How is this Panasonic battery anchored to the bike?

[Arbol]

I have seen a new (for me at least) Panasonic battery:

http://www.greenbikekit.com/index.php/36v-9ah-panasonic-lithium-ion-battery.html

Due to the discussion at:

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=52651

It seems the Panasonic battery seems to make sense to build a bigger battery: it is from a reputable brand, it is small, light and apparently with a high continuous discharge rate.

From the pictures, it seems the battery is to be anchored to the bike in vertical position. Supposedly, one could anchor the battery anywhere, I assume there is another piece that can be mounted anywhere in the frame that serves as a support to the battery. Also, it is not clear which is the anchorage point. It seems as if that piece of plastic in the back, with four grooves (two long, too short) should be the anchor point. But the picture says that is the discharge outlet, so I am at a loss. Also, if that were the anchorage point, it would seem more logical to put the battery in horizontal, not in vertical.

Does anybody know the answer to that question?

And in general, the 18650 Panasonic are good cells?

 

[bowlofsalad]

Maybe I am missing it but, what bike? I see no bike nor any examples of mounting options to any bike. If you need ideas for how to attach things to other things, your imagination would be a great place to start, the options are many. http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12847 this thread might give you some ideas.

As for the battery, define good. The pack might do well in certain situations, but how well it does is relative. Do not be fooled by marketing and brand names, specifications are what counts. Terms such as 'greenbikekit' and '18650' might give you some of the information you seek.

Instead of asking if a battery will suit you and hoping that someone will spoon feed you this information this time, perhaps it would be better to try to understand what your needs are and how they are relative to a battery pack. Some things that will help you understand is C rating and battery capacity in watt hours.

If, in the future, you need to ask a question about something, you would do well to add much more detail about what you are trying to accomplish. Range, speed, hills, weight, temperature, these are all varying things that you would gain from understanding how they effect your choice in batteries. ebike.ca/simulator might help you understand a few things.

 

[Arbol]

Maybe I am missing it but, what bike?

The bike in the GBK link that I have provided in the first post (the first pic in "More views"). There is a picture showing a bike with the battery anchored both in the front and at the seat post. But there is no information how the anchoring is performed.

I am not asking if this battery suits me or not. I agree with you I would need to provide much more info about me and my needs and wishes. My question is much simpler and precise: how are these batteries anchored to the frame of a given, "normal" bike?

 

[r3volved]

Look at image #3 to see the GIANT clip on the back of the unit.

Also in the description it says: "Fixing adapter and charger are included."

 

[bowlofsalad]

I see the picture now that you are referring to, I couldn't tell what that was from the preview of the image, the default picture on that site wasn't the bike picture.

The picture you are using as reference for asking a question about is a drawing, there isn't a real bike or a real battery being mounted in the picture. What this means is asking how they did it was, they drew a purple box that represents a battery onto a drawing of a bicycle. I hope this makes sense. So, the option of copying what you see in this picture is out the window in this situation from my vantage point. Looks like you are going to have to use your imagination and a little creativity. I couldn't tell you exactly how to do this, as I said before, there are many ways you can do this, but that is up to you. I don't know how they would do this, only that they have a drawing suggesting that it is possible. I am sure it is possible, but you'd have to try different things to see what would work for you and your bicycle.

Maybe they sell a mounting harness specifically made for that battery shell, who knows. Perhaps you should send them an e-mail about how they suggest replicating what you see in their drawing to bicycles.

 

[Arbol]

Mmm the issue is different people like doing things differently.

What you are saying is: "buy and tinker if it does not work". I see many people here like this approach. This approach tends to be the winner when a technology starts and people who are able to do things "good enough" are rewarded.

The opposite side is people who just want to buy a finished product (say Apple products).

And then there is a middle position: people who do not like / do not know how to tinker, but enjoy putting different things together to make the final product ideal for them. But the "bricks" of the product are "finished" products, not something you have to tinker about. This is like creating a building with Lego bricks. I am one of those types. I want to create the best bike for me, but first I like to plan and understand "everything". I do not like to tinker, I like just to assemble "finished" products and see that everything works without the need of tinkering.

This is why I want to understand how this battery is / can be anchored to a normal bike. A "tinkerer" would say: no problem, I buy it and I will find a way to make it work. For me, this is unacceptable, I need to know "everything" beforehand.

End of philosophy.

 

[Arbol]

Look at image #3 to see the GIANT clip on the back of the unit.

Also in the description it says: "Fixing adapter and charger are included."

Mmm yes I also thought that was something like a clip, but from the picture, it does not say so. It is incredible they sell this product to be sold overseas without putting pictures that fully describe the product. I imagine they lose many sales because of that. For example, is the fixing adapter able to adapt to any tube, or only to some tubes?

 

[bowlofsalad]

The opposite side is people who just want to buy a finished product (say Apple products).

And then there is a middle position: people who do not like / do not know how to tinker, but enjoy putting different things together to make the final product ideal for them. But the "bricks" of the product are "finished" products, not something you have to tinker about. This is like creating a building with Lego bricks. I am one of those types. I want to create the best bike for me, but first I like to plan and understand "everything". I do not like to tinker, I like just to assemble "finished" products and see that everything works without the need of tinkering.

This is why I want to understand how this battery is / can be anchored to a normal bike. A "tinkerer" would say: no problem, I buy it and I will find a way to make it work. For me, this is unacceptable, I need to know "everything" beforehand.

End of philosophy.

I know this might be hard to accept, I don't know if this is your first ebike, but DIY jobs are for tinkerers, and building an ebike, even from completed components likely almost always requires some tinkering, and absolutely at some point. There isn't an ebike shop on every corner you'll be able to take your bike to for diagnosing issues. This is part of the beauty of DIY approaches, you do the labor, and you understand how to fix things. These kinds of tasks understand a lot of creativity, imagination and skill, though.

Those who want something closer to the 'apple product' concept might be better served by spending more money and buying a pre-made ebike all ready to go. Sadly, even apple products require plenty of tinkering, but perhaps not in ways you understand as complicated or tinkering in your mind. If you've ever had to install an application or program on a computer and troubleshoot getting it started, you were doing the equivalent of tinkering on a bike. Few are going to talk about having to cut down the torque arms and bolt heads with an angle grinderso they fit on my bike, I've had to make and create several solutions to making a DIY ebike myself. I am not trying to tell you these tasks are impossible or detour you from doing them. I am trying to help you be aware of what might be expected when trying to make your own ebike, it isn't legos, there isn't a perfect spot or slot for every or even many of the pieces. Things aren't likely to fit together perfectly. It might seem like legos when you hear about it from someone, probably someone with some considerable tinkering skills, but it's a more complicated than that.

Putting together an ebike very well that will last is a fairly challenging. It certainly has been for me.

 

[dogman dan]

Looks to me like that battery would be dropped into a vertical slot of some kind on the bike. Often, bikes are designed with a battery carrier between the seat and the rear tire. This box has the typical handle on the end you often see on such a design. In many cases, the battery slips into the slot behind the seat, and the size and shape of the slot is the main way it's held in place. So the battery is not anchored to the bike so much as it's made to fit the bike frame like a hand and glove. So in this case, I see no slots or other attachment devices on that battery case. In other cases, a T shaped slot on one side of the battery might fit a C shaped slot on a rear rack. Or some variation like that.

So you want to carry this particular battery on some other bike? It's DIY time, starting with the plug to attach wires to it. If you don't dig DIY, you'll need to buy the entire bike and battery together.