UAV Drone Battery
How to Customize Drone Batteries?
What is the specific process for customizing drone batteries? What kind of materials are required to be provided? What are the important details to note?
Drones have experienced explosive growth in various fields such as agriculture, logistics, and surveying. As a core energy-supplying component, the battery determines the performance of the drone. Enovbattery offers customized drone battery services for multiple fields, including eVTOL batteries, agricultural spraying drone batteries, surveying drone batteries, freight drone batteries, photography drone batteries, light show drone batteries, surveillance drone batteries, and so on. So, what are the specific steps to customize a drone battery with a factory?
1. Choose a reliable manufacturer
Whether from an objective perspective or personal preference, I recommend that you prioritize Chinese drone battery factories. The Pearl River Delta region in China (Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Huizhou, etc.) gathers suppliers of complete upstream, midstream, and downstream supply chains such as battery cells, BMS, and shells. It has large – scale production conditions, which directly shortens the cost of goods and the delivery cycle. At the same time, China has the world’s most advanced battery technology, enabling rapid technological iteration and mass production. As for how to choose a suitable and reliable supplier from the Pearl River Delta region, I recommend reading another article of mine: How to Select a Reliable Drone Battery Supplier from China in 2025.
2. Clarify requirements: Important basic parameters of drone batteries
If you can clarify your battery specifications and clearly express your needs to the factory, it will greatly reduce communication costs. However, if you are a newcomer to the drone industry, I believe the factory will be willing to provide you with information and guide you in choosing the right battery specifications.
2.1 Material selection
| Material | Advantages | Applicable drone types | Cost / Economy | Future development trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Lithium Polymer (LiPo) |
High energy density, lightweight, stable discharge performance |
Consumer drones, racing drones, small commercial drones |
Medium cost, mature industrial chain |
Continuously optimize safety, improve cycle life, and may be replaced by batteries with higher energy density |
|
Lithium Ion (Li – ion) |
High energy density, long cycle life, mature technology |
Medium and large commercial drones, industrial drones |
Moderate cost, advantage in large – scale production |
Improve electrode materials (such as silicon – based anodes) to reduce costs |
|
Solid-state battery |
High safety (no risk of electrolyte leakage), great potential in energy density |
High-end industrial drones, military drones |
Currently high cost, in the research and development stage |
May become mainstream after technological breakthroughs, solving problems of fast charging and low-temperature performance |
|
Hydrogen fuel cell |
Long endurance time (far exceeding lithium batteries), environmental protection (emits water), fast hydrogenation |
Long-endurance industrial drones, large military drones |
High initial cost, imperfect infrastructure |
Depending on the development of hydrogen energy infrastructure, it may become a supplementary solution in special fields |
Supplementary explanation:
Cost / Economy: At present, lithium-ion batteries are still the most economical, and solid-state batteries and hydrogen fuel cells may change the pattern in the future.
Key trends:
Consumer drones: Lithium polymer is still the mainstream, and gradually transitioning to high-energy density lithium-ion.
Industrial drones: Solid-state batteries and hydrogen fuel cells are long-term development directions.
2.2 Voltage / S count
The S count represents the number of battery cells connected in series. The nominal voltage of a single lithium polymer battery is usually 3.7V. So, if the number of series-connected battery cells is 2, that is 2S, its nominal voltage is 7.4V. Large drones and drones equipped with more powerful motors will use batteries with a higher S count, that is, higher voltage.
Voltage calculation rules:
Nominal voltage = Number of series (S) × 3.7V (nominal voltage of a single lithium polymer cell)
Full charge voltage = Number of series (S) × 4.2V (full charge voltage of a single cell)
The following is a more detailed explanation:
| Number of series (S) | Nominal voltage (V) | Full charge voltage (V) | Applicable drone types |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1S |
3.7V |
4.2V |
Micro drones (such as Toy-level, indoor aircraft) |
|
2S |
7.4V |
8.4V |
Small entry-level drones (such as DJI Tello, FPV practice machines) |
|
3S |
11.1V |
12.6V |
Medium racing drones, aerial photography drones (such as 5-inch FPV models) |
|
4S |
14.8V |
16.8V |
High-performance FPV racing machines, medium commercial drones |
|
6S |
22.2V |
25.2V |
Professional aerial photography drones (such as DJI Mavic 3), industrial drones |
|
8S + |
≥29.6V |
≥33.6V |
Large industrial drones (such as plant protection drones, freight drones) |
2.3 Capacity
The battery capacity is like a bucket of water. When the water usage speed is constant, the more water there is, the longer it can be used. So, the battery capacity mainly determines the flight time of the drone. Just as more water makes the bucket heavier, a battery with a larger capacity is heavier. The effective load of the drone includes the drone battery. Therefore, the battery capacity is not as large as possible. Instead, you need to choose a suitable capacity to avoid the battery capacity being too small, resulting in insufficient flight time, and also to avoid the battery being too heavy due to excessive capacity, which affects the performance of the drone.
