It makes sense as a lot of their compatibility from the past will be useful and not need to be totally redone.

 

[booster]

Thanks everyone I am now leaning towards the Winnebago EKKO. we plan on using for skiing and it was down to 5 degrees this past weekend so the Atlas would not have done the trick

The Ekko is listed as all season which is good and I assume the batteries are inside the van to keep warm when the van is heated.

The odd part is that the furnace runs on propane from two 20# tanks, which are likely the exchangeable style and not on vehicle fuel. It might be of interest to see how long folks are able to run in skiing type weather on two 20# tanks of propane. It is insulated, etc so could be quite a while and it would depend on how long you are without other heat available.

 

[GeorgeRad]

..............
The odd part is that the furnace runs on propane from two 20# tanks, which are likely the exchangeable style and not on vehicle fuel. It might be of interest to see how long folks are able to run in skiing type weather on two 20# tanks of propane. It is insulated, etc so could be quite a while and it would depend on how long you are without other heat available.

40# LPG should be OK, interesting is combination of: sleeps 4, 50 gal. fresh, 51 gal. gray and 5 gal. black tanks.

 

[booster]

40# LPG should be OK, interesting is combination of: sleeps 4, 50 gal. fresh, 51 gal. gray and 5 gal. black tanks.

It appears to be a 5 gallon cassette toilet. I wonder how easy it is to find a place to dump it in the winter?

 

[GeorgeRad]

It appears to be a 5 gallon cassette toilet. I wonder how easy it is to find a place to dump it in the winter?

Winter should be OK, cassettes can be dumped at RV damping stations, public restrooms, vault toilets but with 4 campers it could require a few times / day trips pending on use. We have spare cassette to increase capacity to 10 gal which is just OK for two. I just question the odd ratio of 50 fresh : 51 gray : 5 black.

 

[Boxster1971]

It appears that Voltagen has gone back the Magnum, at least for the 3000 watt inverter version. If the pic they have online is correct it appears the be a "Dimensions" brand that would be from Magnum. It appears to be case specific to Voltagen and a rack mount style. It makes sense as a lot of their compatibility from the past will be useful and not need to be totally redone.

They used them in the past, but they are not available now so they are now offering the Midnight Solar Little Rosie inverter/charger.

https://www.midnitesolar.com/productPhoto.php?product_ID=775&productCat_ID=61&sortOrder=1&act=p

1.9K views · 31 reactions | IN STOCK AND READY TO SHIP! If your B-Van is dealing with a loud, inefficient, or underperforming inverter, we’re now offering a plug-and-play 3600W inverter upgrade using the MidNite Solar “Little Rosie.” This is a dire

IN STOCK AND READY TO SHIP! If your B-Van is dealing with a loud, inefficient, or underperforming inverter, we’re now offering a plug-and-play 3600W inverter upgrade using the MidNite Solar “Little...

www.facebook.com

 

[BikerMonkey]

Thanks everyone I am now leaning towards the Winnebago EKKO. we plan on using for skiing and it was down to 5 degrees this past weekend so the Atlas would not have done the trick

I’ve had my EKKO since fall of 2023, It hasn’t worked perfect but the amount of things that could go wrong and haven’t is many times greater than the things that have been an issue. Also, the amount of standard items that are usually optional or not available with other B+ is impressive.