I have reasons for sticking with my original bike shop & order but thanks anyway.
Fuel EXe Trek fuel exe range extender battery availability?
- Thread starter Mteam
- Start date
Zzzzz8
New Member
My range extender, ordered in July 2022(?) has just slipped to June.....
socal_rider
Member
Wow. Trek/TQ should be embarrassed by this long of a delay.
shure2
New Member
This is a solution for some to add 30-40% range eXTender Mod for Fuel EXe (Ego battery adapter).
I was told today by a dealer that NZ won't see the TQ range extender until June now (another delay)
I was told today by a dealer that NZ won't see the TQ range extender until June now (another delay)
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I really find it hard to justify the cost of a range extender for this bike. In Australia, when the range extender becomes available, it will be $1,000.00 AUD with the required accessories. Decided to design my own and build it for a fraction of the cost (less then $50 using quality reclaimed cells). Of course you need a 3D printer but even factoring the cost of an entry level 3D printer that will do the job fine, still half the cost and you end up finally pulling the pin on that 3D printer that you always said you would get.
Teaser:
Basically it is 2 x 7S modules in series. Each module is individually wired with power and balance leads chased up the rectangle cavity to the top of the battery. I am only using the balance leads for periodic cell balance checking so no BMS with this design.
To be clear, this a getto design and should only be used at your own risk by people who understand the risks of home made batteries.
Important:
Your main battery and range extender battery need to be fully charged before plugging into each other. Absolute must.
Your bike must be switched on before plugging in the range extender. Absolute must.
If this worries you, do not even think about attempting this project. My recommendation is to purchase the OEM range extender that probably had 100s of thousands dollars thrown at it during R&D.
Moving on,
The design uses 18650 cells. Any cells that are capacity matched will do the job. I am using NCR18650PF cells because they are easy to get and cheap. Plus they are 2.9ah and 10A which is plenty for this bike.
Because the range extender is in parallel with the main pack, no low low voltage protection is really necessary. The bike will take care of this. 10% on the main pack will be 10% on the extender.
In regards to aesthetics, I have designed the battery to slot neatly into the standard Trek water bottle holder that comes with the bike. It looks like a water bottle and weighs between 800 and 900 grams.
Availability:
No, I will not ne making these for sale however, I will share the .stl files for printing once the project is completed if anyone is interested.
Printer is going flat out at the moment. I have the cells so give me a week to get this up and running. Wil update as the project progresses.
Teaser:
Basically it is 2 x 7S modules in series. Each module is individually wired with power and balance leads chased up the rectangle cavity to the top of the battery. I am only using the balance leads for periodic cell balance checking so no BMS with this design.
To be clear, this a getto design and should only be used at your own risk by people who understand the risks of home made batteries.
Important:
Your main battery and range extender battery need to be fully charged before plugging into each other. Absolute must.
Your bike must be switched on before plugging in the range extender. Absolute must.
If this worries you, do not even think about attempting this project. My recommendation is to purchase the OEM range extender that probably had 100s of thousands dollars thrown at it during R&D.
Moving on,
The design uses 18650 cells. Any cells that are capacity matched will do the job. I am using NCR18650PF cells because they are easy to get and cheap. Plus they are 2.9ah and 10A which is plenty for this bike.
Because the range extender is in parallel with the main pack, no low low voltage protection is really necessary. The bike will take care of this. 10% on the main pack will be 10% on the extender.
In regards to aesthetics, I have designed the battery to slot neatly into the standard Trek water bottle holder that comes with the bike. It looks like a water bottle and weighs between 800 and 900 grams.
Availability:
No, I will not ne making these for sale however, I will share the .stl files for printing once the project is completed if anyone is interested.
Printer is going flat out at the moment. I have the cells so give me a week to get this up and running. Wil update as the project progresses.
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shure2
New Member
Cool project. I'm making a 14s1p battery from Samsung 50E. It should be 260Wh. I'm using a Bluetooth BMS for safety but it's not too bad to have a small pack like this without a BMS, especially the low power draw.
Happy to see some others out there making extended range packs for loads cheaper.
I have been watching your progress and appreciate you sharing your work to date. Good luck with the 260Wh range extender. If you can give it an OEM vibe, I think it will be very popular.
shure2
New Member
Yeah I'm limited with the Ego battery with how it looks. I'm going for a slightly different design, in order for a certain type of functionality (not saying yet as TQ might be watching ha!)
Finished printing the 4 components for the range extender. Around 14 hours of printing in this even with just a 10% infill. After a bit of cleanup, the parts fit nicely into each other to form the full assembly. The fit in the standard bottle cage is nice and snug. I don't think it will even need a security strap.
Next job is to model up a plug to match the charging port.
Cells still to be installed, spot welded and wired. Should be ready for testing by the weekend hopefully.
Next job is to model up a plug to match the charging port.
Cells still to be installed, spot welded and wired. Should be ready for testing by the weekend hopefully.
Have you tried a trek dealer? That's how I got mine.
They are about 1 month out on the extra battery. I am not sure why, but my dealer said that Trek does not recommend using a second battery, stating it will wear out the mounting hardware and cable tray if taken in and out frequently. This sounds really stupid. Why advertise a removable battery if you do not want people removing it? Craziness. I am not sure I should worry about this, but don't want any warranty issues with Trek. I guess they would not know if you purchased and used a spare battery.
