Batteries - Bulk or Wholesale

[RidingJesus]

Hello fellow riders.

I see a lot of discussion about gas, but also the cleaner alternative - electric.

In my intro thread, my main objective is staying clean and not touching the dirty gas engine. I may consider electric or hybrid instead if the cost can be manageable.

The biggest obstacle is the batteries. Where can you get a lot of power for cheap, and not be so heavy that you burn most of your power hauling the heavy batteries themselves.

Lead batteries are too heavy, so I want to consider other options, unless I can get a good deal on many of them.
NiCd or NiMH seem like the best alternative for cheap and lightweight power.
Lithium batteries are the best, however expensive with huge profit margins.

It seems like a bulk of small cells can be made to make large batteries.

Anyone here know where to get LOTS AND LOTS of rechargeable batteries of any kind, to make battery packs for electric bicycles? With enough cells, any size battery can be made.

God Bless,
RidingJesus

 

[JinbaIttai]

You can try hitting up your local Home Depot for some freebies.
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090216/LIFE/902160305/1076

 

[augidog]

SLA's do have a lot of bang for the buck, but the weight is most definitely an efficiency issue for motorvatin'...

that's a neat idea jin'...but i dunno if a corp. like home depot would let 'em go once they're turned in, tho...liabilities and all that, improper disposal, blah-blah...bah! it'd be a shame to get caught doing the right thing, eh?

try looking up a local security company...

they usually replace the 12V SLA's in their alarm/lighting systems LONG before they've "expired"

 

[Revorunner]

Hello fellow riders.

I see a lot of discussion about gas, but also the cleaner alternative - electric.

In my intro thread, my main objective is staying clean and not touching the dirty gas engine. I may consider electric or hybrid instead if the cost can be manageable.

The biggest obstacle is the batteries. Where can you get a lot of power for cheap, and not be so heavy that you burn most of your power hauling the heavy batteries themselves.

Lead batteries are too heavy, so I want to consider other options, unless I can get a good deal on many of them.
NiCd or NiMH seem like the best alternative for cheap and lightweight power.
Lithium batteries are the best, however expensive with huge profit margins.

It seems like a bulk of small cells can be made to make large batteries.

Anyone here know where to get LOTS AND LOTS of rechargeable batteries of any kind, to make battery packs for electric bicycles? With enough cells, any size battery can be made.

God Bless,
RidingJesus

Try your local computer shops,Used Laptop batteries are a good source.

 

[duivendyk]

Weight certainly is a factor but mostly under stop&go conditions like in urban surroundings or in hilly terrain,because usually the energy expended climbing is not recovered.On the flats low weight will buy range.Lithium batteries are the champs in that regard.but they are expensive and rather temperamental.For one thing they cannot be fully discharged,that will ruin them.If range is not that important but cost is,deep discharge SLA's have their appeal.You can get about 16 Watt.hr per pound,so a 24V 30 Ah battery would weigh about 45lbs.Good for 3 hrs at 250 W.(with some pedal assist).That adds about 20 % to the weight of the rider+vehicle.They are fairly rugged and not fussy, but eventually wear out (lose capacity).

 

[sjacome]

LiPo is the way to go, since u respect their limitations.

www.batteryuniversity.com has a compreensive guide to the diferent battery chemistryes and their pros and cons, read it.

i'm also considering electric, and so far my batt source will be www.hobbycity.com , cause as a wide range of LiPo pack's in varied prices, voltages and capacities, and is used by rc hobbist all over the world and they all say is the most competitive shop.

My idea is to buy the minimun pack's needed and then adding more as my needs/input on my setup.

godspeed with ur project and i hope to have helped U (sorry 4 my rusted lausy english)

 

[Ypedal]

Oh man.. batteries... it's all about the battery !!!

www.ebikes.ca if you want Nicad they are the best place to shop, avoid NIMH as it self discharges too fast and tends to be a bit fragile with discharge rates...

SLA is heavy and does not last much more than one season, 2 if you treat them very nicely...

Lithium comes in many flavors, Cobalt, Manganese, Iron Phosphate are the 3 main chemistries... The stuff you get from hobycity is " Cobalt " aka : LiPo, lightest of them all but volatile if you don't know how to charge/discharge them properly.... i would not recommend this to anyone new to the ebike scene..

All that said.. i love my ebikes.. quiet, clean, plenty of power if you do it right..

either a Hub motor or a Chain drive setup, depends on your needs..

Things like Weight, terrain, range required per charge, personal taste of bicycle ( folding, bms, MTB, cruiser, chopper ) all factor in.

edit to add : profit margins on ebike lithium packs are not huge, they are practically non-existant, i've gone all the way to factories in china to buy sample packs and compare this to vendors who try to make a dollar with online stores.. it's a cut throat industry with very little profit for most.

 

[buzbikebklyn1]

Ahh yes... the price of good battery's, the main hitch to the entire electro bike thing.
given time the cost will come down...look at what happened to the price of Ni Cads after Li Po's came out.