Help improve e-bike battery storage solutions
Posted by CrazyDudeSpankin@reddit | ebikes | View on Reddit | 10 comments
Hi Redditors!
I am not sure if I am allowed to post this here, but as my university supervisor said: "you miss 100% of the shots you don't take". so here I am.
I'm a Bachelor's student at the Eindhoven University of Technology and I am researching how to make storing and charging e-bike batteries safer and stress-free. This includes battery lockers at workplaces, apartment buildings, and public spaces.
Since you all own or regularly use an e-bike, I'd love to hear about your experience with storing the battery. The survey takes about 4 minutes and is completely anonymous.
The survey can be answered in English or Dutch, you are able to change the language in the upper right corner.
https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/gJNSEVmpkn
Thanks so much! I really appreciate it.
Simple-Narwhal-8676@reddit
This is actually a really good idea tbh. Taking the batteries in/out all the time is such a hassle, especially with how heavy they are. Safe lockers at work or apartments would make life way easier. Filled the survey; hope it helps! Thanks for sharing and good luck with your project
TopRepulsive4766@reddit
My son took your survey and said most of the items wouldn't apply to him. Of course we do not live in a large city and he felt the survey was targetting daily commuters.
stormdelta@reddit
Long-term, I'm hoping for safer battery tech that isn't as fire-prone. Some bikes use LiFePO4, but that's heavier and less dense so is less popular for e-bikes, but there's other battery technologies in the works as well. The holy grail would be solid state batteries of course.
Liteville601@reddit
Ne vernüftige Akkulagerbox oder Tasche. Gibts speziell für Fahrradakkus, sind an sich Feuerfest.
nomadrone@reddit
I store mine in the bike frame it came with where also it gets charged
CrazyDudeSpankin@reddit (OP)
Yes, that's something most newer models have! However, as e-bikes gets more popular, the fire brigade has seen an increase in lithium ion fires. When batteries are stored in frame, the heat gets 'trapped' in the frame. In the future, these developments might lead to regulations about battery placement and charging. That's what my research is about.
Thanks for your response 😄
Faicc@reddit
TBH i never knew batteries were removed and stored. Huh.
CrazyDudeSpankin@reddit (OP)
Yep! The batteries of e-bikes are a big target for thieves and when stolen they render the e-bike completely useless. As a result, people choose to remove their batteries and take them with them, which is not an ideal situation (especially for older people, the batteries are quite heavy).
In some e-bikes the batteries even have to be removed in order to be charged, as the charging port is not accessible when the battery is in the bike.
InfluenceEfficient77@reddit
Regular sheet metal lockers won't ever pass any kind of code, you would need 1/2-in steel sealed air tight containers.
CrazyDudeSpankin@reddit (OP)
First of all, thanks for your response!
I'm mostly working on collecting and evaluating the value propositions of the stakeholders, but I am working simultaneously with a mechanical engineering student who is actually designing the locker. He has also concluded that if something like this were to be developed, it would have to be according to the VDMA 24994 norm (which is a German industry guideline). This norm is already recommended by several big European insurance companies and it is only a matter of time before these recommendations turn into obligations, especially if lithium ion fires keep increasing at the current rate.
So you're absolutely right, regular sheet metal won't do it. It will most likely be a combination of different layers of sheet metal, with layers of air and fiberglass in-between. The biggest obstacle here is the door of course, as the external temperature is not allowed to be higher than 100 degrees if thermal runaway were to take place!