Batteries are the lynchpin of an electric assist (or Pedelec) bike. We're excited to now be testing a new Lithium Ion Phosphate pack that is the slickest one we've seen in this new chemistry. For more information on battery chemistries, have a look at our FAQ. The short story is that these batteries are light, safe, they last a very long time, and they are environmentally friendly. They have a big upfront cost, but they will more than pay for themselves in trouble free operation for many years to come. For those still using a sealed lead acid pack, these batteries are so much nicer (I hate putting the SLA's on my bike now). Our 36V lead acid pack weighs over 30 lbs. The new 36V Li-Fe-PO4 weighs 9 lbs. For those running 24V systems, we'll have a 24V pack too.

One thing we've discovered is that these are limited to about 20A, or about 720 Watts for the 36V version. [See new blog entry]. It is a self-resetting circuit that cuts out power for about 10 seconds. This is much better than a fuse. For most systems (Crystalyte 400 series, Goldenmotor, Currie USPD, Lashout, etc), this shouldn't be a problem, but for the really high power hubs (e.g. Crystalyte 5000 series/Phoenix) the limit might be too low.

Some pictures are below. We may be taking pre-orders at a discount once we do further testing and set the final price. Please contact us if you are interested, and we'll let you know when the batteries will be ready to roll.

Side view showing pack and rear rack mount

Front view, pack plugged into mount


Front view of pack with charging port and discharge port

Tags: bike,batteries