Cost of new batteries - re Wisper

[Wisper Bikes]

It so depends on the battery being purchased in China, they can vary massively depending on the manufacturer. If a company makes their own battery there are costs associated with packaging, delivery, UN38.3 testing (every small change needs a new certificate) which apart from the fees requires up to 20 batteries for testing to destruction. Of course there are short cuts but many of us like to stay safe. You also have to take into consideration delivery from China, stockist margins, holding stock on the shelves, insurance and of course VAT. I can assure everyone that no one is making fortunes on spare batteries!

Re buying directly from China, there is nothing wrong as long as the batteries are certified to UN and EN standards and the packaging to UN38.3. It is important to remember that if anyone buys batteries from outside the EEC they are considered in law as the importer and are responsible for the battery once it enters European air space or waters. If a battery causes a fire and it is found that the battery or it's packaging were not correctly certified or declared, the importer is directly responsible for all and any damages, and Boing 747's I understand are quite dear!

 

[Emo Rider]

It so depends on the battery being purchased in China, they can vary massively depending on the manufacturer. If a company makes their own battery there are costs associated with packaging, delivery, UN38.3 testing (every small change needs a new certificate) which apart from the fees requires up to 20 batteries for testing to destruction. Of course there are short cuts but many of us like to stay safe. You also have to take into consideration delivery from China, stockist margins, holding stock on the shelves, insurance and of course VAT. I can assure everyone that no one is making fortunes on spare batteries!

Re buying directly from China, there is nothing wrong as long as the batteries are certified to UN and EN standards and the packaging to UN38.3. It is important to remember that if anyone buys batteries from outside the EEC they are considered in law as the importer and are responsible for the battery once it enters European air space or waters. If a battery causes a fire and it or it's packaging is not correctly certified or declared, the imported is directly responsible for all and any damages, and Boing 747's I understand are quite dear!

Spot on David! "Boing 747's I understand are quite dear!" LMAO

 

[los monty]

It so depends on the battery being purchased in China, they can vary massively depending on the manufacturer. If a company makes their own battery there are costs associated with packaging, delivery, UN38.3 testing (every small change needs a new certificate) which apart from the fees requires up to 20 batteries for testing to destruction. Of course there are short cuts but many of us like to stay safe. You also have to take into consideration delivery from China, stockist margins, holding stock on the shelves, insurance and of course VAT. I can assure everyone that no one is making fortunes on spare batteries!

Re buying directly from China, there is nothing wrong as long as the batteries are certified to UN and EN standards and the packaging to UN38.3. It is important to remember that if anyone buys batteries from outside the EEC they are considered in law as the importer and are responsible for the battery once it enters European air space or waters. If a battery causes a fire and it is found that the battery or it's packaging were not correctly certified or declared, the importer is directly responsible for all and any damages, and Boing 747's I understand are quite dear!

Bugger that I'll have mine delivered by a Cessna and I suppose Scotland will be out of the question soon.

 

[JJebike]

Our 2009 wisper(which is still in great condition) now looks to be destined for the scrap-heap as £500 for a new battery on an old e-bike means another e-bike brand is now on the shopping list.

With others doing 14/16amp batteries for £300, Wisper(and others) need to address this issue for owners of older wispers, or face seeing the older bikes scraped and loyal customers lost to decent new/warranted bike suppliers such as Woosh for bikes at <£700/£800 delivered.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Hi JJebike, that is really a great deal, and the people at Woosh are good people.

We can supply FreeGo bikes for £999.00 less £100.00 cash back this month. We can also offer you 0% finance for 24 months.

I am sorry but the batteries we use on the Wispers simply are expensive, unfortunately they cost us more than the price you would like to pay.

All the best

David

 

[Vagsfjord]

I think if wisper or any other ebike company were the size of

When a battery goes on a BMW car, some people take their car to a BMW garage and pay them a fortune to replace it. More astute owners go to the battery shop and buy the same battery at a fraction of the price.

If you don't "register" the new battery in your BMW it will most likely fail after short time. It doesn't have to be a BMW battery but the electronics must be made aware of the battery replacement

 

[footpump]

I agree the prices I have seen for some Panasonic and bosch batteries seem very high.
to kudos dave what type of battery is on my kudos style vita uno lifepo4 or limno4 ?
and will there ever be a 15ah option for the uno or similar.

