ANYBODY TRIED THESE ?....... china comes to town
- Thread starter geostorm
- Start date
Hate to sound like a spoil sport here. I'm all for lower priced batteries but it's often a case of "buyers beware" on eBay these days. It's very hard to tell who you're dealing with thanks to the lapse way eBay is being run.
There are many sellers operating out of China, using eBay UK accounts to sell dropshipped goods sent weekly in bulk to persons in the UK who despatch them out. That sounds fine on the face of it, you save on shipping and VAT etc, lower prices.. but if anything goes wrong with the purchase, you have absolutely no UK legal consumer protection and have to deal with the Chinese company in China (i.e. if you have to return anything, it has to go to China). Sellers should be declaring this but instead give the impression you're dealing with a UK firm and the flags and all that reinforce that impression. Also remember that if you DO receive anything faulty and want a refund, you won't be protected by PayPal's promises of "100% protection" until you can provide proof you have returned the goods to China (which is probably going to cost you more than it's worth).
Just thought I'd mention it, be careful guys and girls. Do your research carefully and be sure you know who you're dealing with and what you're buying.
D
Deleted member 4366
Guest
At 50% more than BMSbattery, I know where I'd get mine from. I've now had 14 orders (about £2500)with BMSbattery including 4 batteries and I have only had one small problem that was easily sorted.
14 orders, incredible. Do you build bikes for a hobby or friends etc? You must have gained a lot of experience self-building.. you should make a YouTube channel
There's a lot of interesting characters on there with unusual hobbies and lots of knowledge..there's one guy called River who dresses like a mid-19th century gentleman and can repair just about anything mechanical!That is funny, I am just new and find this post, and funny.
Do you think £299 for 36V 16Ah battery + charger + free shipping is cheap ? really ? you must be played as a kid.
Let me count it for you. I purchased the battery from China before...they quoted as USD.
299£ = 470USD
The price of a 36V 16Ah silver aluminum battery is around 235USD, the 2A charger is 15USD,
then total is USD250, the shipping cost of 1pc battery + 1pc charger to UK from China is around 110USD.
the cost will be double cheaper if you can order 20pcs per time.
then how much ? USD360...
Sure, you need to pay the tax... how much is it ? even no need to pay the tax if you ask the Chinese supplier to lower the declared value...
Then count it yourselves, that is cheap or not...
John
Do you think £299 for 36V 16Ah battery + charger + free shipping is cheap ? really ? you must be played as a kid.
Let me count it for you. I purchased the battery from China before...they quoted as USD.
299£ = 470USD
The price of a 36V 16Ah silver aluminum battery is around 235USD, the 2A charger is 15USD,
then total is USD250, the shipping cost of 1pc battery + 1pc charger to UK from China is around 110USD.
the cost will be double cheaper if you can order 20pcs per time.
then how much ? USD360...
Sure, you need to pay the tax... how much is it ? even no need to pay the tax if you ask the Chinese supplier to lower the declared value...
Then count it yourselves, that is cheap or not...
John
OK, assuming your shipping fee is correct (looks a bit high to me) let's say it's $360 delivered.. that's £230 (GBPUSD = 1.56*) Then you will pay:
Duty 3.4% = 7.82
VAT 20% = 47.80
£285 total cost.
That's about a £15 saving, but you most likely will have to pay £15 to the courier for customs clearance/VAT deferment (unless you refuse as I do!).
If you buy in quantity that's where the savings will really kick in as you say, then you can ship the batteries by sea freight instead of air which is MUCH cheaper and will lower the import taxes too which are calculated on total cost including shipping. So you would form some buying consortium and order once a year or something!
* Note, the dollar is strong now and pound is weaker..if you had a more favourable exchange rate it would be a bigger saving.. the cost would be £218 @ GBPUSD 1.65
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D
Deleted member 4366
Guest
The price of the BMSBattery one delivered to your house including any duty is about £200! You don't need to do any complicated calculations.
36V15Ah Li-Ion Alloy 01-Case EBike Battery Pack - BMSBATTERY
or you can get this one for £250
36V 20Ah Li-Ion Shrink Tube EBike Battery Pack - BMSBATTERY
Both come with chargers.
36V15Ah Li-Ion Alloy 01-Case EBike Battery Pack - BMSBATTERY
or you can get this one for £250
36V 20Ah Li-Ion Shrink Tube EBike Battery Pack - BMSBATTERY
Both come with chargers.
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That seller on eBay could just buy those batteries from BMS for droppshipping, add his margin and sit back ;-)
I got my second battery from BMS and it's unbeatable price and quality.. I got my first battery (LiFePo4) from a seller on eBay who made them himself and the quality wasn't great.. for the same price, I got the same capacity but a far better made LI-Ion battery with the heavy plastic skin on it. The Li-Ion turned out to be significantly lighter too at 2.3kg v 3.2kg for LiFePo4. BMS batteries have got it right, the battery weight and cost is kept to a minimum (no silly aluminium case) but the battery is tough and will take knocks etc whereas the LiFePo4 was fragile, just the packet cells taped together.
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Hmm... I thought Fedex wont take the battery for shipping. DHL is the only option I suppose which is much more expensive
Correct me if I am wrong..
Pat
Mine came by FedEx but it was a year ago and I think these new policy changes have started fairly recently.. probably couriers are nervous about the risk of terrorism etc.. Some would argue it's silly because they will transport a laptop which contains a Li-Ion battery, but not a Li-Ion battery by itself?!
