I would appreciate any feedback regarding technology changes that would make an e bike obsolete. This is a major purchase but I see no long term guarantees from major manufacturers that battery replacement will be an option after the useful life of the original battery. With battery technology moving to graphite batteries sooner than later due to many advantages where does that put a user that needs to replace a lithium ion battery on a not so old bike.
Battery obsolosence.
- Thread starter BIKR
- Start date
J.R.
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Piedmont Highlands
There are several companies in the US that will rebuild packs with new cells and, or bms. Europe has companies that offer aftermarket batteries for many systems. Where there's a market void, someone will fill it. Stick to the bigger brands or common style packs, that will go a long way to safeguard your investment.
Ravi Kempaiah
Well-Known Member
- Region
- Canada
- City
- Halifax
An entry level ebike is not anymore expensive than iPhone X. Compared to phones, ebike market is a miniscule.
All the batteries used in ebikes currently have graphite. The 'graphene' batteries you're alluding to, won't hit the market until 2022 at the earliest (I wrote my masters thesis on graphene).
As @J.R. mentioned, stick to brands that are in the space for the long haul and you wouldn't have problems ( I know specialized has discontinued the older turbo ebike battery packs, which is unfortunate!) but that's the nature of the market.
Packs from Yamaha, Bosch, Shimano, Brose will be available for many years to come. Even some generic style packs like dolphin, hailong, silverfish type will be available from trustworthy Asian vendors.
Battery packs on bike brands like 'mate', 'flash', 'm2s', etc... Could be problematic down the road.
Summary : try to avoid funky, flashy looking cases because they can disappear anytime.
Battery technology changes won't cause your ebike to become obsolete, cause they will offer spare parts... If your bike manufacturer goes out of business, they you have to find someone willing to rebuild the old one.. more of a challenge.
The way around all this is to buy and build an ebike from a kit.. Open architecture...
The way around all this is to buy and build an ebike from a kit.. Open architecture...
indianajo
Well-Known Member
I bought a box battery, then built a frame out of aluminum angle to bolt it to the bike. https://www.ebay.com/itm/48v15Ah-Li...570.l2632.R3.TR4.TRC2.A0.H3.X48v+15+ah+b.TRS0
The only compatibility I need are 1: 48 v, ie 40 to 59.5 v range 2: 10 ga or 12 ga wires coming out. I should be able to buy something like this for 100 years. Or four 12 v batteries in extremis. I'm sure the motor/controller will fail before then.
A plus, it looks so weird, nobody will steal it. Convenient easy to remove bag batteries stuck me as being as bad as quick lock front wheels and seats, which are often stolen and chucked into a trash bin for meanness. Saw two bikes chained up missing front wheels Sunday after Derby last year.
The only compatibility I need are 1: 48 v, ie 40 to 59.5 v range 2: 10 ga or 12 ga wires coming out. I should be able to buy something like this for 100 years. Or four 12 v batteries in extremis. I'm sure the motor/controller will fail before then.
A plus, it looks so weird, nobody will steal it. Convenient easy to remove bag batteries stuck me as being as bad as quick lock front wheels and seats, which are often stolen and chucked into a trash bin for meanness. Saw two bikes chained up missing front wheels Sunday after Derby last year.
ebikemom
Well-Known Member
I was really impressed with ebikes that have batteries shaped to the bike, or in the tubes and hidden, but I wondered--what if I can't get a replacement? This is one reason I went with an older style (battery in the rear rack) of ebike that seemed to me to be more generic (though of course, it is precisely fitted into the bike, so probably isn't any more "generic" than any other battery in retrospect), and also with a company that is well established and consistent in bike design, that might be more likely to support their products. Of course, there are no guarantees ... At any rate, I'm happy with my bike and with the service we receive locally from the dealer.
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