My battery research story.... and what I finally picked!

[robotron2084]

For anyone who, like me, was trying to find a good battery for their ebike, I wanted to share my nerdy story. tldr: I got a battery from Affordable eBikes.ca This is not sponsored by anyone.

I wanted to get a quality eBike battery and I was trying to find a good option. I also seriously considered building my own. I know I can do it, but really to do it right would require more investment and time. I already have a 'hailong' battery but was looking for something better. I bought it off Amazon and its unclear as to the quality. I've had a couple issues with it: First the battery terminals melted and I had to solder an XT60 connector in. The second was some sudden shutdown due to some kind of odd pressure on the battery case which was resolved via some kind of 'ghost magic'. More on that in this post

So Amazon batteries, Ali and friends, were out. I'm not interested in buying something that could just be a cheap piece of junk.

So how to find a 'good' battery was difficult. I am a fan of grin's stuff, but the price was a little high, but I'm sure its great. Also the form factor I wanted wasn't in stock (a lot of their batteries aren't in stock?). A lot of links around the web are outdated as well. I came across Gouach which looked promising. But its one of those IndieGogo things that will ship when it ships. I emailed the creator and he did reply and his current forecast for shipping these is March. I wanted to buy a battery tho, not something that might ship soon.

I was getting ready to build my own and went down a youtube rabbit hole watching diy battery builds. I came across this video from Electric Bike Laboratory which was comprehensive, but really the build quality is what impressed me. This guy knows how to make a battery right. And then I found out that they actually sell ebike batteries through AffordableEbikes.ca. They actually drive over the border to ship to America once a week to avoid import fees. So after some patience the battery has arrived:



Really appreciated the attention to detail on this in general. Really well packaged in the box. I appreciate having the specs laser engraved on the top. Came with a 3A charger with active cooling. And I didn't know it but as stated on the case, it does actually come with an app to monitor charging which seems to work:



So what were the downsides here? I'd say that 'being patient' is part of this. It took 3 weeks for the battery to be made and shipped. While I appreciate active cooling on the charger, its pretty loud. But that is something I'm willing to live with. I would also say that this isn't UL Listed or anything, so while I feel comfortable purchasing this battery and feel the quality is there, maybe you are willing to spend that extra cash for something certified.

But the upside is that I had a custom battery made to my specs, with the connector type i wanted, to a quality level that I'm happy with. The price was respectable (it was $435 with shipping to Arizona in the US). Since the battery just arrived it will take some time for me to ride it and see how it fares on my setup (CycleAnalyst with a BaseRunner and a TSM-A5). Will report back.

Hope others find this info helpful.
Thanks!

 

[aae34]

fwiw., that bms w/bluetooth is JBD.

 

[neptronix]

Hey, thanks for reporting in on these batteries. Of course what we really want to see is the build quality.. but that might screw up your warranty!

Impressed that they provide a decent bluetooth BMS. I've long been an em3ev diehard but in my most recent order, i didn't get a bluetooth BMS on my last order.

Their wide variety of different form factors is pretty awesome too:



Would love to hear more!

 

[thepronghorn]

I really like the low profile of the slim packs!

 

[raylo32]

Wow, those look cool... and the prices are reasonable. I'll have to measure my X1 Pro bike, but a pair of those 72v sticks would turn it into a motorcycle. How are those dual sticks installed? Is that some sort rubber bands holding them to the downtube? Or are they band clamps.

 

[DingusMcGee]

You did all this searching, yet you report nothing about discharge rates on these wonderful cell packs? I have since reading this thread read went to the AffordableBikes site and see they have some batteries in a category they call ‘high discharge’ but no numbers, e.g. ‘24C’ you might get on some powerful LiPo cell packs. The lack of a C discharge rate on these items makes any comparison of this batterie’s max discharge impossible to ascertaine.

 

[neptronix]

I can't think of a single company other than hobbyking that lists C rate.

Affordable bikes is a low achiever in terms of listing specifications. My main problem is that weight is not listed.
My usual rule is, no specs, no buy. However, they will respond to very specific questions, so you could just ask. I did get an answer when i asked!

But they do list the cell make, which you can look up a datasheet for, and see the C rate. There's a big correlation between capacity and C rate, so if you are looking for something along the lines of RC Lipo in cylindrical format.

 

[99t4]

How are those dual sticks installed? Is that some sort rubber bands holding them to the downtube? Or are they band clamps.

I have similar form factor (salvaged from bikeshare rental bikes, where they were designed to slide down into the oversize seat tube), one on either side of the top tube. Mine are clamped in with stainless steel high quality common wormdrive hose clamps. They don't budge! Does not interfere with my preferred narrow q-factor.

I'll post some photos when I get the time.

 

[amberwolf]

Affordable bikes is a low achiever in terms of listing specifications. My main problem is that weight is not listed.
My usual rule is, no specs, no buy. However, they will respond to very specific questions, so you could just ask. I did get an answer when i asked!

Just curious: Do they also then update their pages with the info? (preferably all the pages of all their products, but at minimum the specific one you ask about)

If not, that's not terribly helpful, as it forces every single person to ask and forces their support to waste a lot of time.