New battery or new bike

[mikescave]

Hi guys, I've not been on this site for a good while but now I need to tap your collective brains again.

I have an Ezee Liv bought in 2007. The first battery lasted just over a year and I got another slightly discounted. My second battery is now close to its end. What do I do? Buy a new bike or a new battery? With new batteries costing £500, and a motor that makes low whining growling noises I am reluctant to simply buy a battery when perhaps the controller or charger might expire next.
I
I like live in a hilly area, like a pedelec option but only travel about 3 miles a day.

I am looking at a Lifecycle Alpine Sport, an Ezee sprint or Powbike Salisbury.
Quite a price range. Your collective views would be welcome.
Regards
Mike

 

[JuicyBike]

Hi Mike
Perhaps one of our batteries might suit you? We can supply with a base plate and slider.
36V 10AH LiPo for £225
36V 16AH LiFePo4 for £425

Or perhaps one of our bikes...

 

[bazwaldo]

Hello Mike,
I have a Bearprint Ebike which has done 6000 miles in about 13 months and my battery needs replacing hopefully under warranty soon! You may have seen my review/posts about my experiences with it?
Have you looked at the Kudos bikes? They are excellent value with easily available spares and replacement batteries at £208.
As you are in a hilly area one of the Tonaro crank drive bikes are reckoned to be good hill climbers.
There is plenty of choice out there, good luck in what you decide!
Barry.

 

[flecc]

Unlike all the other eZee bikes, your Liv uses a brush motor that was originally in their Rider model years ago. The noisiness may just be worn brushes. You could check with Onbike whether brushes are still available and probably fit them yourself.

 

[andyh2]

I sympathise Mike. I bought a used pro-connect in the full knowledge of replacement battery costs and that it would need one soon if I wanted a range greater than 15 miles. Hasn't stopped me dithering over all manner of options rather than just biting the £500 bullet

The larger capacity should cover commuting distance for 3 years, with 2 years of that guaranteed. But will the motor (3 years and 5,000 miles old) keep going for another 3 years / 12,000 miles?

 

[mikescave]

Thanks Bob
I am interested in teh 10 ah battery you suggest, it could be just what I need.
I have looked at the base plate and slider on my Ezee Liv; would that mean a new key switch with the slider and new charger for a different battery? And would the new base plate require any special wiring up to my system?

best regards
Mike

 

[hannibal]

Hi guys, I've not been on this site for a good while but now I need to tap your collective brains again.

I have an Ezee Liv bought in 2007. The first battery lasted just over a year and I got another slightly discounted. My second battery is now close to its end. What do I do? Buy a new bike or a new battery? With new batteries costing £500, and a motor that makes low whining growling noises I am reluctant to simply buy a battery when perhaps the controller or charger might expire next.
I
I like live in a hilly area, like a pedelec option but only travel about 3 miles a day.

I am looking at a Lifecycle Alpine Sport, an Ezee sprint or Powbike Salisbury.
Quite a price range. Your collective views would be welcome.
Regards
Mike

I have a Powerbike Salisbury and I am glad to report that the LiPo battery is well into its fourth year. The Salisbury is sturdy and has operated well off road as well as for commuting 6 miles a day for several years. Not the best hill-climber of course, but a good value all-rounder.

 

[JuicyBike]

Thanks Bob
I am interested in teh 10 ah battery you suggest, it could be just what I need.
I have looked at the base plate and slider on my Ezee Liv; would that mean a new key switch with the slider and new charger for a different battery? And would the new base plate require any special wiring up to my system?

best regards
Mike

Please show me a picture of your existing battery and baseplate. We may also be able to re cell, though this may actually cost more than our off the shelf stock.

 

[mikescave]

Thanks for all the posts.

My deliberations are now between a new Ezee Eco Sprint probably with a 14 ah Lithium battery £900 or a new Powabyke Shopper £600 (still in stock in a local shop) with what I think I really want which is a 37v 14 ah Lead Acid battery. Forgive the regression but it seems to me that using a LA will give me better future proofing regarding economical replacement even if the battery life is shorter, although I have heard of many instances of lead acid batteries lasting three years or so, which is how long my present lithium has lasted.
My logic in all this is that if mobility scooters and the like still use lead acid batteries then why shouldn't I. I appreciate the weight argument but my existing Ezee Liv with its lithium battery seems as heavy as a Powabyke Shopper and I only travel short distances 3 miles max a day but 1.5 of these consist of steep hills so I need a powerful battery. Another factor I am considering is the availability and relative simplicity of replacement parts that an the older design might offer. Am I right off my trolley in this vein of thinking? Your collective thoughts would be once again appreciated.
Regards to all.
Mike

 

[funkylyn]

Thanks for all the posts.