I see woosh do a 36v 15ah battery for kits at about £289 could that be fitted to a whisper
thanks all

 

[Kudoscycles]

Foot pump...it never ceases to amaze me the names forum members dream up,I'm not sure I want to know where foot pump came from.
The Vita Uno is an LEBC bike,so really Tom should answer your question but I know the Uno well.
Your bike has an LiMn04 type battery,the reason is that the battery is fitted on the down tube within the triangle,if it was fitted with the LifePo4 type battery which is bulkier and heavier it would only have been possible to accommodate 8 Ah capacity.
But don't worry we have been selling those water bottle shapes with Samsung cells for some years now and also have not sold any replacements,it seems that these Samsung cells are also lasting a long time.
There that's service for you answering your question at 11 o'clock on a Sunday night from Guangzhou,China......off to bed now.
KudosDave

 

[Cyclezee]

When considering battery prices also consider the length of warranty, our Ansmann bikes have an unequaled 3 year battery warranty and we are currently considering the possibility of offering the same with Heinzmann and eZee too.

eZee's Lithium Ion batteries have been around the longest and we are now seeing them lasting at least double the current 2 year warranty period.

Last week we had a couple of eZee bikes in for servicing, at the same time we performed a usability dynamic load test on the batteries, one 14Ah manufactured September 2009 has 82.4% remaining capacity 11.54Ah / 399.49Wh and the other, also 14Ah manufactured January 2010 has 87.6% remaining capacity 12.26Ah / 421.94Wh.

Of course batteries need to well cared for by the owner to maintain this level of longevity.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Battery prices are always an issue. We often have to pay higher prices from Chinese factories if our cells are in a special case.

To combat this, we at Amps will be setting up a professional re-celling operation we are just looking into some certification issues but will be ready by the late summer. We can then re-cell any battery case and use the existing BMS etc. We hope to be able to reduce the price to recondition any battery.

All the best

David

 

[Electrifying Cycles]

We generally find the more expensive batteries last longer for example we recently had a Wisper battery in which was about 4 years old and was still at 100% capacity on a discharge test.

 

[RobF]

We generally find the more expensive batteries last longer for example we recently had a Wisper battery in which was about 4 years old and was still at 100% capacity on a discharge test.

As the owner of three Bosch batteries, I hope your are right.

I've yet to notice any deterioration in my batteries, but I can't help feeling I'm on borrowed time.

 

[Electrifying Cycles]

Generally I find it to be the case. Not had to replace any Bosch batteries yet due to reduced capacity. If you take your bike to a Bosch certified dealer they can plug a diagniostic kit in to see what the remaining capacity is.

 

[RobF]

Thanks for the info.

As flecc explained to me a while ago, lower power motors don't put so much strain on the battery.

My standard Bosch motor bikes are comparatively weedy, so the batteries ought to last well.

 

[Croxden]

My Bosch battery from the Delite came out with flying colours after 6000 plus miles. The battery replacement cost is a consideration when making a purchase of an ebike, Amps re-celling will make the decision a lot easier if going towards the dearer bikes.

 

[flecc]

As others have implied, much depends on a battery's life, the price of a battery in isolation is meaningless.

A £500 battery that lasts four years for someone is no more expensive than the £250 one that lasts two years, and when that sort of difference exists the more expensive one often gives a better performance during its life as well.

A four year battery life is now commonplace among the more expensive bike and battery brands, but certainly not the case with some cheaper brands where failures from 18 months on have been common. However, this isn't true of all cheaper brands and owner experiences over time reported in this forum are a good guide to the dependable ones.
.

 

[D C]

owner experiences over time reported in this forum are a good guide to the dependable ones.
.

Good idea for a separate thread of owners experience of battery life if it could be kept on topic.
Dave

 

[RobF]

My Bosch battery from the Delite came out with flying colours after 6000 plus miles. The battery replacement cost is a consideration when making a purchase of an ebike, Amps re-celling will make the decision a lot easier if going towards the dearer bikes.

Quite so.

As an example, your Delite/Rohloff is so well made it could last practically forever, but the battery will not.

Most Bosch motors are on decent quality bikes, so as time goes on there will be owners who only need a new battery to keep their bikes on the road.

And I would be first in the queue if someone could produce a larger capacity Bosch battery.

 

[flecc]

Good idea for a separate thread of owners experience of battery life if it could be kept on topic.
Dave

I once considered this but it could be very unfair Dave, so I dropped the idea. For example one well known brand of powerful e-bikes was a fairly early adopter of lithium batteries. Those batteries just weren't up to the job and with them failing in as little as three months and rarely lasting more than 18 months they caused a lot of anger. The company tried a number of suppliers for more than year to eventually find a latest development one that would be up to the job and also gave away 1000 batteries to disgruntled owners.

Despite that the reputation for failures did the company huge damage, crippling sales for a long time. They weren't the only one to suffer, just the worst affected, another well known brand were close behind . The last thing they would want is an easily accessed permanent forum record of that unhappy era and it wouldn't be deserved. Today their bikes and batteries are above average quality for their prices.

 

[D C]

Fair point flecc, also not all folk treat batteries the same way, best to leave things as they are.
Dave.