Comparison of Juiced Battery Prices to Other 'Enthusiast' Brands

[Asher]

Batteries are the biggest single cost of an ebike, and also probably the biggest element of total cost of ownership. So it makes sense to pay attention to how much batteries cost.

I looked up battery prices for a number of 'enthusiast' direct to customer brands.

Juiced costs just under a $1 per watt hour. Biktrix costs $0.73 per watt hour, or 24% less, and Sondors an astonishing $0.42, 56% less, albeit pre-sale and the cell origins are not mentioned. I'd be curious to hear if there are any qualitative reasons as to why Juiced batteries cost more than Biktrix's. I know that Juiced has already reduced prices recently, from $1k for the 17ah to $900 for the 19ah.

Companies may rely on higher battery prices to generate profits (like inkjet cartridges), but that doesn't work if customers think about battery prices when buying a bike... Juiced is selling out of bikes now, but presumably in the future, it and rivals will resolve their supply issues, and battery prices will become a bigger factor.

Edit: Part of the inkjet-cartridge model is low upfront prices. So it may be unfair to consider battery prices alone, and the bike price must be accounted for as well.

Biktrix's fatbike the Juggernaut Classic costs $2k for an 11.6ah model, while Juiced offers a 13ah model for $1700. (Oddly enough, with Biktrix, if you want a 20ah battery, you're better off buying the 11.6ah juggernaut model and then buying the 20ah separately, since the upgrade costs just as much as the battery separately). However, the Juiced weighs 7 lbs more according to their respective descriptions; the Juggernaut has a mid drive, while the Juiced one has a hub drive motor.

To be sure, name brands like Stromer and Pedego cost even more, but they are not direct to customer enthusiast brands. I excluded 36V and 52V batteries from the charts below.

Biktrix: https://www.biktrix.com/products/integrated-battery?variant=54012486165
Sondors: (Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

Raw data:

Brand Watt hours $/W-hr Voltage Amp Hours Price
Biktrix 576 $0.69 48 12 399
Biktrix 816 $0.73 48 17 599
Biktrix 960 $0.73 48 20 699
Biktrix 432 $0.81 36 12 349
Biktrix 612 $0.82 36 17 499
Teo Fat Bike 522 $0.86 36 14.5 450
Teo Fat Bike 816 $0.74 48 17 600
Juiced 422.4 $0.94 48 8.8 399
Juiced 614.4 $0.97 48 12.8 599
Juiced 624 $0.96 48 13 599
Juiced 921.6 $0.98 48 19.2 899
Juiced 1092 $1.28 52 21 1399
Sondors 504 $0.53 36 14 269
Sondors 313.2 $0.64 36 8.7 199
Sondors 378 $0.66 36 10.5 249
Sondors 840 $0.42 48 17.5 349
RadPower 556.8 $0.90 48 11.6 499
M2S 816 $0.67 48 17 550
Yukon 556.8 $0.90 48 11.6 499
Yukon 417.6 $0.79 36 11.6 329

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

Cost is just one aspect of it. When everything is ruled by economics, safety, quality of engineering etc goes out the window.

Most quality batteries like Stromer, Bosch, Shimano, Yamaha or Brose, offer 2 yr warranty. Many of these systems have BMS's that record lot of data and can be accessed quite easily.
Few of my friends have had their batteries replaced, no question asked even after 18 months. You rarely get that kind of service from cost-centric companies that simply act as mediator for Chinese manufacturers.

If you really want to save money, you could order directly from Unit Powerpack (who supplies batteries to most of these companies).
https://unitpackpowerebikebattery.aliexpress.com/store/1804469

 

[Asher]

Cost is just one aspect of it. When everything is ruled by economics, safety, quality of engineering etc goes out the window.

Most quality batteries like Stromer, Bosch, Shimano, Yamaha or Brose, offer 2 yr warranty. Many of these systems have BMS's that record lot of data and can be accessed quite easily.
Few of my friends have had their batteries replaced, no question asked even after 18 months. You rarely get that kind of service from cost-centric companies that simply act as mediator for Chinese manufacturers.

If you really want to save money, you could order directly from Unit Powerpack (who supplies batteries to most of these companies).
https://unitpackpowerebikebattery.aliexpress.com/store/1804469

No doubt cost is only one piece of the picture, and the other qualities are more esoteric to people new to ebikes. I freely admit I don't know those other factors, so I'm asking here. Another forum member here said Biktrix is run by a respected knowledgeable guy, Roshan.

I think it's important to create transparency around price as well as those other factors. You could make the same point about the ebike itself, that cost isn't everything, but ignoring prices entirely gets you a $5k 500 watt hour, 250 watt motor ebike (Specialized Turbo Vado).

Were those batteries replaced faulty, or just low in capacity from frequent use?

Also, are the Biktrix and the Juiced batteries interchangeable in their respective bikes? The Sondors is decidedly not, it's a triangle battery.