A replacement battery

[shroffman]

Hi All,

I bought my bike in Japan, a Benelli Tagete Cross 27.5 with Bafang M400 motor (https://www.benellibike.jp/e-bikes_tagetcross.php). I could not bring the battery on the flight due to it being classified as "dangerous goods" so I brought the bike without the battery.

Now I am on the lookout for a new battery for it, just wondering can any battery fit it? See lots on Amazon and AliExpress but not sure if these are compatible.
Also, the original battery was 36V 11A, want to upgrade to a 48V 17A for a bit more oomph. Anyone know if this is possible? Would I need to change the controller?

Anyway thanks for listening.

 

[Benjahmin]

Don't know if Bafang system uses comms or not. Look at terminals where battery connects. How many terminals are there? If only two then, likely, any 36v battery will do, if more then it will have to be a Benelli battery.
You're misunderstanding battery rating terminology. What you had was a 36v 11Ah. Ah is amp hours and tells you the capcity of the battery. So a 17Ah would give you more range but not more oomph.

 

[Bonzo Banana]

Hi All,

I bought my bike in Japan, a Benelli Tagete Cross 27.5 with Bafang M400 motor (https://www.benellibike.jp/e-bikes_tagetcross.php). I could not bring the battery on the flight due to it being classified as "dangerous goods" so I brought the bike without the battery.

Now I am on the lookout for a new battery for it, just wondering can any battery fit it? See lots on Amazon and AliExpress but not sure if these are compatible.
Also, the original battery was 36V 11A, want to upgrade to a 48V 17A for a bit more oomph. Anyone know if this is possible? Would I need to change the controller?

Anyway thanks for listening.

I've not heard of changing voltage for mid-drive motors before but then that is probably because most have a controlled eco-system of parts. Bafang may be different but typically mid-drive has the controller board built in so you can't upgrade the controller so unless it was dual voltage compatible from delivery I wouldn't of thought you could do it. As ever increasing voltage means more speed and typically could mean a faster wear rate and mid-drives can be expensive to service and repair but again Bafang typically are much more open with spare parts both availability and pricing. I'd like to see a lot more bikes pre-configured with Bafang motors we get a lot of Bosch based ebikes over here which are appalling value both to buy and maintain compared to Bafang mid-drive motors typically.

 

[Az.]

That is a really nice bike. May I ask how much did you pay for it?

 

[Woosh]

Hi All,

I bought my bike in Japan, a Benelli Tagete Cross 27.5 with Bafang M400 motor (https://www.benellibike.jp/e-bikes_tagetcross.php). I could not bring the battery on the flight due to it being classified as "dangerous goods" so I brought the bike without the battery.

Now I am on the lookout for a new battery for it, just wondering can any battery fit it? See lots on Amazon and AliExpress but not sure if these are compatible.
Also, the original battery was 36V 11A, want to upgrade to a 48V 17A for a bit more oomph. Anyone know if this is possible? Would I need to change the controller?

Anyway thanks for listening.

it's just a common garden 36V HL downtube battery.
There is no proprietary protection for the battery on Bafang kits.

 

[sjpt]

The motor should be happy with a higher voltage. You may need to change the controller, or possibly reprogram the old one for a different voltage.

What you had was a 36v 11Ah. Ah is amp hours and tells you the capcity of the battery. So a 17Ah would give you more range but not more oomph.

17Ah may give you a little more oomph; it will either have higher capacity cells than an 11Ah one, or more parallel banks of cells. In either case will probably be able to deliver a the same current with less voltage sag. That can be significant when you hit a hill near the end of a ride when both you and the battery are tired.

But as Benjahmin implies, it will be the change to 48v that makes most difference.

 

[Woosh]

The motor should be happy with a higher voltage. You may need to change the controller, or possibly reprogram the old one for a different voltage.

the controller is built into the motor on that model and you can't change the voltage without changing the LCD.

 

[shroffman]

Don't know if Bafang system uses comms or not. Look at terminals where battery connects. How many terminals are there? If only two then, likely, any 36v battery will do, if more then it will have to be a Benelli battery.
You're misunderstanding battery rating terminology. What you had was a 36v 11Ah. Ah is amp hours and tells you the capcity of the battery. So a 17Ah would give you more range but not more oomph.

Thanks Benjahmin. Yes hoping to get more range from 17aH and more speed by switching to a 48V.

 

[shroffman]

That is a really nice bike. May I ask how much did you pay for it?

Thanks Az, at today's exchange rate works out to about 1050 squid.

 

[shroffman]

the controller is built into the motor on that model and you can't change the voltage without changing the LCD.

I've seen controller parts for sale online for the motor, and LCDs are dead cheap too .So I'm up for changing a few things as long as it works

 

[shroffman]

it's just a common garden 36V HL downtube battery.
There is no proprietary protection for the battery on Bafang kits.

Thanks Woosh, that's good to know.

 

[Woosh]

I've seen controller parts for sale online for the motor, and LCDs are dead cheap too .So I'm up for changing a few things as long as it works

the connectors and communication protocol are different on the mid drives, you can't use cheap (but not so cheap anymore) BBSes parts on the mid drives.
I love the Bafang mid drives but they put up their prices so such since Covid that scares me. This is my Woosh Rambla with one of Bafang mid drives:

 

[cyclebuddy]

Yes hoping to get more range from 17aH and more speed by switching to a 48V.

My own (very similar overall) hybrid e-bike uses an early version 36v M400 with the same control/display system.

You can adjust the display to give (on my own bike) a max of up to 28mph assisted. Or use the freely available PC or Android app to change not only the max speed, but any other power parameter too. You don't need to change components: The standard M400 motor/controller is more than capable.

The only caveats here are that the system you have may use either the (earlier) UART or (introduced at a later date) a CanBus protocol. Mine is UART and works as above. A later CanBus system may be different - I don't know if the apps work with that. Secondly, you may need to change gearing otherwise with increased assisted speed you'll likely spin out too soon.

On my own bike, you can use any generic battery with the UART M400, the capacity you pay for allowing you to choose how much range you get. I use two 374Wh batteries giving me 21Ah total, which is far more range than I've ever personally needed.

 

[shroffman]

My own (very similar overall) hybrid e-bike uses an early version 36v M400 with the same control/display system.

You can adjust the display to give (on my own bike) a max of up to 28mph assisted. Or use the freely available PC or Android app to change not only the max speed, but any other power parameter too. You don't need to change components: The standard M400 motor/controller is more than capable.

The only caveats here are that the system you have may use either the (earlier) UART or (introduced at a later date) a CanBus protocol. Mine is UART and works as above. A later CanBus system may be different - I don't know if the apps work with that. Secondly, you may need to change gearing otherwise with increased assisted speed you'll likely spin out too soon.

On my own bike, you can use any generic battery with the UART M400, the capacity you pay for allowing you to choose how much range you get. I use two 374Wh batteries giving me 21Ah total, which is far more range than I've ever personally needed.

Is that the Bafang Go app?

 

[cyclebuddy]

Is that the Bafang Go app?

No. On PC, the Bafang Config Tool, later modified by Stefan Penov. Or the Speeed App on Android.

You shouldn't need either just to change max speed (at least not with the bike shown in my avatar), which you can change from the handlebar display (Program menu - PS - 0512).

My bike does use the same communication protocol as the BBS's, but this may NOT work if your bike uses the alternative CanBus or your display/controller was deliberately locked by the bike maker.