Galaxygazer

Recently I bought a bike using the 48V 550Wh Bionx battery. All works fine but it would be great to have more energy storage (Wh) to extend the range. Buying a second battery seems logical but is rather expensive.

Alternative - Using a large commercially available battery feeding a compatible inverter which then feeds the 48V charger connected to the Bionx battery makes sense - but does it work well WHILE riding (apart from losing energy due to conversion efficiency)? Who has experience with this and can share this here?

Another question - Are there compatible Bionx batteries on Alibaba.com or similar?

Some years ago these questions were discussed but I would like to gain newer insight.

Thank you for your help!

bowlofsalad

One way to achieve better range is through improved aerodynamics. Recumbent bicycles are superb in many respects, but a fully recumbent bicycle goes about twice the distance per watt hour.

I don't have any familiarity with bionx batteries, nor with this large battery to inverter concept (weight is an issue on bicycles). But I imagine with the right connectors you can use just about any battery you see fit assuming it has the correct voltage. I'd be cautious on ordering batteries from random places, some of the stuff you buy can end up being garbage.

em3ev.com
stores.ebay.com/sun-thing28
pingbattery.com/

I've purchased from and communicated with em3ev.com and I highly recommend them, they sell batteries as do the other two places.

350htrr

The only way I have put energy back into the battery while riding is by using re-gen, have managed 20% to 30% re-gen when the terrain is just right but 15% is about the best average you can expect, and on flat roads 5% with some effort and conscientious use of re-gen... I also managed to keep my battery charged for 10 days riding 850Kms with my solar panel on my camper. Other than those options, IMO your best bet is to just get an other (extra) battery... The only battery that is compatible is a BionX battery, AFAIK...

powell

rather weird/bizzare idea I ever heard.
Not practical for sure.
So want to carry "large commercial battery" and DC to AC inverter on your Bionx ebike?
Do you get inverter for free and "commercial battery" for free?
Inverter would be not cheap for sure, "commercial battery" also costs money.
Imagine weight of all this?
why not just buy second BIONX battery?
BIONX battery cost money for the reason=quality.

powell

Just for clarity.
BIONX is a computerized edrive , you cannot just slap/connect any other 36V/48V battery just like that.
Battery electronics communicate with display/controller .
On power up disp/controller makes handshake with motor/controller and batt electronics via CAN bus protocol.
One of the function of batt electronics is to give you precise State of Charge SOC info on display.
No cheap voltage- based indicators on BIONX
/3-light indicators on cheap China kits are much useless to estimate charge left/
I believe BIONX battery can be DIY refurbished with new cells, my BIONX uses Lithium Manganise cells.
All you have to do is to disconnect string of cells in old BIONX battery for a while, connect string back and check if Batt electronics still communicate with disp/controller.

350htrr

I agree, carrying another commercial battery and converter, and loosing 30%+ on top... Just not worth it even if you can get everything for $400 instead of the $1,000 for the BionX battery, JMO

350htrr

You can totally free yourself from the wall socket... https://thespokeandwords.wordpress.c...d-solar-panel/

chas58

That is the beauty of the "one post wonder" on the electric bikes forum. There are a lot of first time posters on this sub forum. Lets see if he ever comes back for post #2 . ;-)

ezbikin

We have a couple of the "old" I2C PL-350 Bionx systems on our recumbents. When they switched to CANBUS, they basically abandoned us and other owners of these systems, by no longer producing replacement batteries or parts, such as consoles. After a lot of searching, we came across electricrider.com. They repacked two Bionx batteries with fresh cells and we've been using them for a year. They are performing just like new at this point. Base price for the service is under $500, which beats hell out of a whole new CANBUS system.

istomtom

I do know of someone on the ES forums that is working on repacking modern CANBUS Bionx batteries. I may be having him repack one of ours.

Another member on ES says that he's come across more Bionx batteries that have board issues versus cell issues (specifically in the 48v batteries which have a real BMS, vs 37v which do not). He said that 8 out of 10 he's dealt with have dead boards, not dead cells.

Further complicating things is Bionx' new method for battery warranties. Rather than having dealers ship batteries back for inspection, Bionx is now doing remote diagnostics and if they find faults in the battery they brick (disable) the battery remotely and simply ship out a new battery. I imagine that they're somehow disabling the board in the battery, not the cells. Someone on ES suggested they may be remotely burning out a fused connection, or perhaps it's done with firmware that tells the BMS to disable any input/output?

I did mention to the guy that's working on pack rebuilds that it would be nice to be able to keylog or sniff the CANBUS connection during remote support sessions to see what's going on and he said it's probably doable and he would be interested in helping do that in the future but not the near future as he is limited on lab/workspace to develop some sort of CANBUS/USB inline device to do so.

pacificstart

I have a CANBUS Bionx battery that is dead and I would like to have it refurbished. Do you mind to share the info on the company who does that?

TIA