I would say that there's a 95% chance that your plan won't work due to handshaking between the controller and battery, which a dumb battery won't be able to to.
You can test for that with any voltage source that matches somewhere in the range of normal battery voltage (22v-29v for 24v battery and 31v-42v for 36v) and can supply at least 1 amp. You can use a lab power supply or a battery charger. You can get chargers for £10 on EBay, which is cheaper than spending £200 on a battery that you can't use.
If it doesn't work, you can sometimes strip the controller out of the hub and use an external one. Personally, I'd prefer to chuck all the electrics and start again, but, to add insult to injury, these hubs sometimes have special torque resistance arrangements that prevent a normal wheel or motor.
Good luck. I hope you get the 5%.