I got into ebikes about a year ago and have exclusively been using Milwaukee's M18 batteries. I thought this might be a good place to share what I've done.
I chose the M18 batteries because that's the tool platform I use both at home and at work. Since I already had a bunch of batteries and chargers, it seemed wasteful to buy ebike specific batteries. Also, the 12ah versions came available at about the same time I was getting into ebikes, which was awfully convenient. Right now I have them running 2 bafang g310's at 10s and a GMAC at 15s. Creating a robust electrical and mechanical connection proved to be a real pain and time sink, though other than that it's been pretty smooth sailing.
I usually charge the batteries at the same time on two milwaukee chargers and so far have not noticed the battery voltages more than a few hundredths apart when fully charged and discharged. Looking at the CA data, we've run about 30kWh though the combined 4 batteries (plus whatever tool use?) and they seem to be holding up fine.
Here's the progression of adapters -
The first one I built was from chopped up broken tool bases and a bunch of profile cut delrin. It worked fine though it's a pain to assemble and having the batteries back to back requires a lot of space inside the frame.
The next one was for my wife's bike. It's a combination of machined and laser-cut delrin, and aluminium. I switched to orienting the batteries vertically and even managed to fit a Baserunner controller inside. This might be the fanciest one I built though it ate up enough time that I don't think I'll recreate it.
This 3 battery version was for a GMAC. Almost entirely machined from a block of delrin. It sort of resembles a vhs tape but does the trick.
And, the latest 2-battery version. I'm pretty happy with this one. It takes up a lot less front triangle room that the back to back version, mounts on the bike easily, and has a surface mount xt60 connector, which cleans up the wiring.
I have a powerful mid-drive motor on order that I want to run at 20s. So the next project will probably be putting together a 4 battery adapter.
I chose the M18 batteries because that's the tool platform I use both at home and at work. Since I already had a bunch of batteries and chargers, it seemed wasteful to buy ebike specific batteries. Also, the 12ah versions came available at about the same time I was getting into ebikes, which was awfully convenient. Right now I have them running 2 bafang g310's at 10s and a GMAC at 15s. Creating a robust electrical and mechanical connection proved to be a real pain and time sink, though other than that it's been pretty smooth sailing.
I usually charge the batteries at the same time on two milwaukee chargers and so far have not noticed the battery voltages more than a few hundredths apart when fully charged and discharged. Looking at the CA data, we've run about 30kWh though the combined 4 batteries (plus whatever tool use?) and they seem to be holding up fine.
Here's the progression of adapters -
The first one I built was from chopped up broken tool bases and a bunch of profile cut delrin. It worked fine though it's a pain to assemble and having the batteries back to back requires a lot of space inside the frame.
The next one was for my wife's bike. It's a combination of machined and laser-cut delrin, and aluminium. I switched to orienting the batteries vertically and even managed to fit a Baserunner controller inside. This might be the fanciest one I built though it ate up enough time that I don't think I'll recreate it.
This 3 battery version was for a GMAC. Almost entirely machined from a block of delrin. It sort of resembles a vhs tape but does the trick.
And, the latest 2-battery version. I'm pretty happy with this one. It takes up a lot less front triangle room that the back to back version, mounts on the bike easily, and has a surface mount xt60 connector, which cleans up the wiring.
I have a powerful mid-drive motor on order that I want to run at 20s. So the next project will probably be putting together a 4 battery adapter.