Mounting hardware is cheap. I don't swap it every ride but until now I have needed it on 4 rides. Nothing bad happens with swapping when you are careful.
Expidia
Well-known member
Sounds like a stupid statement by your LBS to me too. I take my battery out each and every time to charge it after each ride. I don't store the battery in the bike for fear of it potentially starting a fire in my basement. I charge and store in an old broken washing machine's steel tank that I already removed and tossed the plastic augar.
I thought the statement sounded really stupid too. LBS said they had just spoke directly with Trek for another customer that wanted to do the same thing, cancel the order on the range extender, then buy a full battery. Not sure what any of them have to gain by those statements.
Do you rotate batteries so they get equivalent charge and one isn’t siting with a charge for too long? Most of my rides wouldn’t need the extra battery.
I just pulled my battery and put it in a backpack to see how it feels. The weight is no big deal, not really noticeable. That may change 20 miles into a ride, but so will the amount of water weight I am carrying. Leaning really hard towards a full battery for just $150 more than a range extender.
I rotate them when I use them yes. Bike has done very close to 1000km in 2½ months now, and I have used the extra battery 4 times in that time. When I charge the extra battery again, I leave it at 80% and only charge the last 20% when I need to use it next day.
I just canceled the order on my range extender. I have changed it to a full battery. $150 more for the full battery, but it is also 200 wh more than the extender. 4 lbs doesn’t weigh too much for a backpack. That will double my range. I can keep it in the truck when riding at my local spot or throw it in my pack for some big back country trails. The new battery will be here in June; the range extender is currently delayed until July. Time to shop for my backpack.
Managed to finish my home made range extender using reclaimed 18650 cells. I had these laying around so it was a good cheap option to start with.
Really happy with the way it has turned out. A few challenges though. The plug was quite difficult to reproduce using 3D printing methods. It needs to be very accurate and took a heap of iterations to finally get there. Also the brass contacts needed to be super accurate as the female side on the bike is not spring loaded and relies just on the right amount of friction for a good contact. Too much and you will over stress the female side of the plug which would be bad both for charging and if you wanted to go OEM with the range extender in the future.
Also wanted to design the part to print as one piece and be low profile at the same time which I think I have achieved.
Holding all the 4 prints together also needed a bit of thought as there really isn't enough material to install inserts. Also I just don't trust tapping directly into PLA especially when dealing batteries.
Solution: Use spokes as threaded rods to sandwich all the sections securely all together. Silver soldered one nipple onto the the spoke and used the threaded end for assembly.
Nice to know l have the extra range but I think I now want more. Working on a new design that uses 5000mah 21700 cells. It looks like I can fit the larger cells into the same same form factor. Maybe 10mm longer and of course 350 grams heavier. 260 Whr will let me run with my full fat buddies for the entire ride (me on max boost of course
).
Really happy with the way it has turned out. A few challenges though. The plug was quite difficult to reproduce using 3D printing methods. It needs to be very accurate and took a heap of iterations to finally get there. Also the brass contacts needed to be super accurate as the female side on the bike is not spring loaded and relies just on the right amount of friction for a good contact. Too much and you will over stress the female side of the plug which would be bad both for charging and if you wanted to go OEM with the range extender in the future.
Also wanted to design the part to print as one piece and be low profile at the same time which I think I have achieved.
Holding all the 4 prints together also needed a bit of thought as there really isn't enough material to install inserts. Also I just don't trust tapping directly into PLA especially when dealing batteries.
Solution: Use spokes as threaded rods to sandwich all the sections securely all together. Silver soldered one nipple onto the the spoke and used the threaded end for assembly.
Nice to know l have the extra range but I think I now want more. Working on a new design that uses 5000mah 21700 cells. It looks like I can fit the larger cells into the same same form factor. Maybe 10mm longer and of course 350 grams heavier. 260 Whr will let me run with my full fat buddies for the entire ride (me on max boost of course
).
Expidia
Well-known member
Smart move. I plan to do the same. I have an Evoc Ride 12 back pack now and it is an outstanding build quality, so getting the Evoc FR Trail E-Ride backpack for a 2nd battery it would be a no brainer for me! With 2 batteries and 720 total watts that should get you plenty of power now.
Yep. That is my thoughts as well. 720 wh would be more than 2 range extenders. I’ll get 40 miles and 5,000’ elevation with using trail and boost mode, and very, very little eco mode, maybe 5%.
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Expidia
Well-known member
Have any Fuel owners installed a rear fender on their fuel? Other than having to install a rack to hold a fender . . . And not one of those road runner type cheap fenders that stick way out. If you have installed a rear fender, please show a pic.
Thx
Thx
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Emailsucks98
Active member
Full battery #2 has finally arrived! Ordered back in October.
With end caps and tax it was over $800, but I still feel that's a better value than the range extender. I had to pick up a few fasteners at the hardware store. No firmware issues.
Just about perfect timing with the snow melting off the highest elevation rides here.
With end caps and tax it was over $800, but I still feel that's a better value than the range extender. I had to pick up a few fasteners at the hardware store. No firmware issues.
Just about perfect timing with the snow melting off the highest elevation rides here.
Swingset
Active member
Just contemplating the pack and a battery and ~1,100 bucks on your back. Ouch!
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