Bosch Powerpack 400

[Batteryrepair]

So recently I opened a Bosch Powertube 400 battery to repair for a customer.
I find inside 40 cells LGMJ1, cells that have 12,5Wh. So 500Wh in total.
Bosch is selling powertubes with 3500mAh cells inside, but limit them through software to 2900mAh per cell.
There is more capacity in there that's not being used. Als it limits the lower SoC, not the high SoC, so it's not even that beneficial for lifetime.
So you're paying for a battery with 20% unused, wrongly marked capacity so not according to CE rules.

 

[glennb]

You got me with the clickbait thread title, well done.

Poor customers definitely got had, getting a better battery than they paid for.

(Perhaps it’s Bosch’s Easter egg … being able to unlock the extra capacity with a special code.)

Still, you be righteous on their behalf. No harm in that.

 

[amberwolf]

I would not call it a scam; they aren't labelling it as higher capacity than it is, they're just doing something similar to what EV automakers and other big battery makers do to ensure the packs can provide the lifespan desired.

If they are doing it correctly, then it's a bit like the various computer media that have "extra" sectors/addresses the user can't directly access, which are used to replace, over time, sectors/addresses that fail--this happens silently, so the user doesn't even need to worry about it.

Similarly, a pack that uses cells bigger than it allows the use of will still provide that full capacity for more time than a pack that uses cells that are exactly what it advertises--the latter will begin losing (tiny amounts of) capacity immediately, every cycle, while packs like this that have bigger cells than advertised will take a while before user-visible capacity loss begins.

 

[glennb]

Yep, it’s anything but a scam.

The price of them on the other hand …

 

[Batteryrepair]

It is the only pack in which this procedure is done, the others have standard capacities like they're labelled.

 

[PaulD]

Do they normally have 2.7 or 3ah cells? If it was under 3, then they would need separate UN certifications for a pack with cells that have more than 20% more capacity.
Also, I would assume they would need UL testing for each cell model they use. Although, this IS the company behind Dieselgate, so perhaps I assume too much.

 

[Chalo]

It would be way cooler of them to limit high and low voltage limits equally. But whatever-- limiting the ability of turnkey e-bike dingdongs to frock their batteries to death could only be a good thing.

 

[amberwolf]

It is the only pack in which this procedure is done, the others have standard capacities like they're labelled.

Is it a newer design / model than all other packs? Or an older?

Or is it somewhere in the middle?

 

[Batteryrepair]

Is it a newer design / model than all other packs? Or an older?

Or is it somewhere in the middle?

Only powertube 400 so far.

 

[glennb]

Interesting.

Have you seen more than one of these batteries using the same cells?

What I’m getting at, is can you eliminate the possibility that Bosch might’ve done a brief production run using non-preferred cells to cover a a temporary shortfall of their preferred cells?

 

[amberwolf]

Only powertube 400 so far.

That doesn't answer the question at all.