eZee Quando problem, need advise.

[CostaP]

Hi my name is Costa, i'm new to this forum. I own an eZee Quando and need some advise regarding a particular problem with ? battery. I purchased the bike in November 2007 and after approximately 7-8 months i noticed that the power would fail after 10 minutes or so on slightly hilly terrain and i would have to stop and turn the power switch off and on again to continue riding. On a steep hill the power fails almost a minute or so up the hill. I never experienced this problem on flat terrain although this has happened a few times recently even on the flat. The range is also getting much less from a full charge. I phoned cyclepoint in Brighton and they advised that the battery is failing and needs replacing. Im loathed however to spend £400 pounds on a new battery which is what they quoted me, however they have not checked the battery itself. The battery is a Lithium ion. Apart from that the bike is in excellent condition. Any advise regarding options, or is there only two options - new battery or new bike??
Thanks

 

[flecc]

I'm afraid it does mean a new battery CostaP, and you've done well to get your battery to last this long. Those early Li-ion batteries did tend to fail after relatively short lives as I know only too well having had three of them. They all behaved in the same way, tending to cut out under load on hills though ok when doing less work on the flat. Eventually they start to cut out at all times and then it's time for a new battery.

Since then the batteries have greatly improved with both better performance and lighter weight, but unfortunately the current exchange rate situation has made prices very high.
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[CostaP]

Hi Flecc thanks for the reply. I thought this would be the case. Im deciding i will probably part with it. Any idea of how much i could probably get if i decide to sell in its current state bearing in mind that the actual bike is in immaculate condition, not a scratch on it, i only used it at work to cover a small distance to and from the office during the summer months last year. Its done a total of approx 300 miles and has been sitting in my basement for the last 6 months.
Thanks again.

 

[flecc]

That's a difficult judgment. It's really worth quite a lot, especially since they now cost £995 rather than the £845 your's probably cost you new.

The problem is that anyone buying it must budget a further £395 for a battery, so if they paid anything over £300, they'd be getting close to the original price paid.

The trouble is that £300 or even £350 would be a very poor return for you after only 16/17 months.

It's really worth more to keep it since their batteries are as good as anyone else's these days, so swapping to another bike would not necessarily gain you much and could lose quite a lot. Few bikes are as powerful as the Quando so the reduction in power could be missed.
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[CostaP]

Cheers thanks for the advise.