2old

https://gizmodo.com/ibm-research-cre...lit-1840535845

open5g

The most credible battery advances over the past several years have been the refinements in Lithium Ion battery cells that have become common from laptops and cellphones to eBikes and eCars, eTrucks and alternative power and co-generation storage for the electrical grid. There are new battery formulations that have reached an interested stage of trial development but none have appeared into these or similar scale mass markets.

For batteries to be good for eBikes they must be developed for the other major markets, which are hundreds to thousands of times larger. Besides being larger markets, the R&D for an car, truck, the electric grid is more centralized. Mom and Pop R&D does not cut it for the ramps in production needed to drive down pricing to $1.5-$4 per cell.


Tesla has acquired leading companies and done R&D to develop a new battery that is already being pilot-tested for mass production starting in a year or two. It is based on Lithium Ion but varies/adds additional sub-processes that help prevent the anode and cathode from degrading which is claimed to greatly increase the battery life, decreasing the charge-time by increasing charge current while increasing charge density by about 20%. That could have a dramatic impact on the life-cost of eBikes and eVehicles in general. Tesla claims a 'million mile' life expectancy. That sounds like hype but getting 10 times the mattery life (about 1/8th of the claim) sounds like what they would need to make it commercially worthwhile. If that happens and leading cell manufacturers around the world pick it up, that could lead to major improvement in about five to 7 years.

edwong3

It might sound like hype but the truth of the matter is that current Tesla batteries are lasting in the several hundred of thousands of miles before serious degradation. Upping the life expectancy to a million miles is but a little over 2X of the present day cells. What excites me most of all is increased energy density for longer ranges on a charge. We're talking about electric cars that could possibly achieve 500 miles or more on a charge. Extrapolate for speculating what this advancement could mean for e-bikes and e-scooters in the future.

Doc_Wui

Tesla gets their battery longevity by derating the cells. If the ebike world is ready to do the same, they can have long tived batteries too. Just charge to 80% of capacity and recharge at 40%. Yikes, that cuts my range by 50-60%.

2old

I thought Tesla was 80/20. Whatever, my Luna 52V, 10 ah battery is in its fifth year and going strong (qualitatively). I charge to 100% before using, then store at the 30% - 50% remaining after use (determined by checking the Voltage). This provides a 10- 20 mile off road jaunt with 1500' - 3000' elevation gain. Seems like it will be good for at least another couple of years. Not bad for $260 which, AIR, was the introductory price.

tyrion

I think Tesla will be adding capacitors to augment their chemical batteries (capacitor technology is what they wanted when they bought Maxwell). Capacitors hold less power per weight, but don't degrade like chemical batteries. So the capacitors could shield the chemical batteries from much of the charge/recharge cycles that degrade chemical batteries.

All this aggressive R&D by companies like Tesla will eventually trickle down to bikes and other things.

edwong3

I can't remember the name of the Taxi service in Europe that have been using Tesla Model S in their fleet but they never "baby" their batteries. They charge them up to 100% as they can't afford to have hardly any down time at all. They have a Model S that was approaching 400,000 kms. with the original battery pack. If I find the link, I will post it here. But their cells are top tier and are about to get better.

lazurm

One good idea of the two you mentioned is to recharge to 40% (and charge to full just prior to use) and that will add many more recharge cycles to your battery.

BikeMaster119

Do you like batteries or bicycles on batteries, I think it is the best solution for people to move quickly however it would be preferable to use the pedals to lose a little or keep in shape, until then only I enjoy the performance of these batteries.