Battery Question

[projone]

Buying electric bike and it has LiMn 204 - 36v battery on it. Any good ?

 

[flecc]

Hi Projone..

Not really possible to say much from this limited information. In general, Li-ion manganese batteries like this have had somewhat disappointingly short lives, and in addition, when used with the most powerful motors, they can fail to deliver enough current and suffer cut-outs.

If you could point us to the bike model and some battery information as well if possible, we may be able to more specific.
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[projone]

Heres some more details on bike im trying to buy from overseas to test and maybe import to sell in UK

Im not very clued up on electric bikes but have an interest but find that the price of some bikes is to expensive. Im looking to import a good quality bike and sell on but dont want to be to expensive as think this puts quite a people off buying an E bike.

I am looking for a few suggestions and some help as unsure as to whats good and bad in the e bike world.

Li-ion battery: 36V 10AH
Controlmode: Electromotion / Assistance
power of motor: Intelligent 250W brushless
with Shimano 6 speeds Gearing
battery type: Li-ion
charging time:3-6h
available charge time:＞500 times
input voltage: AC 110V-240V
max speed:25km/h
driving distance:35km/40km
loading capacity:75kgs
frame material: aluminium
dimension of tyre:26"X1.75
front disc brake / rear Rollar brake
height of seat: adjustable [/B]

 

[keithhazel]

isnt 75 kg's only about 12 stone..that would rule a few of us out on here alone i think

 

[projone]

Think that might be a miss print so will check that

 

[flecc]

This still doesn't reveal anything though, since it's a very common e-bike spec.

There are loads of e-bikes made in China which we refer to as "parts bin" bikes, and there's commonly two ways to market them here. One is the higher priced model with proper depot and distribution setup and mainstream advertising, together with servicing provision. The other is the ebay model, low price and margin and minimal backup, which is something like you intend I'd guess. Some attempt the cheap model with good backup etc, but they tend to fail fairly quickly.

I can only advise caution, since many others have beaten you to it, some still around but many others failed. Lithium batteries are a common cause of problems. Chinese manufacturers will often glibly say they're ok for 500 charges/two years etc, but it's not uncommon for them to fail within 100 charges and you can face impossible to meet warranty claims if you've been rash in your promises on how long they last.

I think that it's a mistake to imagine that it's the price that holds back widespread e-bike adoption. Many others have thought the same and found that it's just not the case. There are loads of e-bikes available at low prices, some of them quite good. The only thing holding back e-bike sales is that the majority of people won't give up their cars.
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[projone]

I am looking at offering full service on all bikes which is why i do not want to invest in a parts bin bike.

I have a clever brand name and very good marketing campaign plus will be investing in a new website so really need it to work and understand that many have failed.

I am however new to this market and comments are appreciated but spent about 8 months on this project but maybe my best option is to jump on a plane and go on a mission to find a good factory that can meet my needs.

I have some sample bikes that should be arriving at the end of this month so will keep you posted on the outcome good or bad

 

[flecc]

I'd appreciate that Projone. Someone else who were serious about their marketing of a quality bike was David Miall of Wisperbike. Together with his partner they'd created a highly successful company in another field which they then sold and moved into e-bikes. They didn't just import, but bought a major Chinese e-bike manufacturing company so have total control, but despite that they haven't found it an easy ride by any means.

When i say "parts bin", that's not intended to mean no good, merely that it's no different from what others are doing, and I'm quite sure your intended bike will be another of those. There aren't a huge number of manufacturers in China, just many companies marketing them as different bikes with name changes.

Lithium batteries are a big issue. Two stand out as being very good quality, the Panasonic 24 volt one at £306, and the BionX 36 volt at about £450. Clearly those wouldn't match your moderate price bike aim. Below that, two major suppliers have high powered bikes with 36 volt Li-ion batteries at about £250 and both with a history of failures, despite being manufactured by two of China's major battery manufacturers, one part of a very highly respected electronics company.

Bikes on ebay like the well established Scottish based Synergie brand have cheaper lithium batteries down to around £150. I don't know how well they've performed, but these tend to only be successful when coupled with relatively low powered motors.
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[Jeremy]

I think that the other thing worth acquiring, if your intent on having a good customer support capability, is intimate knowledge of the technology in your product.

There's nothing worse from a customer perspective (in my view) than a supplier that doesn't know and understand their product.

Getting the technical low down on some of the Chinese "parts bin" machines is extremely difficult, the manufacturers randomly change parts, fail to provide accurate data and often the language problem creates misunderstandings. Some of the Chinese assemblers (because this is what they are, rather than manufacturers, most of the time) are good and committed to customer service, others are fairly hopeless.

The UK market is very small as far as these Chinese companies are concerned, they sell thousands in China (ebikes are extremely popular there), so gaining their attention for UK specific issues might be challenging.

I wish you the very best of luck, we could certainly do with more suppliers in the UK.

Jeremy

 

[projone]

Thanks for your help and will keep you updated as soon as i receive the bikes from China