Estimation of battery flight time: Flight time (minutes) ≈ (Capacity (mAh) × 0.8) / Average current (mA) × 60 (assuming 80% power utilization)
Tip: For every 1000mAh increase in capacity, the weight increases by about 80 – 120g (depending on the battery energy density).
2.4 Discharge rate
If the battery capacity is a bucket of water, then the battery discharge rate C is the speed of pouring water, that is, the speed of battery discharge.
1C means discharging the battery’s power in 1 hour. For a 1000mAh battery, 1C is discharging at a current of 1000mAh, and it will be discharged in 1 hour.
5C is discharging at 5 times the speed. Still, for a 1000mAh battery, 5C discharges at a current of 5000mAh, which is five times the speed of 1C, so the time is shortened to 1/5 hour, that is, 12 minutes.
Discharge current = Capacity × C – rate
Example:
Battery capacity: 4Ah (4000mAh)
C – rate: 10C
Discharge current = 4Ah × 10 = 40A
Meaning: This battery can discharge at a current of 40A, and it will be discharged in 6 minutes (1/10 hour) in theory.
2.5 Plug
There are many types of drone battery plugs, which mainly affect the compatibility between the battery and the drone, and between the battery and the charger. In addition, factors such as the voltage, current, and size of the drone battery also affect the choice of the plug. For details on how to choose a suitable plug for your drone, you can read another article of mine: The eight most common drone connector types.
2.6 Size and weight
You need to accurately measure the length, width, and height of the drone’s battery compartment. The size of the customized battery must be less than or equal to the size of your battery compartment; otherwise, the battery may be too large to fit in. At the same time, you also need to confirm the direction of the battery plug to prevent it from being unable to be plugged in.
The lighter the battery weight, the better, but you cannot give up battery performance for lightness. A smaller capacity leads to a lighter weight, but insufficient capacity will result in too short a flight time. However, it cannot be too heavy either, otherwise the drone will be bulky and consume power quickly.
2.7 Brand packaging
If you need to stick your own trademark, you can ask the factory to provide unlabeled white – label batteries; some factories also offer labeling services. You can send the sticker design to the factory and ask them to print and paste the stickers. Although this seems like a small demand, it includes many small details, such as whether there are special requirements for battery wrapping, individual battery packaging, grouped battery packaging, outer box packaging, etc. Can the factory’s existing packaging meet your requirements?
2.8 Environmental support
In which field is your drone used? In what climate does it work? … The answers to these questions correspond to the product’s performance, such as requirements for the battery’s anti – vibration, waterproof, dustproof, high – altitude performance, thermal shock, and operation in extreme low – temperature environments. The more you know about your own needs and the more detailed the requirements you give to the factory, the closer the finished product will be to your requirements.
2.9 Certificate authentication
The customized battery is not the existing specification of the factory, so corresponding certificate authentication needs to be redone. Therefore, you need to inform the factory of the certificates or materials required in the entire process of exporting the drone battery from China to the region where your customer group is located for sale, to prevent the battery from failing to clear customs smoothly or being not allowed to be sold in your country because it does not meet national standards.
3. Quotation and sample testing
After determining the battery requirements, the factory will quote for the battery. After you negotiate the price with the factory, you can carry out a small amount of sample testing to determine whether the performance and appearance of the battery meet your requirements, so as to avoid product problems after mass production and shipment.
4. Mass production and delivery
After the battery samples are correct, mass production and freight arrangement can be carried out. You need to confirm the production cycle and the transportation time of the freight with the factory, and ask the factory to update the information about the goods in a timely manner, such as production progress, loading time, etc. For more details on other information that needs to be determined in the purchase process, you can refer to this article: How to buy drone batteries from China complete process guide, which provides more details.
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