DIY battery

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No comment on your logic, just a suggestion that you may want to check out the forums at endless-sphere.com. It's a site devoted to electric vehicles that caters to DIYers; they could definitely help with finding a reputable vendor for batteries and/or steer you away from questionable vendors. I've been lurking there for a while researching motors and come across a smattering of related discussions on batteries including suppliers and build discussions.

If you don't want to do a lot of reading you could do a search on each vendor you're considering and see what comes up to help you decide. Doing a quick search on "batteryhookup" gives 122 matches including multiple hits from amberwolf, who some members on this forum may remember. And searching on "GVW" gives 51 matches but most of them appear to be in context of "gross vehicle weight".
Yes been looking over those forums and doing my research on those suppliers through them.
I am now fairly set on the K2 26650 cells from BatteryHookup. The only thing I am wary of is the duties I will face, in theory they should just by 3% duty and 23% VAT and €15.00 Fedex handling fees - but I can find no absolute clarity on this so I could get a nasty surprise.

Shoog
 
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It seems unlikely that Fedex would ship 120 batteries for 15euro or is that a handling fee on top of the shipping costs?
 
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The Fedex shipping fee is $95.00, the Fedex customs handling fee on this side is another $15.00, but they can whack on all sorts of other handling fees if they want. Its a racket.

Shoog
 
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Ahh. Will they ship them at all if they know the package is batteries? Many carriers and airlines don't like shipping batteries.
 
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Ahh. Will they ship them at all if they know the package is batteries? Many carriers and airlines don't like shipping batteries.
I can only assume that BatteryHookup know what they can post internationally since they offer the service. I have heard that Ireland could be a problem though.

shoog
 
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I get my cells from a company near me and they ship gor free above a surten amount. So I will let them ship.
I think I get 70 2750mah cells for a 10s.
Then I have 19,25ah. I can go for more, but I will ad one battery later and I have a 17,5ah already.
So I think that 70 cells are enough.
It gives me enough range.
I must check if i can charge it with a 4amp charger. I have a 2 and a 4amp charger. I think it will be fine, but I check it with the company that cells the cells.
Getting Samsung cells. Here they are used a lot by people to replace there bike or scooter batteries.
 
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As is typical with Ireland there are no reasonably priced local suppliers. Brexit has put UK suppliers out of bounds as well. I like buying from Poland and Germany but there is nothing to compare to batteryhookup for bargains.
 
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What is expensive? I have fixed a gazelle gold edition battery. As you buy a new one, you will pay over 500euro for a 36v 10ah.
Batteries here start ad 400 euro, cheaper is 24v.
As you buy an e-bike, they give you the wh and for each 100wh they ad 200 euro to the price.
Shops that repare the batteries, ask 200euro to start with.
My battery from China 17,5ah costed me 330 euro. I am not surten that it is a 17,5ah, but the range I get is about the same as what I calculated.
The cells I get are 2,85 euro for a cell. Price depends on the amount off cells you buy.
I am fine with the price, knowing that my battery will stay below 250 euro and has a capacity of 19,25ah. That is almost double the amount of the gazelle, for less than half the price.
 
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Yes my logic is similar, with the BatteryHookup cells posted I should be able to build a 19Ah (guaranteed) battery at 36V for about €220.00 which I consider to be a steal. I will also have enough cells left over to build a second battery or a battery for my Camper Van - all for less than the cost of one commercial E-bike battery.
The only difficulty I have with this logic is getting it past the wife as it is pure discretionary spending.

Shoog
 
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I wanted to update my this with my researches and where they have taken me. I have been pouring over this for weeks now and have found it really difficult to come to a decision.
After researching the solar forums I came to the conclusion that the AliExpress route is high risk for the following reasons:
-its impossible to know with certainty what you will get, no matter how hard you research the seller, a lot seem to be selling B grade or salvaged units which are likely down to 80% of their capacity and half used up. Those that are A grade are likely to be overstated by at least 10% judging by their basic dimensions and weights.
-free postage is a high risk route to customs impoundment and loss of goods, or high charges.

I looked into Alibaba but came to the conclusion that:
-finding a reputable seller is even harder
-those reputable sellers charge big bucks on carriage. I was quoted $100 and $250 carriage from known reputable brands. This still doesn't cover import tariffs and VAT on arrival. When all costs are tallied then they ultimately come out on a par with reliable European and American sellers.

The European supplier GWL sells these units which when all costs are accounted for are on a par with similar prismatic units from China. Ultimately for the 36V 20Ah battery the cells come out at about €320.00. Capacity is guaranteed, carriage is guaranteed, duties are zero since they are from Europe so no nasty surprises and delays at customs.

However there is a better option which even though they come direct from the USA they are about half the price:


These are army surplus and guaranteed capacity cells with excellent characteristic. The box as sold with all carriage and duties paid so will come out at about the same price as the GWL prismatics. However there are enough cells here to build 2x 36V 19Ah batteries or roughly double the value.
This would allow me to buy a box, build a battery and sell on the 60 surplus cells to recover half my costs. This give a realistic cell cost of about €160 at my door. All from one of the most reliable battery sellers in the world.

Anyone critique my logic ?

Thank you for posting this. Was thinking of building a battery. A case to me is $270 after tax & shipping.
 
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The only thing I am wary of is the duties I will face, in theory they should just by 3% duty and 23% VAT and €15.00 Fedex handling fees - but I can find no absolute clarity on this so I could get a nasty surprise.
Shoog
In my experience UK customs seem to take a greater interest in things that come from the USA rather than China. I suspect that many Chinese parcels contain cheap stuff and have very poor paperwork making getting duties not worthwhile whereas USA parcels have a higher average value and better paperwork making getting duties easy. It may be different where you are but I know I'm more likely to be collared for duty on a USA parcel.
 
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In my experience UK customs seem to take a greater interest in things that come from the USA rather than China. I suspect that many Chinese parcels contain cheap stuff and have very poor paperwork making getting duties not worthwhile whereas USA parcels have a higher average value and better paperwork making getting duties easy. It may be different where you are but I know I'm more likely to be collared for duty on a USA parcel.
Same here. That is because of the amount that comes from china. They can't check them all, so you have less risk that it will be checked than everything from the usa.
Only as it comes trough dhl or something and not standart shipping, than it will be with tax. DHL is a company that ads it themselves, so it goes faster at the border.
 
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Last edited:
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They have one female and one male thread designed to stack end to end. That makes a somewhat awkward shape battery to my mind. Of course you don't have to stack them that way and can use a nut or bolt in the ends.
 
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Finally pulled the trigger on the Slovakian seller on Ebay. Only went for 25 cells in the end as I think initially a 12Ah battery should give me about 40-50km range. Will see how it all pans out and then think about building another matched battery if it works out well.

Shoog
 
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25 cells?
How is your layout?

O wait, they come as a pack off 25.
So you go for 12s.
Let me know how they are and if they are what they say. 50 cells will give you a 24ah battery for a very nice price.
 
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