E-Bikekit.com 36v 10ah LiFePo4 Battery

[Ypedal]

Some of you may remember a few months back : E-Bikekit.com

Since that time, I’ve been keeping in touch with Jason and his progress. A short wile ago I got an email asking my opinion on a battery pack.. One thing led to another and I received this last Friday !

[Ypedal]

Nicely packed in foam, no loosies no rattles.. NO DUCT TAPE !!!!!! ( except on the outside of the cardboard box.. .. This being the prototype i'm assured the shipment on the way will be boxed in nice new boxes.. hey.. i've been working for a shipping company for 12 years and i hate seeing sub-standard shipping practices )

Notice the metal plate on the back, once you secure this thing to a strong bike rack, the pack slides on and locks in with a key lock. Pretty slick...

[voicecoils]

It appears you were posted a block of polystyrene

I just looked at the site & found this photo amusing:


I agree with this in principle, however bikes are generally converted and don't have a dedicated slot/spot for packs. Thus it's not surprising that the lowest cost packaging option is taken by suppliers since customers have a variety of individual mounting requirements.

[Ypedal]

Solid, no cracks, no dents, the aluminum box is well built, fit and finish is good on this thing. I was aware of this thing being on the way for a while now, but chose not to say a word until i got it in my hands, I've had this happen to me in the past, big hype and great expectations.. then get a pile of crap in the end.. This is a nice refresing change..

[voicecoils]

ahaha, too quick on your edit.

the block has been split apart & the contents revealed.

Looks good. Prismatic cells inside, eh?

[Ypedal]

... ... ...
I agree with this in principle, however bikes are generally converted and don't have a dedicated slot/spot for packs. Thus it's not surprising that the lowest cost packaging option is taken by suppliers since customers have a variety of individual mounting requirements.

Yes, and no.. i have a serious gripe with the duct tape.. too fragile for batteries this size..

Jason started out with Golden Motor kits and Duct Tape covered batteries, this is absolutely a big step in the right direction.. There is also a new hub motor kit on the way as well, no longer GM, am waiting on details of that as well in a few weeks or so..

[Ypedal]

On / Off and Locking keyswitch . Serial number with barcode

[Ypedal]

Took me a while to find it.. but next to the carry handle is the usual RCA charge port..

Handle is strong and sturdy.. so far so good..

[Ypedal]

Soooo. the obvious question.. WHAT'S INSIDE ???

[Ypedal]

At the other end is the BMS..

I have not come across this bms before, it's compact, surface mount components..

[Ypedal]

Closer view..

[Ypedal]

It's a tight fit, no wasted space !!!

Layer of G10 fiberglass sheet seperating tha pack and aluminum box..

[Ypedal]

Now for the juicy part....

[Russell]

It looks like the battery Golden Motor sells on their website.

GM%20Battery%20Pack-2009.jpg (58.32 KiB) Viewed 19167 times

http://goldenmotor.com/


-R

[Ypedal]

ha.. that must be a recent addition to their site.. i had not seen that and i check it fairly often.... go figure

..

So how does it perform ?

Plugged in the 2 amp charger, sealed unit, no fan. Green light comes on.. Good.

Made myself an RCA to Anderson connector so i could install one of my Cycle Analyst meters on the charge side.. and topped it off. It was fully charged as it only took about 5 minutes for the charger light to go from Red to Green..

Cycled the pack half a dozen times at 4 amps.. checking for the usual sings of problems.. no loose wires.. no unusual heat.. all good..

Then went for a capacity test... ( sorry for the blurry pic.. hard to focus on an lcd screen )

[TPA]

What happened with the 48V wheel kit they were supposed to send you.

Link said he got his 36v kit, but hasn't posted anything about it.

I thought it was pretty rude to take it and not be prompt about reviewing it, but I never heard if they sent you one.

[John in CR]

Great, finally some info on those 10ah cells. I have 44 of them in total once I figure out how to repair or dismantle one pack I got with 5 loose tab welds. I'm really happy to hear that I can count on a real 10ah ea. That plus my 1kwh of Pings should get me halfway across Costa Rica. Add in my Konions (3kwh+ in hand and more on the way), and I may get to ride at 60kph (37mph) thru the flatlands. I gotta get busy on the aerodynamics portion of my build.

John

[dogman dan]

Yay! no round cells! I still think it should be a 20 ah , but I am biased toward big packs since I ride so far. Nice box, It would be real nice if such boxes were avaliable in the standard size for a 20 ah ping. A lot of us would want one.

[Russell]

Stack'em two high

-R

[Ypedal]

Stack'em two high

-R

Exactly...

the foil pouch packs covered in duct tape are too much un supported mass.. IMO the pings should be made of smaller modular packs but this of course complicates the BMS factor..

This 10ah pack is just fine for the market it's aimed at.. ie: Dealer Friendly 500w systems.

Of course there are exceptions to every rule, but 10ah 36v = 360wh / 10wh/km on a fairly light weight system, small hills, some wind and light pedal assist..

Range should = 30 kms on avearge.

[Ypedal]

What happened with the 48V wheel kit they were supposed to send you.

Link said he got his 36v kit, but hasn't posted anything about it.

I thought it was pretty rude to take it and not be prompt about reviewing it, but I never heard if they sent you one.

The GM kits will not be restocked, Jason is moving on to a different and better kit and i am assured i'll be getting one of those once they land .. There are a few left of the GM and they are on ebay for cheap

http://cgi.ebay.com/E-BikeKit-36V-500W- ... 7C294%3A50

99 cent no reserve !!!

[E-BikeKit.com]

Deleted. Thank you to all at ES.

[dogman dan]

Yer on the right track. The batteries look real nice, so nice not to see hundreds of cells inside, but to get home, I'd need two. I don't have the longest ride home on the sphere, but it's long enough to use 15 ah on a good day, and all 20 on a windy one. Never live or work on a big hill if you want an EV. Good luck, I was trying for those ebay auctions, but they kept bidding up at the end. Finally ended up with an aotema at a great price.

[pwbset]

YNever live or work on a big hill if you want an EV.

Hogwash!

[John in CR]

YNever live or work on a big hill if you want an EV.

Hogwash!

Agreed, but big hills significantly complicate matters. eg After I learned my lesson regarding cheap brushed motors, e-bike #2 was outfitted with a good brushless hub and 1kwh of 36V version1 pings to make 72V nominal. The result was great on the flats, but the first hill I tried with maybe a 5% grade caused the BMS's to cut out. Put steep or long hills in the mix, then battery, controller, motor, and gearing issues come into play that simply aren't a factor for flat terrain use. I hit 50mph the other day on my #4 bike, but that baby still sweats the hills, at least the uphill side.

John