Thinking about the future

Old Timer

Esteemed Pedelecer
Dec 5, 2009
1,279
12
I can now understand why advice given is not to buy a spare battery till you actually need one( or need more range)

So! lets say in 18 months my battery performance has dropped below acceptable levels and everything else on the bike is still working OK. Will replacement batteries be available? will technology have moved on and the same or lower amount of money will buy the latest technology?

I won`t mind having a battery on my rack rather than dropping neatly behind the down tube but now that I have broken in my bike it absolutely fits the bill for me in comfort and performance. So! any battery of 36V and at least 10Amp can be made to run the bike?yes? just a matter of adapting the connection from battery to controller?

While my wife has been using her bike and conditioning the batteries, I`ve stuck her spare battery in my panniers to be able to get her battery down low enough to recharge and i must admit I haven`t actually noticed any difference in handling and performance of my bike which opens up the ability for me to have a second battery for more range if needed.( should a dealer be clearing batteries for £50 each:D
I reckon the reason that carrying her spare has no noticeable effect on performance or ride is that my Powertrek Dynamo is not the lightest bike in the market place(I accept that)so like with other vehicles, the beefier a vehicle is the less the extra shows.

Just musings on a dull, cloudy p*** poor morning
 

Blew it

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 8, 2008
1,472
97
Swindon, Wiltshire
From my own experience, batteries are becoming progressively smaller for a given capacity, for example:

One of my first bikes was a Synergie Bayamo, A heavy steel framed bike powered by a puny 8 ah lead acid battery. At that time Li Ping could supply a 10 ah "slim" LiFePO4 pack that would easily fit into the Bayamo battery case. A number of forum members upgraded their machines in this way.

The next bike I owned was a Synergie Mistral, the 10 ah Phylion battery fitted easily slotted into the Bayamo with a slight modification to the battery slide.

My latest bike which is featured in The Ridgeway Route has an even smaller sized 10 ah battery that could easily be adapted to fit any earlier bike.

This gradual reduction in size for the same capacity means older machines can continue to be used for many years. A little skill will be needed to change connectors and mounting slides, but this is not beyond the ability the average DIY'er. We can usually find help within the local community for those not blessed with these skills.

The future, unlike today, is bright!!
 

Old Timer

Esteemed Pedelecer
Dec 5, 2009
1,279
12
From my own experience, batteries are becoming progressively smaller for a given capacity, for example:

One of my first bikes was a Synergie Bayamo, A heavy steel framed bike powered by a puny 8 ah lead acid battery. At that time Li Ping could supply a 10 ah "slim" LiFePO4 pack that would easily fit into the Bayamo battery case. A number of forum members upgraded their machines in this way.

The next bike I owned was a Synergie Mistral, the 10 ah Phylion battery fitted easily slotted into the Bayamo with a slight modification to the battery slide.

My latest bike which is featured in The Ridgeway Route has an even smaller sized 10 ah battery that could easily be adapted to fit any earlier bike.

This gradual reduction in size for the same capacity means older machines can continue to be used for many years. A little skill will be needed to change connectors and mounting slides, but this is not beyond the ability the average DIY'er. We can usually find help within the local community for those not blessed with these skills.

The future, unlike today, is bright!!
Great:D Thanks
 

WALKERMAN

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2008
269
0
Batteries

My ProConnect battery is only 12 months old but is already down to 4 out of 5 bars on the meter. The life span is 2 to 4 years and then I will have to pay out £395 (or more) for a replacement. Not exactly cheap transport.

I notice in the press a lot of talk about battery cars. How will they be affected by battery life? I guess there must be loads of batteries for each car so the thought of replacing them is frightening. It would also considerably affect second hand trade in prices.

Any comments as I am very interested to learn a bit more about this 'future' transport?
 

eddieo

Banned
Jul 7, 2008
5,070
6
E cars are normally leased not purchased at the moment...Maybe the future for E bikes as well? leased batteries;)
 

HarryB

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jan 22, 2007
1,317
3
London
My ProConnect battery is only 12 months old but is already down to 4 out of 5 bars on the meter. The life span is 2 to 4 years and then I will have to pay out £395 (or more) for a replacement. Not exactly cheap transport.
Have you tried a conditioning discharge recently as this usually returns the battery to the full 5 bars. Sorry for any sucking eggs etc....

PS if it lasts 4 years (and there is evidence that these batteries will last that long) then £100 a year is not bad going.
 
Last edited:

JohnInStockie

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 10, 2006
1,048
1
Stockport, SK7
I notice in the press a lot of talk about battery cars. How will they be affected by battery life? I guess there must be loads of batteries for each car so the thought of replacing them is frightening. It would also considerably affect second hand trade in prices.
Thats why we should have a standard battery fitting on all electric cars. If we did then peeps could drive into a filling station and just swap over the batteries, and on they go.