My deliberations are now between a new Ezee Eco Sprint probably with a 14 ah Lithium battery £900 or a new Powabyke Shopper £600 (still in stock in a local shop) with what I think I really want which is a 37v 14 ah Lead Acid battery. Forgive the regression but it seems to me that using a LA will give me better future proofing regarding economical replacement even if the battery life is shorter, although I have heard of many instances of lead acid batteries lasting three years or so, which is how long my present lithium has lasted.
My logic in all this is that if mobility scooters and the like still use lead acid batteries then why shouldn't I. I appreciate the weight argument but my existing Ezee Liv with its lithium battery seems as heavy as a Powabyke Shopper and I only travel short distances 3 miles max a day but 1.5 of these consist of steep hills so I need a powerful battery. Another factor I am considering is the availability and relative simplicity of replacement parts that an the older design might offer. Am I right off my trolley in this vein of thinking? Your collective thoughts would be once again appreciated.
Regards to all.
Mike

Take a look at Cyclezee's new Ezee sprint models....decent spec.... and at under £800.....could be just what you are looking for.
He also has Tonaro's to try.

Lynda

 

[mikescave]

Thanks Lynda, that is the one I am considering.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Mike, you're right about lead batteries. They'll last a very long time as long as you don't discharge them far and don't let them go flat. That means also frequent charging when you don't use the bike. If you only travel a few miles, and charge after every journey, they could last a very long time.

Your bike can run with any battery that could be fitted to a rack. You only have to connect it to the same two wires as the previous one. You can then either remove the original battery or pull the battery out of its shell and use the shell for secure storage of tools, waterproofs, etc. Here's a picture of how I did it with a £180 BMSbattery battery that comes with a fixing plate for easy removal while charging - 5 miutes to fit,
36V15Ah Li-Ion Alloy Shell EBike Battery Pack - BMSBATTERY

 

[cwah]

d8v3h, do you know if the battery is going to loose 14 percent of its capacity every year? have you lost capacity since you have it?

And what's your max amps you can get with it?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

d8v3h, do you know if the battery is going to loose 14 percent of its capacity every year? have you lost capacity since you have it?

And what's your max amps you can get with it?

I keep changing bikes and batteries and I've got 8 batteries, so I don't get a chance to see any difference. I think how much your battery degrades a lot on how you use it, but I have no evidence.
The Cyclamatic is 24v, but I run it at 36v with a controller that's had the shunt soldered for 20 amps. I can also use my 44v battery which makes it go 32mph on a slight downhill. On the flat with no wind it goes more like 25mph. I've been up some quite long hills showing between 900 and 1000w on the meter over 2 miles and it seemed OK with that, but Kitchenman burnt his hall sensors like that, so I can't say that it would be OK for everyone.

 

[cwah]

ok lol. You just sell your batteries before they get too old lol.

36V15AH at 20 amps is 1.3C. I was wondering how many C the new NiCoMn can pull. Because it seems to be really good value. Except for the low C rate and the potential very low calendar life (loose 14 percent every year)

 

[donkeydoo]

Hi D8veh. I have noticed your bike. Are the batteries wired in parallel and if so did you use ideal diodes as in another thread on this forum. It’s just I bought the same battery from BMS li-op4 and am about to wire it in parallel (tomorrow) on my eZee Torq using the existing battery Li-po? Any advice I would be grateful.

Thanks

Kevin

 

[Deleted member 4366]

The original case is now empty. Sometimes I put my 5AH lipo pack in there - it slides in nicely - in which case I remove the rear battery. The wires from the rear battery just run through the case to the uprated controller that's mounted in the bottom of the old battery case. My friend over the road has wired two 10aH 36v batteries in parallel to give enough current for his BPM motor. This method means using two BMSs. When you charge one battery, the other is charged automatically. He didn't use diodes and it has been ok for the last 6 months. There is a theoretical risk to doing this in that if there's a failure in one battery, it can damage the other. When you connect the two batteries they must be at the same voltage otherwise one will immediately try to charge the other and you might get high current between them.
When you use lipos it's a lot easier because there's no BMS, which makes it very easy to change voltages and capacities by adding in and taking out small packs and joining them in series or parallel. Likewise, they must be at the same voltage when connecting.

 

[donkeydoo]

Thanks d8veh. I think I will use a diode on each battery as I have them Blocking Diode 30A Schottky Wind Generator Solar Panel | eBay (Looks like the leftovers from sputnik). Makes the wiring a bit more complicated. Better to be safe than sorry with battery's costing as much as they do.

 

[piotrmacheta]

One potential disadvantage with the lead acid batteries route is that you can only use a small amount of the stated capacity (I think flecc wrote something about this before) and so you may need a really big (and heavy) one to go any distance.

 

[flecc]

More than a small amount though. Due to the Peukert effect, in a worst case of a powerful motor fed by a limited capacity battery and used to the full, as little as a half of the stated capacity can be realised with lead-acid (SLA).

More commonly though, about two-thirds of the stated capacity will result, so it's a warning not to expect as much as can often be achieved with other chemistries.

However, the capacity of all battery types is load dependent, the higher the motor power to capacity ratio, the lower the achieved capacity. Thus even a modern lithium battery can vary from the nominal 10 Ah to as little as 7 Ah when used on a very powerful e-bike at various levels of power utilisation as demonstrated by A to B magazine a while ago. That's an extreme case though, few e-bike/lithium battery combinations have such a large variability.