Re cost.. I can't comment on batteries for shipping, but I noticed yesterday on BMS that the courier cost for sending a kit and some parts was little difference between FedEx and DHL..only about $10
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I'm wondering if it might work out cheaper use to use sea freight even for small orders.. with sea freight you buy container space by the quarter/half or full load normally at fixed prices (through a shipping agent). So this is a very economical way of doing it if several people are ordering at the same time from one company... why not just setup a buying consortium or UK order placement website..everyone orders what they want each month and the site owner just books quarter container space for £60-£80..I'm in the import biz myself and I pay only about £120 for a half container (150kg of goods) and it takes about 4-5 weeks for delivery.
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Thanks for your comprehensive answers and comments,.... this sounds interesting has anyone else used these and what sort of performance and mls. also what connections as i am not sure if you could fit to my Ezee. is there a risk factor in being shipped from USA. and of course warranty .Please excuse my ignorance in these matters.
Ezee forza
I don't know if I mentioned performance, but on my 36V 10Ah Li-Ion battery (running a 250W motor) I can do about 6 miles on throttle only at full power without pedalling before the battery goes totally flat. I haven't tested it on pedal assist but I know on that motor running off 5Ah LiFePo4 I got 18 miles on pedal assist at full power! So I'm extrapolating that I *should* get at least 35-40 miles range on 10Ah from Li-Ion battery also at full power pedal assist. Maybe my thinking is wrong here to compare the two different battery technologies? But surely 30+ miles is possible at any rate, and that's at full power remember..so if you reduced power and went slower the range would extend considerably for each notch down you drop on pedal assist.. On my controller console (LCD one) I can reduce the power on pedal assist down over 6 levels which allows you to measure fairly precisely how much battery power you use/what range to expect. It's amazing value for money for really as the battery cost me like £150 delivered.
As for the connections..these batteries from BMS use the standard "kettle-plug" type which should connect to most bikes that use these type.. sometimes they have the connector on the wrong gender and you may have to change it..but they screw off easily and gender replacements are readily available from BMS and can be ordered at same time. You may have to make an extension cable possibly as the leads on the batteries are quite short too. Just need a piece of suitable mains flex and two connectors.
One thing last.. you will probably need a new battery charger for your battery but they're cheap and BMS will supply a suitable one with the battery.
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This doesn't sound very powerful to me, i would probably need to go for bigger one, compared to EZEE one which is Sanyo, will be interesting to see how it improves and any problems occur it will need to be sent back across the pond at your expense i presume and hope you never have to do this , tempted by price why would i need new charger..? would i fit battery connector to controller or plug into the existing base plate above bottom bracket and seat tube,
Thanks for all your help regarding this matter.
Thanks for all your help regarding this matter.
I think 10Ah would be the minimum size really for someone more concerned with budget and bike weight or carry-weight of the battery if removing it off the bike when parked. You can get smaller capacity batteries.. you really need to think carefully about how you will plan to use the bike in terms of usage, how heavy your bike and you are so whether you will need extra pulling power up hills..and whether you will lock up the bike with the battery on outside. These will determine really your battery type choice and capacity..
If plan to ride without pedalling and if you can afford it and don't mind leaving the battery locked onto the bike, then it probably makes sense to go for 15Ah or 20Ah even so you won't have to worry about recharging mid-journey.
If you don't think you're going to travel far though or can recharge mid-journey it may be wasted money buying redundant capacity if you find 10Ah suits your needs. Remember a 10Ah battery is not that heavy (2.3kg mine weighs) so you could also buy a second battery later if it turns out you need extra capacity, then store it at work and switch over, or just carry it with you in a backpack or on the rack..
Normally you will need a new charger as each battery+on board BMS has a specific charging requirement..if you're switching to a different battery technology or capacity, you will definitely need a new charger..but like I said, they're very cheap (and light) so it won't add much to the overall cost..
The battery itself though, providing the voltage matches your existing controller and motor of course, should just plug straight onto your bikes power connection (or directly into the controller via the power input..you may have to cut that and put a kettle connector on (or whatever connector-type you prefer - perhaps something more waterpoof), to match your battery).. you can customise the connection between battery and controller however you like if you're willing to do a bit of soldering... else just keep it simple and use the standard kettle plug and socket if the cabling is protected inside a water resistant bag. You do have to be careful and make sure the any custom cable/connectors you use can handle the high amps the battery will put out, that's the only thing to check. With the kettle plug approach you can't really go wrong these are designed to handle very high amps.
I've seen some mods you can do to do the controller to prevent power surge/spikes when connecting your battery...you do sometimes get a crackle/spark when connecting as there's not usually an on/off switch on the battery unless you have one with a key lock.. but mine doesn't and that's never been a problem for me at 10Ah.
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There's quite a few delivery options with BMS/GreenBikeKit ranging in price from EMS which is like Airmail economy and quite cheap but slow, but for batteries they use DHL and UPS for express delivery (FedEx were cheaper but no longer carry batteries). Delivery will cost between £35-£60 and take about 3-7 days. GreenBikeKit have a shipping quoter on the basket so you can see how much it will cost and what courier options you have before registering or checking out... but BMS make you login go through to checkout to see the shipping cost options.
The last time I ordered my battery from BMS it came via FedEx and it took about 4-5 days from Hong Kong.
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Thanks Morphix. Do BMS/GBK offer a sea freight option for shipping battery? I would not mind to wait a longer to save the shipping cost.
p.s. you are very active here I wish you could electrify your D9 successfully. I have just done it my Dahon Jack D7 with SWXH motor and it is a perfect bike for conversion. No filing to the dropout.
Pat
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