The cost of this swap would be the cost of the electric and INCLUDE the element of the lease per battery per charge, so that the cost of the batteries would be swallowed by the filling station.

This would also allow slow charging of batteries, or even solar charging in some countries.

John
 

NRG

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 6, 2009
2,592
10
........ So! any battery of 36V and at least 10Amp can be made to run the bike?yes? just a matter of adapting the connection from battery to controller?
.....
Hi OT, yes and yes. Going the DIY route opens up a number of opportuunities you've already identified. If you can mount the battery and connect up to the existing wiring then you have the flexibily of choosing newer bettery technologies and also for increasing the battery capacity if desired.
 

Old Timer

Esteemed Pedelecer
Dec 5, 2009
1,279
12
Hi OT, yes and yes. Going the DIY route opens up a number of opportuunities you've already identified. If you can mount the battery and connect up to the existing wiring then you have the flexibily of choosing newer bettery technologies and also for increasing the battery capacity if desired.
So! just enjoy, don`t worry and when the time comes choose the best available?


Dave
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,761
30,348
My ProConnect battery is only 12 months old but is already down to 4 out of 5 bars on the meter. The life span is 2 to 4 years and then I will have to pay out £395 (or more) for a replacement. Not exactly cheap transport.
It may just need conditioning again as Harry says, to recover that extra LED. See here:

Conditioning
.
 

fishingpaul

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 24, 2007
871
86
I can now understand why advice given is not to buy a spare battery till you actually need one( or need more range)

So! lets say in 18 months my battery performance has dropped below acceptable levels and everything else on the bike is still working OK. Will replacement batteries be available? will technology have moved on and the same or lower amount of money will buy the latest technology?

I won`t mind having a battery on my rack rather than dropping neatly behind the down tube but now that I have broken in my bike it absolutely fits the bill for me in comfort and performance. So! any battery of 36V and at least 10Amp can be made to run the bike?yes? just a matter of adapting the connection from battery to controller?

While my wife has been using her bike and conditioning the batteries, I`ve stuck her spare battery in my panniers to be able to get her battery down low enough to recharge and i must admit I haven`t actually noticed any difference in handling and performance of my bike which opens up the ability for me to have a second battery for more range if needed.( should a dealer be clearing batteries for £50 each:D
I reckon the reason that carrying her spare has no noticeable effect on performance or ride is that my Powertrek Dynamo is not the lightest bike in the market place(I accept that)so like with other vehicles, the beefier a vehicle is the less the extra shows.

Just musings on a dull, cloudy p*** poor morning
If judged on previous years,battery price changes are mainly due to the exchange rate,progress on battery types seems painfully slow with talk of new technology often falling short,lets face it cars still use lead acid batteries in the main,you will be able to use any type of 36v battery but all different types of battery will also require a different type of battery charger
 

Herb

Pedelecer
Nov 9, 2009
106
0
Last edited:

daniel.weck

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 8, 2009
1,224
1
I have a 36v 10Ah Ping battery myself - powering a 26" Bafang hub.
Same here (...well, 16" wheels instead).

The BMS on the Ping battery is a lot more discrete than the one manufactured for V-Power (ultimately, this saves quite a lot of room on an already-cramped bicycle). Li-Ping also spent a lot of time optimizing the electronic circuitry and making it reliable, thus his good reputation.

Talking about reputation, take a look on Endless-Sphere and you will see some bad reports about V-Power (vpower.hk, or its associated retailers, such as CAMMY_CC, power_battery_a123, ep-battery, volgood)

Cheers, Dan
 

WALKERMAN

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2008
269
0
It may just need conditioning again as Harry says, to recover that extra LED. See here:

Conditioning
.
I have tried conditioning it by running it down to the flashing light on the control and the battery, but it is still showing 4 lights on the test.

This battery is only 13 months old as it was a replacement for the original which was replaced due to it being one of the faulty batch on the earlier Pro Connects.

It has been charged 4 times a week over the 13 months (less holiday weeks) and will have done no more than 2500 miles.
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,761
30,348
I have tried conditioning it by running it down to the flashing light on the control and the battery, but it is still showing 4 lights on the test.
Members have found it's important to run the battery down to the second and fast flashing stage for the meter to reset correctly, very empty in other words. I don't know if you've done that. If you have, it is unusual for that much indicated loss on these.

However, given the sensitivity of this meter type to small variables, I'd rather judge the capacity on range achieved that what the LEDs say. If the range is at least 20% down on what you used to get on identical journeys, that will confirm the indication.
.