Eonyx EV Battery

Our offer is still open to distribute high capacity batteries for any manufacturer who can produce a battery pack that will run our Phoenix systems. If you are a manufacturer and you think your battery system is up to the job, please contact us at sales@electricrider.com.

Phoenix needs a battery at 36, 48, or 72 volts that is rated for 40 amps continuous output.

What to look for in a Lithium battery

This section is not meant to be a technical discussion. It's intended to cover some basics we have learned to help you make a smart decision about buying any particular Lithium-based battery.

Most lithium batteries are only good for small appliances like cell phones and computers. Some are far too unstable to make into a large pack to run an electric bike -- unless the bike has a very low-powered motor, which you probably would not want anyway.

LiPol, or Lithium Polymer, is no longer used because it required too many cells to make up a pack, making them unreliable. Each cell represents a potential point of failure, and by the time you get 40 or so cells together, one of them is almost always having a problem.

LiFePO4, or Lithium Iron Phosphate, is the current state of the art for large batteries, and they are widely available. The reason we do not offer them is that the failure rate is still far too high, and we spent too much time troubleshooting, repairing, and shipping back and forth to customers. Be smart. The manufacturers are almost all in China. China is not subject to US laws, so buy one, it doesn't work, there is no recourse. For failure to honor a warranty there is no recourse. Basically you put your money out and hope for the best.

Manufacturers make many claims, and since China is not required to follow US law, the claims can be totally unsubstantiated. We've even seen new specifications invented, apparently designed to mislead one into believing a battery pack will meet the requirements to run Phoenix when indeed it can not. The most common misrepresentation is the amount of continuous current a pack can produce. With the exception of one manufacturer, it takes at least a 30AH pack to produce 40 amps continuous. We have seen claims that 10AH and 15AH packs can do that, but there is just no way with LiFePO4 chemistry.

BMS, or Battery Management Systems are required on all Lithium based batteries. Their job is to manage the pack so that when charging, all cells are equalized and all cells are fully charged. Most manufacturers take a short-cut so that only one cell is fully charged. The BMS shuts off the charge current when the first cell is at maximum capacity. Our experience is that it takes about 2 weeks to fully recharge a pack with this type of BMS. Yes, that's two weeks on the charger with the pack not being used. The reason it works at all is that when the top cell's float charge drops down below the BMS's threshold, it enables charge current until that cell reaches top again. Eventually, all the cells get charged and are therefore equalized. The second part of a BMS's job is to manage discharge. It should limit current to the correct amount for the cells being used, and it should shut the output off if any one cell reaches its lowest safe voltage. If the cells are allowed to discharge below that level, their cycle life would be greatly reduced.

There are a ton of questions you need to ask about the BMS, the cells, and the charger. After all, failure of any of those will render your battery useless. Most manufacturers do not plan upward compatibility. Once a pack is sold, it may be made differently the next time, and if the difference is in the BMS, the new BMS may be incompatible with your pack and you may not be able to get a replacement. That explains why shrink tubing and duct tape seems to be the normal way to put these packs together. They are constantly changing, and I suppose they don't want to make a case that will only be good for a few packs.

It takes about 3-4 months for a "good" pack's problems to appear. If you get a good one, and it's working past 4 months, please let us know. To date, we have received zero emails from customers who have been using a LiFePO4 pack for over 4 months with the exception of one brand that costs about $2000.

Questions about delivery time? Click here for Delivery Zone Chart.