Meanwhile a 1kW/h battery for an e-bike can still retail for $2000 (thinking of the Stromer BQ983).
Surprises me how long it takes for these prices to tickle down into normal consumer goods. But they will, the true revolution of electric assisted urban transport has only just begun. Really exciting to see all the wacky new transport modes that are created left and right, I wonder which ones will stick
Almost all e-bike batteries sold to consumers are ridiculously overpriced[1] relative to their components. Especially those from reputable brands like Bosch and Shimano which supplies most of the better e-bike brands on the street.
It’s a combination of having relatively well-off consumers, who lack the time/knowledge to start messing with their expensive machines and lack of generic spare parts due to the likes of Bosch locking down their components, and creating specialised computers (similar to how modern cars work) so that only authorised repair shops can work on them.
But for anyone that can break the protection and manufacture a somewhat descent generic replacement battery the potential profit is enormous. I am sure some Chinese are well aware and hard at work on circumventing the DRM
It is unfortunately not that simple. The likes of Bosch have had a decade or two to learn how to lock up their automotive systems and they're using every trick in the book to do the same to e-bikes.
Perhaps, and then I hope they will be made obsolete as all the essential parts for making e-bikes are becoming commodities. 250W electric motors (max allowed in EU dor normal e-bikes) are not exactly rocket science. My jigsaw even has a 300W motor (though probably not rated for hours of continuous use)
Stromer is a Swiss e-bike company and one of the most expensive e-bike brands on the market.
A better example would be Lunacycle, which sells components for DIYing e-bikes. A 704Wh battery from them costs $550. $781/kWhr. Bafang is another well-known component supplier and sells a 754 Wh battery pack for $600. $795/kWhr.
Those are both 52v packs which are the most 'exotic' on the market at the moment, so there is a bit of a price premium.
In all cases, we're talking retail pricing for complete battery packs, with integrated battery management systems and packaging.
The article is talking about wholesale prices paid by companies buying these cells by the million unit quantity.
Until very recently Stromer was just about the only available e-Bike in the Netherlands that could reliably do to 45km/h,and thus quite popular. The retail prices for the 618/814/987 kWhr batteries are 1190/1650/1990, which to me indicates that the retail price is not at all related to any costs they make but that they are doing pure value pricing (whatever consumers are willing to pay). Their monopoly on proper speed pedelecs is rapidly coming to an end, so hopefully prices will soon get down to something more directly related to manufacturing costs.
It is already happening for normal e-bikes, where 3000+ used to be the starting range for a somewhat decent e-bike. This is currently about 2000+ but in a few years it will hopefully be possible to get a somewhat decent e-bike for 1000 - 1500.
Making batteries is like printing money right now. Everybody needs them and there is nowhere near the supply to meet the demand. Long term batteries will become a commodity and that's when purchase cost will drop dramatically.
Consumer goods have all sorts of regulatory barriers to get through and you’re paying for it. If you get a spot welder and buy cylindrical cells wholesale, you can build dirt cheap li-ion packs. LFP really doesn’t buy you any safety for such a tiny (1kWh) pack.
Surprises me how long it takes for these prices to tickle down into normal consumer goods. But they will, the true revolution of electric assisted urban transport has only just begun. Really exciting to see all the wacky new transport modes that are created left and right, I wonder which ones will stick