How many LiTime trolling motor batteries do I need for my thrust?

Answered by RV Parts Giant · Upland, CA · October 10, 2026

Short answer: LiTime's guide for its 12V 100Ah TM Bluetooth battery is one battery for a 30 to 70 lb thrust motor, two for 70 to 100 lb and three for 100 to 120 lb, which matches 12V, 24V and 36V motors. For a 36V motor you can instead use one LiTime 36V 100Ah.

LiTime's thrust table

Trolling motor thrust	Typical system	LiTime 12V 100Ah TM batteries
30 to 70 lb	12V	1
70 to 100 lb	24V	2 in series
100 to 120 lb	36V	3 in series

That table is LiTime's own, from the 12V 100Ah TM Bluetooth listing. Each battery is a Group 31 case (13 x 6.77 x 8.5 in) storing 1,280Wh, with surge ratings of 120A for 10 seconds, 300A for 5 seconds and 500A for 1 second to cope with GPS anchoring and spot-lock.

The single-battery 36V option

For a 36V motor, LiTime also makes a 36V 100Ah Bluetooth battery: 3,840Wh, 100A continuous, IP65. One battery instead of three means one set of cables and nothing to balance. Charge it with LiTime's 36V (43.8V) 15A charger, which is IP66 and runs on 100 to 240V AC.

If you use three 12V batteries

Use three identical batteries of the same age.
Charge them full before wiring them in series.
A balancer keeps a series bank even; LiTime's 48V balancer covers 24V and 36V banks too.

Cold mornings

The TM Bluetooth battery stops charging at 32°F and stops discharging at -4°F. It will run the motor on a cold morning, but charge it somewhere above freezing.