Great question - last time I flew over with a 48v, 7ah LiFePO4 pack in my F'ing carry on. I disconnected it, taped the terminals w/clear tape, etc, to make 4x 12v, 7ah bricks (each @84wh, the limit is 100wh per battery), but I still had to prove to the TSA as well as the airline that I was following all the rules. I was literally flying with a buddy pass ticket provided by one of the airline's current pilots, yet the guy at the check-in counter refused to give me a boarding pass. After showing him the batteries, he actually put a block on my reservation due to my scary looking 'hazardous materials,' called the Hazmat squad, got himself in a real wad. After 5 hours waiting, pulling my hair out, almost cancelled the trip, that guy went home, a happier-looking guy started working, I didn't say anything about my batteries, and he removed the hold and let me on. I just told him that my bike was 'heavy,' nothing about the electric motor. The fist guy had also told me I wan't allowed to take an e-bike on the plane, even with batteries removed. Thanks hoverboards... With about 23 minutes before takeoff, I got in the TSA line. Literally ~12 minutes before takeoff, these guys bust out a binder and try to tell me I can only bring 2 of the 4 cells. I said 'show me the binder.' He pointed to the wrong paragraph, where it talks about 100-160wh spare laptop batteries, meaning you can only have 2 of them. I said dude, look at the next one down, the one that is HIGHLIGHTED IN YOUR GDAM MANUAL!!!! He said ok, let me just swipe for bombs then you can be on your way. And if that wasn't enough, they held the plane for a couple minutes & were making announcements because a lady in first class was late! I had 5 different people tell me I wasn't allowed to do what I was doing, even though I followed every publised rule to the T. This is a warning.
I will never do that again if I can help it!!!!!!!!!! After arriving at the airport 6 hours early, I had to sprint through about 12 terminals, got on JUST in time, and didn't sleep for almost 3 days thru all this b/c I had already stayed up the night before to finish building the bike. I had a ~49lb backpacking backpack, a 49 pound bike box, a separate 25lb box containing solar panels, and a ~25 lb carry on. I dragged all this sh!t through Amtrak stations (they thought my bike was too heavy and got really pissed), the Dulles+Geneva airports, TGV & SNCF trains, and seemingly miles down hallways, streets, omg... I fell over, ripped my pants, bumped into people, probably looked like a str8 hobo, and the TSA had all but destroyed my bike boxes while sniffing for AK47's (how they found time to search these boxes is just beyond me). Thank you Anick from the Sun Trip for recognizing my fatigue, and letting me crash in Chambery after arrival in France - I just wasn't gonna make it all the way to Clermont-Ferrand in my sleepless, zombie state. She literally had to translate my American into English for people b/c I was so out of it...
I should say that Guillaume of the Sun Trip offered to loan me a bike because of the issue I almost had at the airport. He had also previously offered to loan me a 48v battery, which I should have done lol.
Story time over; I hope that anecdote helps at least 1 person looking to travel internationally with their e-bike. Take it seriously, and prepare adequately. If, for instance, you are using LiGo batteries, do your homework to make sure your airline will allow e-drive technology on board - many airlines have banned e-bikes, even with the batteries removed, b/c of (unfounded & misinformed) safety concerns. Again, blame cheap hoverboards for this issue.
Next time, I plan to work with a company called iContainer, and ship our bikes via an LCL shipment from Charlotte, NC, to the port of Marsailles in France. We will then start the trip early in Marsailles and do a little ride testing otw to Le Puy. I spoke with them once so far, and she told me that after I provide a MSDS for the battery, and a filled out bill of lading, then she can make me a quote for the shipment after consulting w/ their agent in FR. I think this only works if the batteries are 'contained in equipment,' so that's how I'll pack the bike. She also mentioned that they like to do there-and-back shipments, or two way, so the return is looking promising as well. Most restrictions for lithium batteries are for air shipping; sea shipping does also have rules, but they're a little more lax than the air reqt's. When I used to work at Organic Transit, this is how we shipped ELF's overseas, although maybe they used a different logistics company. It's still a headache, but a lot easier than normal, say, FedEx type shipping. I'm guessing that this wil come out to $~500, or around $800 for two complete solar bikes. Not cheap. But neither is the plane ticket...
BIG fan of solar... but where's yer Spanker? (ESB "Search found 13 matches: spanker sail") :wink:
