Exploring Zen Electric Bikes' Advanced Battery Technology

[Zen Support]

Hello, e-bike enthusiasts!

Today, let's dive into Zen Electric Bikes' impressive battery technology. Their e-bikes boast a robust 52V, 20Ah, 1000Wh battery. What makes this so special?

Zen is committed to pushing the boundaries of e-bike performance with their in-house R&D. Their team, composed of seasoned engineers, mechanics, and battery scientists, brings over 20 years of industry experience. This expertise is crucial in developing cutting-edge battery solutions specifically for the e-bike industry.

Key Aspects of Zen's Battery Technology:

Battery Specifications: Zen's 1000Wh battery offers a higher capacity compared to many standard e-bike batteries. This means potentially longer ranges and more consistent power, which is particularly beneficial for extended rides or demanding usage.

In-House R&D Efforts: Zen's focus on internal research and development, backed by a team with extensive experience, likely leads to optimized battery solutions. This expertise can result in more efficient energy use, longer battery life, and better integration with the bike's overall system.

Innovative Solutions: While specific innovations by Zen are not detailed, they might include advanced battery management, improved thermal regulation, or new cell chemistries, contributing to longer battery life, enhanced safety, and improved performance.

Industry Impact: Zen’s approach to high-capacity batteries could influence the e-bike industry's future direction, setting new standards for battery performance and design.

User Experiences: Users of e-bikes with high-capacity batteries like Zen's might experience longer ranges and reduced charging frequency, especially in power-intensive situations such as hill climbing or carrying loads.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

The prices of Li-ion batteries have declined over the past 8 years and now they are at $140/kWh for tier-1 manufactures like Tesla, Ford etc. and most of these EVs come with 8-yr battery warranty. See Bloomberg report here.

Especially, the news surrounding E-bike battery fires in NYC has been very concerning. See this NYT article.
In the E-bike industry, the prices are 4x more and the warranty is 4x less. This is where we can bring innovation to the market. So, we at Zen have been working hard to build the right engineering design. We hope to bring wire-bonded, long-lasting battery packs to the E-bike industry. Right now, we have some prototypes in-progress for 2-wheeler mopeds and 3-wheelers. These are roughly 2 to 2.5kWh packs that can daisy-chained into get upto 5kWh. These 2 kWh packs with wire-bonding, advanced thermal management and smart BMS would be very cost competitive - We are looking at approx $980 USD for 2kWh.

Our goal is to launch a few E-bike related batteries at Eurobike 2024. We greatly appreciate the feedback from the EBR community.
Our goal is to solve these critical battery problems and we are grateful to all customers who are supporting this mission of advancing battery tech in the E-bike industry.

 

[srl1_sd]

It'd be great if batteres are cross brand compatible to some extend. Great opportunity for someone to develop some standards. Also, USB-C charging would also get rid of e-waste I think so.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

It'd be great if batteres are cross brand compatible to some extend. Great opportunity for someone to develop some standards. Also, USB-C charging would also get rid of e-waste I think so.

We are very interested in hearing from the community about what makes a great E-bike battery.
From safety to charging to connectors.... there are several important metrics and we want to hear real perspectives from E-bike riders so we can advance the innovation and safety in E-bike batteries. Please so share!

 

[Mr. Coffee]

We are very interested in hearing from the community about what makes a great E-bike battery.

I'd suggest having a smart charger, preferably controlled via an app. That charger should let you select slow or fast charging modes, charge to full capacity or a lower capacity (probably 75-80 percent), and show battery performance and health statistics if possible.

Also, having a temperature sensor in a battery and having a visual indicator showing when that temperature is out of tolerance would be a good first step towards making batteries safer. I suspect but do not know that problematic batteries often show abnormally high temperatures for some time before actually catching fire or exploding. Bonus points if the hypothetical charging app can show this information and historical battery temperatures over time.

You'd have to have some kind of unique ID for each battery so you could keep track of the history of each battery in the app and charger.

Also, if you could charge, even very slowly, through a standard USB cable that would be beneficial in some circumstances.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

I'd suggest having a smart charger, preferably controlled via an app. That charger should let you select slow or fast charging modes, charge to full capacity or a lower capacity (probably 75-80 percent), and show battery performance and health statistics if possible.

Also, having a temperature sensor in a battery and having a visual indicator showing when that temperature is out of tolerance would be a good first step towards making batteries safer. I suspect but do not know that problematic batteries often show abnormally high temperatures for some time before actually catching fire or exploding. Bonus points if the hypothetical charging app can show this information and historical battery temperatures over time.

You'd have to have some kind of unique ID for each battery so you could keep track of the history of each battery in the app and charger.

Also, if you could charge, even very slowly, through a standard USB cable that would be beneficial in some circumstances.

Thank you very much. Well noted on several points.
USB-C charging will be quite beneficial and we will seriously consider it. It's funny you mention about the unique ID and we have been working on that for our work in light electric vehicle batteries in Asia and Africa.
This is something we defintiely want to implement in E-bike battery packs.

We see a lot of Hailong, Reention DP cases and many of these packs seriously lack safety and engineering standards. Attached is an image of our draft of the battery design and we will be improving the design over the course next few months and we believe that these batteries could benefit a vast majority of the E-bike market and reduce fire hazards we see in places like NYC and Toronto.

 

[srl1_sd]

Thanks Ravi.
Since you are working on new design does it mean this new battery won't work with your existing ebikes.. mainly photon and samurai.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

Thanks Ravi.
Since you are working on new design does it mean this new battery won't work with your existing ebikes.. mainly photon and samurai.

Samurai uses Bosch batteries and Bosch does not allow other batteries to work with their motor.
The battery rendering we showed here is not ready for mass production yet. Photon batteries are already designed and have gone through the UL-certification.
When we do bring the latest batteries to the market, we will make it backward compatible.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

For the past few weeks, I have been traveling, meeting cell companies like Samsung and LG, and battery production equipment companies.
Apolgies if my email response has been slow.

We are developing safer E-bike batteries with advanced technologies like wire-bonding and thermal management materials to offer the highest safety. Here are some prototype renderings of 52V,20Ah batteries that we hope to make available for the broader aftermarket segments.

I am eager to hear from the community on what kind of capacity and shape/form factors that we should offer.

 

[Ebiker33]

I sell cordless tool batteries for a living, and they have started to go to polymer lithium bags in some models away from the classic 21700 cylinder cells.
This style is giving higher power output without changing voltages, it seems to defy logic that the V and A in the formula stays the same yet it somehow produces better power.
V x A=W
But my customers that own both tell me that is has more power and lasts longer.
What I think is happening is that is that the computer chips in both the motor and battery, are unlocking a hidden next level that was always there but never used.
At least that is what another customer commented on, saying like it was like his old tool suddenly found the next higher gear producing more power.
The power tool industry especially cordless OPE tools are racing to create the best batteries for increasingly powerful tools, it sort of mimics what the E-bike battery industry is doing.
But at some point the batteries are becoming too big and bulky, 60V seems to be the cutoff for weight and size, beyond that it's just too heavy with our current technology, the next step isn't power,
but size and weight reduction.

@Ravi Kempaiah
Ravi do you think this bag polymer battery technology will come to E-bikes?