Battery Cycle Life Calculator
Estimate expected battery cycles from depth of discharge and chemistry.
About this calculator
This calculator estimates how long a battery lasts under two separate limits and reports whichever arrives first. Battery Chemistry sets the base cycle count at a reference 80% depth of discharge and 25°C: 4,000 cycles for LFP (LiFePO4), 2,000 for NMC, and 250 for deep-cycle Lead-Acid. Those are midpoints of published bands, not vendor headline numbers -- LFP is commonly rated 3,000-6,000 cycles at 80% DOD, NMC 2,000-4,000, and deep-cycle lead-acid roughly 220 cycles at 80% DOD (about 500 at a gentler 50%). Depth of Discharge scales that baseline by (0.8 / DOD)^1.5, so shallower discharges extend cycle life and deeper ones shorten it; the 1.5 exponent sits inside the 1.3-1.8 range that published DOD-versus- cycle tables imply.
Operating Temperature applies the standard Arrhenius rule of thumb -- life HALVES for every 10°C above 25°C -- to both the cycle count and the calendar life, and models no benefit below 25°C. The second limit is Calendar Life: cells age on the shelf whether you cycle them or not, so a lightly-cycled pack retires on age rather than on cycles. Years of Life is therefore the minimum of the cycle-limited life and the calendar life, and Limiting Factor tells you which one bound the answer. Cycles per Day does not affect Expected Cycles at all -- it only decides how quickly you consume them, which is what makes the calendar ceiling bind at low daily cycle counts.
Inputs
Results
Expected Cycles
4,000
Years of Life
11 years
Limiting Factor
Cycle life
Figures current as of 2026. Sources: SurgePV, "LFP vs NMC Battery for Solar 2026: Safety, Cost & Lifespan Compared", Off Grid Trailers, "Battery Depth of Discharge (DoD) and Overall Battery Life", Vertiv/Battcon, "Predicting the Life of Li-ion Batteries Using the Arrhenius Model", Anern, "LiFePO4 Battery Longevity: Data-Driven Lifespan Analysis"
How to Use This Calculator
- Enter your typical Depth of Discharge per cycle as a percentage.
- Select the Battery Chemistry: LFP (LiFePO4), NMC, or Lead-Acid.
- Enter Cycles per Day and the average Operating Temperature the battery sees.
- Review Expected Cycles and Years of Life to gauge how long the battery should last under these conditions.
- Check Limiting Factor: 'Cycle life' means you will wear the pack out, 'Calendar life' means it will age out before you do — shallower cycling buys nothing once the calendar limit binds.
- Use DOD Factor and Temperature Factor to see how much each condition is helping or hurting cycle life relative to the 80% DOD / 25°C reference point.
How the result changes with Depth of Discharge
| Depth of Discharge | Expected Cycles | Years of Life | Limiting Factor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | 11,314 | 15 years | Calendar life |
| 60 | 6,158 | 15 years | Calendar life |
| 100 | 2,862 | 7.8 years | Cycle life |
What each input means
- Depth of Discharge
- Depth of discharge per cycle.
- Battery Chemistry
- Battery cell chemistry type.
- Cycles per Day
- Average charge-discharge cycles per day.
- Operating Temperature
- Average battery operating temperature.
How this is calculated
Worked example, using the default values
- Identify Input Parameters4 parametersDepth of Discharge = 80, Battery Chemistry = 0, Cycles per Day = 1, Operating Temperature = 25 = 4 input(s) provided
- Calculate Depth-of-Discharge FactorDOD factor = (0.8 / DOD)^1.5(0.8 / 0.8)^1.5 = 1
- Calculate Temperature FactorTemp factor = 0.5^((T - 25) / 10), floored at 25°C0.5^((25 - 25) / 10) = 1
- Calculate Expected CyclesExpected cycles = base cycles × DOD factor × temp factor4000 × 1 × 1 = 4000 cycles
- Apply the Calendar-Life CeilingYears of life = min(expected cycles / (cycles per day × 365), calendar life)min(4000 / (1 × 365), 15) = 11 years — limited by cycle life
- Calculate Total Equivalent CyclesThroughput = deliverable cycles × DOD4000 × 0.8 = 3200 full equivalent cycles
Figures and sources
- LFP vs NMC cycle life at 80% depth of discharge (3,000–6,000 vs 2,000–4,000 cycles) (2026) — SurgePV, "LFP vs NMC Battery for Solar 2026: Safety, Cost & Lifespan Compared"
- Deep-cycle lead-acid: ~220 cycles at 80% DOD vs ~500 cycles at 50% DOD (2026) — Off Grid Trailers, "Battery Depth of Discharge (DoD) and Overall Battery Life"
- Arrhenius rule of thumb: battery life halves per 10 °C above 25 °C (2018) — Vertiv/Battcon, "Predicting the Life of Li-ion Batteries Using the Arrhenius Model"
- LiFePO4 calendar life 10–15 years; deep-cycle lead-acid 3–5 years (2026) — Anern, "LiFePO4 Battery Longevity: Data-Driven Lifespan Analysis"
Engine last updated . Checked against 4 independently-derived tests — how we verify calculators. Built by Paul Gunder, a software engineer, not a licensed financial, medical, or legal professional.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Years of Life stop rising once I drop Depth of Discharge far enough?
Because the calendar-life ceiling takes over. Shallow cycling really does multiply the cycle count -- at 10% DOD the model reaches well over ten times the 80% baseline -- but a cell that is barely being used still ages chemically on the shelf. Once the cycle-limited life exceeds the chemistry's calendar life (15 years for LFP, 12 for NMC, 5 for deep-cycle lead-acid at 25°C), Years of Life stops at that ceiling and Limiting Factor switches from "Cycle life" to "Calendar life". Without that bound the arithmetic would happily report several centuries of service.
Why doesn't Cycles per Day change Expected Cycles?
Because Expected Cycles is a fixed property of the battery once Depth of Discharge, Battery Chemistry, and Operating Temperature are set -- it's "how many total cycles this battery should deliver," independent of how quickly you use them. Cycles per Day decides how fast you spend that budget, which is what turns it into Years of Life and what determines whether the cycle limit or the calendar limit binds first.
Does operating below 25°C extend battery cycle life in this calculator?
No. The temperature model only penalizes operation ABOVE 25°C and returns the same full baseline cycle count for 25°C and everything colder -- it does not reward colder operation with a bonus. Real batteries can also suffer separate cold-temperature risks (like lithium plating during charging at low temperatures) that this simplified model doesn't represent either, so treat the temperature factor as one-directional, not a full real-world temperature curve.
How much does a hot install location really cost me?
A lot more than most siting decisions assume. The Arrhenius rule of thumb used here halves both cycle life and calendar life for every 10°C above 25°C, so a pack in a 45°C garage or an unshaded outdoor enclosure keeps a quarter of its 25°C life -- an LFP pack rated 4,000 cycles and 15 years drops to 1,000 cycles and under 4 years. Accelerated calendar-aging tests show the same shape: one published LFP cell went from roughly 24 years to reach 20% capacity loss at 25°C down to under 9 years at 40°C.
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