Mabman
E*POWAH Elite World Champion
There is a wide pricing gap in battery prices and it seems like there is little ryme nor reason for it to me.
I was on a ride with a friend that has a couple year old Levo that has the 500ish wh battery and he has been talking about getting the 700ish wh battery since last year. He was complaining that it cost $1200 and as he is retired and on a fixed income hard to swallow. So for this season he decided to work it into his budget and when he looked it up the pricing had increased to $1400. So now he is complaining again......
I know he is not alone in having a "Name Brand" bike with a proprietary system but there really isn't that much tech involved in a battery itself. Cells and a BMS and some wiring in a case is about it. Certainly a cheap as battery can have weak cells and crap BMS and wiring and will never work with any type of proprietary system but there are plenty of good cell/BMS batteries being made that are much cheaper to purchase, you just need a non proprietary open source system.
Having come to a integrated battery/motor system from years of DIY I have to this point I have never spent more than $600 shipped on a battery and that was a 52v 740wh w/30A BMS 21700 cell model in a Hailong (shark) case. It works great to this day.
However I now have a 48v/30A BMS 840wh integrated battery in a DengFu E22 frame, same battery as an E10 takes, and am less than impressed by the stock battery and in seeking another contacted an Asian manufacturer that has the same case as stock for ease of application. Worked out some details in regards to whether to go with 18650 or 21700 cells which will also fit in the stock case but with a slight reduction in capacity to 780wh/52v/21700 LG cell with a 40A BMS. Amount sent was under $500 including shipping. The stock battery is so anemic that it actually is only getting about 700wh's of usable energy anyway.
So why there is such a huge discrepancy is still a mystery to me? I suppose it just has to do with profit margin but really, how much of that can one ram down their customers throats? It makes me feel bad for my riding buddy though that I can get a better battery for almost 1/3 of the price. I will end up with two batteries though that will be all I need for any epic days out planned but in reality only need the one at a time for my daily jaunts.
I was on a ride with a friend that has a couple year old Levo that has the 500ish wh battery and he has been talking about getting the 700ish wh battery since last year. He was complaining that it cost $1200 and as he is retired and on a fixed income hard to swallow. So for this season he decided to work it into his budget and when he looked it up the pricing had increased to $1400. So now he is complaining again......
I know he is not alone in having a "Name Brand" bike with a proprietary system but there really isn't that much tech involved in a battery itself. Cells and a BMS and some wiring in a case is about it. Certainly a cheap as battery can have weak cells and crap BMS and wiring and will never work with any type of proprietary system but there are plenty of good cell/BMS batteries being made that are much cheaper to purchase, you just need a non proprietary open source system.
Having come to a integrated battery/motor system from years of DIY I have to this point I have never spent more than $600 shipped on a battery and that was a 52v 740wh w/30A BMS 21700 cell model in a Hailong (shark) case. It works great to this day.
However I now have a 48v/30A BMS 840wh integrated battery in a DengFu E22 frame, same battery as an E10 takes, and am less than impressed by the stock battery and in seeking another contacted an Asian manufacturer that has the same case as stock for ease of application. Worked out some details in regards to whether to go with 18650 or 21700 cells which will also fit in the stock case but with a slight reduction in capacity to 780wh/52v/21700 LG cell with a 40A BMS. Amount sent was under $500 including shipping. The stock battery is so anemic that it actually is only getting about 700wh's of usable energy anyway.
So why there is such a huge discrepancy is still a mystery to me? I suppose it just has to do with profit margin but really, how much of that can one ram down their customers throats? It makes me feel bad for my riding buddy though that I can get a better battery for almost 1/3 of the price. I will end up with two batteries though that will be all I need for any epic days out planned but in reality only need the one at a time for my daily jaunts.
