Is there any E-bike under 160 wh?

[skyjay]

Hi,
I'm trying to find a folding E-bike that has battery capacity of 160 wh or lower.
I am planning to take it with me on the airplane and most airlines only allow lithium ion battery below 160 WH for 'carry-on'
After a few days of searching, the only bike that is close to that spec is 'Jupiter Discovery X5', which has 182 WH.

I know I can ship the battery separately but it will be very complicated and costly. Also, there will be duties and taxes in the country I will arrive at.
If I can bring the battery with me, that will make everything so easy.

I can't believe why there is no e-bike company that will make the battery that people can take in the airplane.
I'm sure there are many people like me who would want to purchase that type of e-bike, even with low range of travel.

PLEASE HELP!!

 

[JRA]

LiGo Batteries - Grin Products - Product Info

The LiGo battery is a modular 36V pack designed and manufactured at Grin that is just under the 100 Wh limit allowed for passenger air travel. This allows you to bring multiple small batteries with you in your carry-on baggage, and then hook the packs together to behave as a single large battery...

ebikes.ca

This is the only way I know to meet your requirements. Grin also has ready to install kits for Brompton folding bikes.

 

[Art Deco]

The Grin units look good. Another possibility is to take a bike that will accept a small range extender in addition to the main internal battery and leave the main battery at home. Trek and Specialized make bikes like that, but apparently extender batteries are mostly out of stock and internal battery removal is difficult.

 

[FlatSix911]

Another option... rent an Ebike when you arrive at your destination.
I used to rent bikes frequently when I would travel to Charity fundraiser rides.

 

[harryS]

The LiGo's would work. I run my folding fleet on a mish mash of 36V batteries, although mine are 200-300WH. At 190 pounds, I use 10WH/mile. I would need two of the LiGo's to go 20 miles. If I needed the airline portability, I would run them. Probably three per bike.

For a commercial folding e-bike, maybe look for one with a easily removeable external battery. You'll need to fashion a wiring harness with connectors for the LiGo's. THese are all DIY conversions.

 

[skyjay]

LiGo Batteries - Grin Products - Product Info

The LiGo battery is a modular 36V pack designed and manufactured at Grin that is just under the 100 Wh limit allowed for passenger air travel. This allows you to bring multiple small batteries with you in your carry-on baggage, and then hook the packs together to behave as a single large battery...

ebikes.ca

This is the only way I know to meet your requirements. Grin also has ready to install kits for Brompton folding bikes.

Thank you.
That is amazing. I've seen this product before but I did not think you can actually use it for the e-bike.
Brompton bike's are expensive and buying a kit for it seems like a daunting task for me.
The only challenge for me now is to how to figure out how to install these batteries into the e-bike I'm going to get.
It have narrowed downed to 3 bikes (lectric, Radmini or Jupiter x5)
They all have different battery casings. I've searched for 'how to swap electric bike battery with liGo battery but there was no information.
I guess my next step is to contact 'Ebikes' for that information.

Thank you again for this. I think I will pursue this option.
Cheers!

P.S.
I found this video but it seems a little scary... Do you think this is the way I should install LiGo batteries?

Thanks.

 

[rich c]

If you notice, none of harry's small bikes have oversized tires on them. You won't do yourself any favors with the resistance of oversized tires with a tiny battery.

 

[skyjay]

The LiGo's would work. I run my folding fleet on a mish mash of 36V batteries, although mine are 200-300WH. At 190 pounds, I use 10WH/mile. I would need two of the LiGo's to go 20 miles. If I needed the airline portability, I would run them. Probably three per bike.

For a commercial folding e-bike, maybe look for one with a easily removeable external battery. You'll need to fashion a wiring harness with connectors for the LiGo's. THese are all DIY conversions.
View attachment 77376

Hi harryS,

Thanks you for your feedback.
I think you narrowed down the type of bike I should purchase for this to work.
As I mentioned in JRA's reply, I am deciding to buy Lectric, RadMini or Jupiter x5.
Lectic and Jupiter's batteries fit inside the frame whereas RadMini is exposed battery.
So I should buy a RadMini type bike for this to work if I understand you correctly.
I guess it is easier to install because I can just drop it in the frame?

Thanks for your feedback!

 

[skyjay]

Another option... rent an Ebike when you arrive at your destination.
I used to rent bikes frequently when I would travel to Charity fundraiser rides.

Thanks for your reply.
I go to Cuba most of the time and it's hard to find rental there and also very expensive.

