lifepo4 battery for ebike

[kaliflower]

Hi,

I'm new to the ebike scene. I wanted to convert my dad's old bike to an electric one using a conversion kit. I see most of them have a lead acid battery in a bag that power the bike. From the research I did I saw that the more expensive kits have lithium battery. Are the lithium battery much better the the lead acid ones? On ebay I saw a bunch of less expensive (compared to the kit maker) lithium battery but they are all from china but there is one us seller called bioennopower that sells a lifepo4 (same as lithium ion??) battery for less than what the conversion kit vendor are charging for the upgrade. Has anyone heard or used this battery?

thanks.

 

[DAND214]

First thing is, Welcome.

Hi,

I'm new to the ebike scene. I wanted to convert my dad's old bike to an electric one using a conversion kit. I see most of them have a lead acid battery in a bag that power the bike. From the research I did I saw that the more expensive kits have lithium battery. Are the lithium battery much better the the lead acid ones? On ebay I saw a bunch of less expensive (compared to the kit maker) lithium battery but they are all from china but there is one us seller called bioennopower that sells a lifepo4 (same as lithium ion??) battery for less than what the conversion kit vendor are charging for the upgrade. Has anyone heard or used this battery?

thanks.

Lifepo4 is not LiPo bit sometimes confused as just lithium battery.
LiFePo is safer than LiPO or sometimes Lithium-ion.
How about a link to the seller that has that battery cheap so we can comment on it.
Other question, Lead is Dead some say. Yes Lithium is way better than SLA but also more expensive.

One more think before you get in trouble here.
Please fill in you Profile as to where on the earth you are located so we can assist.
Dan

 

[Joseph C.]

Welcome.

I take it your from California?

Lithium cobalt oxide is what is wrongly called LiPo which is just a particular battery format called lithium polymer.

LiFePO4 is much cheaper in the long term than lead-acid. You will get about two years at best from lead if you look after it well. A good lithium iron phosphate battery should last you at least five years if you give it the same treatment. Who knows you may even get ten years.

 

[kaliflower]

Hi,

Thanks for the quick response. I am from San Diego so I guess my name gave it away. Thanks for the clarification on the difference between the lithium type, they all sound the same so I got confused.I found this company on Ebay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bioenno-Power-12V-12Ah-Lithium-Iron-Phosphate-LiFePO4-SEALED-Battery-w-PCM-/181137490382?pt=US_Rechargeable_Batteries&hash=item2a2ca2c1ce). It looks like they have a website too at www.bioennopower.com. The website has more selection than their ebay page.They are actually in SoCal so I can possibly drive to their office to see what they have. So if I keep my bike around for some time it's better to use lifepo4 because it last a lot longer than lead acid?

 

[davec]

"Are the lithium battery much better the the lead acid ones?" big time
if you need your ebike for serious use go for lithium- if it's a toy and your not going to use it much at all than sla might work for yu but dont expect any performance , the lifespan is also short

 

[Joseph C.]

Hi,

Thanks for the quick response. I am from San Diego so I guess my name gave it away. Thanks for the clarification on the difference between the lithium type, they all sound the same so I got confused.I found this company on Ebay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bioenno-Power-12V-12Ah-Lithium-Iron-Phosphate-LiFePO4-SEALED-Battery-w-PCM-/181137490382?pt=US_Rechargeable_Batteries&hash=item2a2ca2c1ce). It looks like they have a website too at http://www.bioennopower.com. The website has more selection than their ebay page.They are actually in SoCal so I can possibly drive to their office to see what they have. So if I keep my bike around for some time it's better to use lifepo4 because it last a lot longer than lead acid?

I wouldn't go with them but I'm quite cautious by nature. I would only go with a trusted vendor unless other people on the forum have had success with them. You need three batteries to give you a working voltage and you would have to connect them yourselves.

Ping and cell_man offer LiFePO4 and are well-respected. What's more their batteries will be plug-and-play. No wiring required.

http://www.pingbattery.com/servlet/the-48V-LiFePO4-Battery-Packs/Categories?gclid=COL61I6WuLkCFatF2wodL1MAXA and http://www.emissions-free.com/store/.

What range do you require? What speed? Have you already purchased a kit? Are you going direct drive or geared motor? What is the terrain like?

 

[dogman dan]

Main thing on that ebay battery is that the max discharge rate for it is 12 amps. That's pretty weak, since many kits for ebikes use 20-30 amps controllers.

And, it's not that great a price, even for this side of the pond. A 15 ah pingbattery lifepo4 is not a bad choice, for use with typical kits that come with 20 amps controllers. EM3ev's batteries are slightly stronger, and 10 ah of that should be enough.

 

[CogHog]

Here is a meetup club in San Diego for ebikes.

http://www.meetup.com/Electric-Bike-Club-of-San-Diego

My buddy Hemdan is in SD and can share info and a test ride of his bike. We are in the Facebook ES also.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/125035107565566/

I have some of these available without the big shipping from China. I am 60 miles north of you. Can get a 48 volt LiFep04 also. And NMC batteries too which is a little better then the LiFe and smaller.

Rob

 

[wesnewell]

Start here, and keep reading.
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/types_of_lithium_ion
http://scriptasylum.com/rc_speed/lipo.html
http://www.rchelicopterfun.com/rc-lipo-batteries.html
http://www.endless-sphere.com/w/index.php/Main_Page#Rechargeable_Batteries