Anyone file a battery warranty claim?

[ymarty]

I just got my new bike 2 days ago and tonight I took it on a long ride. On the way home, I came over a set of rail road tracks and there was a pothole that I didnt see until it was too late. As soon as hit the pothole, the battery flew off and got ran over by the car behind me. Its pretty beat up but seems to be working. its still fully charged so I cant be sure if it will charge.

I am not sure why the lock failed but my concern is the overall health of brand new battery.

Any advice?

 

[ebikemom]

Yikes. I'm glad you are okay! Your battery sure shouldn't have flown off of the bike. What kind of bike do you have?

 

[ymarty]

Its an EProdigy Magic and I locked it when I put the battery in and pulled on the handle to check. Part of the problem I discovered is that the seat is not fitted for me and I was in so much tailbone pain towards the end that I was using throttle to get me home. The company has been so great about things so far and responsive. I do have a 2 yr warranty on the battery and 5 yr warranty on the bike. I talked to the company the day I received the bike to say there was a problem with the LCD and they sent me a replace, which I got today. I paid 300.00 more to get the better battery and now it may be damaged. I am just sick about it

 

[Ann M.]

@ymarty, why are you hesitating? eProdigy is a good company and there may be something they will do to help you on the battery and perhaps the battery mount. Glad you didn't get hurt and a quick reminder to slow down a lot going over any rail road tracks. I made the mistake one ride years ago and got my skinny tires twisted going over some tracks at an angle. Got slammed onto the pavement in a hurry! but was ok (except maybe for my bruised ego )

 

[ymarty]

Normally I do slow down but my tailbone hurt so bad, I couldnt pedal anymore and was using the throttle. The tracks were on an upward hill. I have ordered a new seat and a suspension seat post. I just hope the battery is ok and will not just pop out again. PS-I so understand the bruised ego to go with the bruised butt.

 

[rich c]

This isn’t a battery issue, it’s a latch issue. There could be some push back from the manufacturer though. If you hit something hard on the road with your car and you break a suspension part, you don’t expect the manufacturer to cover it on the warranty. It’s considered an accident and file a claim on your car insurance. Personally, I consider your situation an accident. It’s going to be a tough call.

 

[PowerMe]

All you can do is contact them and see what they say. Maybe they'll allow you to replace the battery at their cost. As for the security of the locking/latching mechanism, I think you'll need to come up with a strategy on securing that battery to the bike frame so that even if the battery disengages because of hitting potholes at high speed, the battery won't go flying. I don't know what that solution would be or look like, but it obviously needs something to protect it.

 

[CodyDog]

If you hadn't already, do a thorough inspection of the latch/tabs to see if the sudden jolt cause some breakage. Many of the street ebikes batteries (outside mount-not integrated) mounts aren't meant to take a sudden lateral shock.

I would also think that a dropped battery, let alone one ran over by a car, has suffered some type of internal structural damage. If it's not showing up right away, most likely it will show up later.

Here is an image of the inside of a typical ebike battery. There a lot of connections that could be compromised by a drop or hit on the pavement or path.

Glad you weren't hurt.