 

[skyjay]

The Grin units look good. Another possibility is to take a bike that will accept a small range extender in addition to the main internal battery and leave the main battery at home. Trek and Specialized make bikes like that, but apparently extender batteries are mostly out of stock and internal battery removal is difficult.

Thanks for your reply.
I think I will go with LiGo battery option.
Specialized and Trek don't carry folding e-bike and I did not see any extender option.
If you have more details, I would like to take a look into this too.

 

[skyjay]

If you notice, none of harry's small bikes have oversized tires on them. You won't do yourself any favors with the resistance of oversized tires with a tiny battery.

Yes you are right.
Maybe Lectric and RadMini aren't a good options... They are over 60 pounds and have powerful motors.

 

[Art Deco]

The Specialized and Trek bikes that are marked SL or HP are the super light weight low power (~30 lb ?) road bikes with battery extender options. No folding bike options from the big names. Perhaps look at a tiny Brompton electric folder, but that's really a different class of bike. I would look into a Montague with a 180Wh Swytch kit before I'd go for the tiny wheels on a small folder. Most folders are pretty heavy.

 

[harryS]

Radmini and Lectric XP are 48V, not 36V. So that's out. You could find a 36V fat tire folder. They're heavier bikes, 2X heavier than mine, but if you ride them slow, under pedal assist 1, you can get close to 10-12 WH/mile. I also have one. They're not the kind you really want to carry onto public transport.

Look at the difference in tire sizes. I built these two wheels a year ago. It's true that 20x4" is comfy, but it's like a fullsize bike.




Maybe a folder with 20x2.1" tires would work OK on Cuban roads.

 

[FlatSix911]

LiGo Batteries - Grin Products - Product Info

The LiGo battery is a modular 36V pack designed and manufactured at Grin that is just under the 100 Wh limit allowed for passenger air travel. This allows you to bring multiple small batteries with you in your carry-on baggage, and then hook the packs together to behave as a single large battery...

ebikes.ca

This is the only way I know to meet your requirements. Grin also has ready to install kits for Brompton folding bikes.

What a great idea! Modular battery units for travel... just assemble them like Lego bricks.

 

[JRA]

Thank you.
That is amazing. I've seen this product before but I did not think you can actually use it for the e-bike.
Brompton bike's are expensive and buying a kit for it seems like a daunting task for me.
The only challenge for me now is to how to figure out how to install these batteries into the e-bike I'm going to get.
It have narrowed downed to 3 bikes (lectric, Radmini or Jupiter x5)
They all have different battery casings. I've searched for 'how to swap electric bike battery with liGo battery but there was no information.
I guess my next step is to contact 'Ebikes' for that information.

Thank you again for this. I think I will pursue this option.
Cheers!

P.S.
I found this video but it seems a little scary... Do you think this is the way I should install LiGo batteries?

Thanks.

Pretty simple really, just connect the LiGo's, which can be carried in a fabric bke bag, leads into the controller leads that the stock battery plug into. You might need to match the plugs but easy enough to do. Leave your stock battery off but still able to plug back in if you only change the leads of the LiGO's if you want to anytime. All the bikes you mention are applicable but it would be harder to do with a proprietary system like the major manufactureres use.

 

[skyjay]

Radmini and Lectric XP are 48V, not 36V. So that's out. You could find a 36V fat tire folder. They're heavier bikes, 2X heavier than mine, but if you ride them slow, under pedal assist 1, you can get close to 10-12 WH/mile. I also have one. They're not the kind you really want to carry onto public transport.

Look at the difference in tire sizes. I built these two wheels a year ago. It's true that 20x4" is comfy, but it's like a fullsize bike.

View attachment 77382


Maybe a folder with 20x2.1" tires would work OK on Cuban roads.

Wow. Can't believe those are the same size rim. Thanks for the picture. I can really see the difference.
I did not know I could not use 36V battery to replace 48 V battery. Good point.
I really like JupiterBike for its' portability. I just need to figure out how to replace the battery with LiGo battery.
I just don't like the low range of travel but I guess carrying extra batteries will solve that problem.

Thanks a lot!!

 

[skyjay]

Pretty simple really, just connect the LiGo's, which can be carried in a fabric bke bag, leads into the controller leads that the stock battery plug into. You might need to match the plugs but easy enough to do. Leave your stock battery off but still able to plug back in if you only change the leads of the LiGO's if you want to anytime. All the bikes you mention are applicable but it would be harder to do with a proprietary system like the major manufactureres use.

Thanks JRA