anyone upgrade battery to 52 volt on 2018 rover?

fourday

New Member
I have a 2018 rad rover, looking for more distance and power. I live in the mountains and would like to upgrade to 52 v. looking at luna batterys. would like to hear from someone that has made the change, and is it difficult to do. thanks Bob
 
The older 2015-2017 Radrovers with 48v/11.5ah Dolphin pack were plug-n-play with the 52v/13.5ah Panasonic Dolphin battery packs from Luna cycles. You just had to purchase a 52v charger. Folks with the plug-n-play packs said it felt like power boost with 52v with more power and faster acceleration.

The 2018 Radrover is so new and the Rad battery pack don't look plug-n-play anymore from Luna cycle packs. You might have to splice into the wiring harness for the 52v battery pack. You wouldn't have the 1 year warranty if you have an issue with the ebike components.

52v X 13.5 ah = 702 watts
48v X 14 ah = 672 watts

It would be a lot of time, money to spend, and dropping your warranty for 30 extra watts.
 
I like that they unified the batteries into one platform across all model. I don't like that they went to a proprietary platform. Even though it looks like a "shark" battery from Luna.
 
I have 52v 17.5Ah shark installed into my 2017 Rhino. Perfect match!
Great commuting!
 

Attachments

  • RadRhino Sportstracker.png
    RadRhino Sportstracker.png
    189.6 KB · Views: 986
  • Screenshot_20180809-190839.png
    Screenshot_20180809-190839.png
    2.4 MB · Views: 1,009
Last edited:
Would love a true plug and play for my 2018. Perhaps Rad will offer an upgraded battery in the future.
 
I have 52v 17.5Ah shark installed into my 2017 Rhino. Perfect match!
Great commuting!

Thanks for the info! Is it still working great? I guess you had to change the dolphin type rail system to the shark type. Did you need to cut the cable or was it easy to connect?
 
Hi! Yes still working great. I replaced the mounting rail with the one supplied with the shark battery. Just cut the cables and soldered xrt90 connector.
 
Hi! Yes still working great. I replaced the mounting rail with the one supplied with the shark battery. Just cut the cables and soldered xrt90 connector.
Great! Thanks. I wonder if the battery capacity of 17.5Ah / 52V you are using could handle a range of +60km on plain beach terrain and 30km/h (which is the regular use I'm looking for with only 1 battery).
 
I'm using ~350wh WOT on 18 km ride with some mild hills and traffic lights + few sharp turns. Averge speeed of 35-36 km/h, over 75% of time 40-42 km/h. So ~45km range at this power level (my pedaling effort quite minimal at this speed). I would estimate More than 60km range with PAS 5 30 km/h on beach (~450watts per hour + pedaling should be enough).
 
I have 52v 17.5Ah shark installed into my 2017 Rhino. Perfect match!
Great commuting!
Just curious, for future upgrade reference. Have a link to the battery? I have a 2016 Radrover and am just wondering what the size of battery that will fit in the triangle, not knowing if there is some kind of standard sizes for the Shark pack.
 
Just curious, for future upgrade reference. Have a link to the battery? I have a 2016 Radrover and am just wondering what the size of battery that will fit in the triangle, not knowing if there is some kind of standard sizes for the Shark pack.
Sorry. Do not have the link anymore. The company was "dtb battery". Samsung 35E 14S5p 30A BMS.
 
Back