Battery Capacity

[stiv674]

That ruins the old adage of "They're so ugly, they can't even give them away" - Is seems they can !

Unless they've just bumped up the price to cover the cost of it... ?

 

[flash]

That's a great idea. I already have a hand luggage that matches my skirt.

Not sure if joking or not, but I think with that idea you kind of lose the advantage of weight saving.

Not joking. Travelling with an eBike is still a pain. Smaller stackable batteries would fix this.

Just say your downtube has space for 7x 99wh batteries or spacers. You can put in 3 plus light spacers for a light weight steed, or 7 for a big ride. You could buy your bike with 5 and buy more later.

Wouldn't have to be any heavier than what we have now. Just far more flexible and you can fly with your bike.

Gordon

 

[Waynemarlow]

The Bosch 625wh Power Tube from my bike weighs 4.024Kg.........I just weighed it on a very accurate digital scale.

Some of the new technology batteries are begining to get into cool territory. Piccie is of my latest battery using the Samsung 50T cells we have not used before, very impressed so far, smaller package and lighter for more oomp at 780Wh.

 

[DtEW]

Not joking. Travelling with an eBike is still a pain. Smaller stackable batteries would fix this.

Just say your downtube has space for 7x 99wh batteries or spacers. You can put in 3 plus light spacers for a light weight steed, or 7 for a big ride. You could buy your bike with 5 and buy more later.

Wouldn't have to be any heavier than what we have now. Just far more flexible and you can fly with your bike.

LOL, no.

Power connectors in a high-shock (in the jostling sense), high-contamination-risk context are no joke, esp. when we're talking the sort of current that an E-bike draws. Each is going to be a potential point of failure relative to the reliable tack welds that have been used for decades in battery pack manufacturing. Each 99w power unit would need to be individually-sealed against environmental contamination while allowing heat dissipation, each needs to have their own provisions for venting, and each would need to have their own safety circuitry. The power units would either need to interlock, or have to mount into a "backbone" or case. All of this needs to be foolproof for the idiocy and willingness to wrongheadedly tinker/"hack" that is par for consumers.

Nothing about any of that says "wouldn't have to be any heavier than what we have now".

The idea isn't without merit, but there's a reason why they haven't even done this in mostly mass-insensitive (relative to a bike) electric cars when the market have been clamoring for battery-pack swap station capabilities for such a long time.

 

[Waynemarlow]

LOL, no.

Power connectors in a high-shock (in the jostling sense), high-contamination-risk context are no joke, esp. when we're talking the sort of current that an E-bike draws. Each is going to be a potential point of failure relative to the reliable tack welds that have been used for decades in battery pack manufacturing. Each 99w power unit would need to be individually-sealed against environmental contamination while allowing heat dissipation, each needs to have their own provisions for venting, and each would need to have their own safety circuitry. The power units would either need to interlock, or have to mount into a "backbone" or case. All of this needs to be foolproof for the idiocy and willingness to wrongheadedly tinker/"hack" that is par for consumers.

Nothing about any of that says "wouldn't have to be any heavier than what we have now".

The idea isn't without merit, but there's a reason why they haven't even done this in mostly mass-insensitive (relative to a bike) electric cars when the market have been clamoring for battery-pack swap station capabilities for such a long time.

Never ever say no it can't be done, some of the higher capacity high current cells split down into 100Wh 12 volt lumps serialled together, would be pretty easy to get into the same battery area in a safe way.

What will stop you is the proprietory manufacturer signals designed to lock a specific battery to a specific motor.

 

[flash]

LOL, no.

Power connectors in a high-shock (in the jostling sense), high-contamination-risk context are no joke, esp. when we're talking the sort of current that an E-bike draws. Each is going to be a potential point of failure relative to the reliable tack welds that have been used for decades in battery pack manufacturing. Each 99w power unit would need to be individually-sealed against environmental contamination while allowing heat dissipation, each needs to have their own provisions for venting, and each would need to have their own safety circuitry. The power units would either need to interlock, or have to mount into a "backbone" or case. All of this needs to be foolproof for the idiocy and willingness to wrongheadedly tinker/"hack" that is par for consumers.

Nothing about any of that says "wouldn't have to be any heavier than what we have now".

The idea isn't without merit, but there's a reason why they haven't even done this in mostly mass-insensitive (relative to a bike) electric cars when the market have been clamoring for battery-pack swap station capabilities for such a long time.

Never say never... The only reason this type of stuff doesn't happen is because the manufacturers don't see ant extra sales in it. The tech for multi battery solutions is already in use in drones (high consequence if they fail) and other industrial applications. As long as each connector is as robust as the single connectors we have now there should be no issues.

As for weight you're talking a bit of acrylic and a couple of interlocking current plates. Hardly much weight at all. A simple BMS could be in the bike to control the cells.

The only real issue would be charging 5 to 7 pods at a time. Solvable but more complex than the housing in the bike.

Gordon

 

[Bobj183]

After receiving some criticism for making the initial point that a smaller capacity battery option, saving weight and cost might be a viable option for some models and some customers I now see that for 2022 Trek are doing just that. Inquiring about a Powerfly 4 for my wife I learned that the bike can be supplied with a 500Wh battery for about two hundred quid less than the 625Wh battery. Not such a daft idea after all, eh?