Clean Republic

Lead acid batteries are generally the simplest, most economical, and most rugged type of rechargeable battery compared to other commonly available types, and are therefore an excellent choice for the power source of an electric bike. The “lead acid” type of battery technology has been around for hundreds of years and there are many mass production processes that have been studied and optimized for making specific types of lead acid battery for specific applications. One result of this long history is that many ways to lower the production cost of lead acid batteries have been tested and applied on very large scales, making this type of battery very affordable.

When buying an electric bike or conversion kit you don’t need to be a lithium battery expert, but it does help to know some basic information just as understanding the basics of gas mileage or air bags is important when buying a car. Some important things to consider regarding your lithium battery include it’s specific chemistry type, how much energy it can hold, and how long it may be before you’ll want to replace it.

One of the newer types is the Lithium nickel-cobalt-manganese  or Lithium NCM battery. This type of chemistry has a high energy density like the LiCoO2, but the nickel and manganese elements in the cells make them more stable and therefore safer and easier to produce. Lithium NCM batteries must still be monitored by a battery management system (BMS) during operation to protect the cells from over charging, over discharging, short circuit situations, and over current situations, but can safely be built into bigger sizes with internal BMS circuit boards. These Lithium Nickel-Cobalt-Manganese batteries are safe, stable, and powerful, and are used in electric wheel chairs, bikes, and the Clean Republic Hill Topper electric bike conversion kit

Different types and sizes of lithium battery will have more or less ability to store a certain amount of power, and it’s important to understand some basic terms used to describe this issue. A battery is basically like a gas tank for an electric motor. In terms of shopping for a battery, to power your electric bike hub motor you’ll be considering things like overall price, weight, and how much power your “gas tank” can hold, so it’s good to have a basic vocabulary to accurately compare different batteries. “Amps” describe how big a flow of electricity a battery can put out, for example. So one good way to compare batteries is by asking, “if these two batteries were putting out the same size flow of electricity, which one would run out first?” It’s like comparing two bath tubs that are draining. You could ask, “if these two bath tubs had exactly the same size of drain hole, which tub would empty out first? The basic answer in this case is simply, “the tub with the least amount of water stored up in it to begin with will be empty first.” If the drain hole on each tub could let water through it at a rate of, say, 8 gallons per hour, and one tub starts with 8 gallons and the other starts with 12 gallons, the first tub will drain in 1.0 hours while the other will drain in 1.5 hours. If these tubs were batteries we would expect the “1.5 hour” battery to be a little more expensive, and maybe a little bit bigger or heavier as it could do work for a longer time. If you shopped around and compared prices and specifications and found one of these “1.5 hour” batteries with the same price or maybe a higher price but the same or even smaller size or weight as the “1.0 hour” battery, you could then easily tell if it was a good deal.

To understand how far a battery will drive your electric bike compared to another one, it’s good to speak in terms of “flow per hour.” You can ask, “ok, if these two batteries have electricity flowing out of them at a rate, or ‘flow size’ of 8 amps, how many hours will each of them do that until they are drained?” If one of the batteries could have electricity flow out of it at a rate of 8 amps for one hour before it was empty, we would call this an “8 Amp/hour” or “8Ah” battery. If another battery could last for an hour and a half while being drained at that rate, we’d say it was an “8.5Ah” battery.

Another important but often overlooked safety feature of an electric bike lithium battery is the casing that protects all the cells and BMS from shocks, vibration, and weather. Some lithium “batteries” are sold with nothing more than some plastic shrink wrap or tape covering up the individual cells and BMS computer board. This is okay if the battery is to be used on some kind of stationary system in a safe, dry place, but to safely operate in the harsh environment of a bouncing bike frame, a lithium battery must be protected from shock and water. This should be a straight forward cost consideration when shopping for a lithium bike battery. You may find a good deal on an ‘unprotected’ battery but you must then remember to factor in some extra money, and probably a lot of time and energy, to get that battery into some kind of shock-proof, weather-proof container. All Clean Republic lithium batteries come standard with a heavy duty, weather sealed aluminum case that protects the internal cells and BMS from the shocks, vibrations, and splashes that are the norm that any piece of bike equipment needs to handle.

Many people are aware that all lithium batteries, as a high performance type of battery, need to have special care taken in their production and use to insure a high level of safety. Here we’ll go over some common issues and questions related to lithium batteries in general, and also discuss some of the specific differences between types of lithium batteries and also how these issues relate to electric bikes and conversion kits. Some of the biggest issues surrounding lithium battery safety are the production process and quality control of the original battery manufacturer, the source and quality of the raw chemical materials, the electronic Battery Management System (BMS), how the internal battery cells are protected from shock, vibration, and weather, and issues relating to overheating. As lithium batteries have become extremely popular, many people have raised questions about certain safety topics. It’s a good idea to share questions and comments on these subjects and have these topics openly discussed.

The production process of lithium batteries is arguably as complex and important as the materials in the batteries themselves. There are many steps in this production process and a factory with a long history, good machinery, and high production volume will have an easier time producing a high-quality, safe battery than a start-up factory or a shop that does only small production batches. This is because quality control tolerances are easier to dial in as production volume and the size of the manufacturing operation increase. An example of one of many specific detailed steps that must be done well is the application of a polymer compound separator. Many lithium battery manufactures have relied on simpler liquid compound processes that can leak and be very dangerous if a battery cell is damaged. Our manufacturer uses a hardened compound process which adds significant stability and safety to the cells. Clean Republic builds its wildly popular Big Lithium battery using the same high-end lithium nickel-cobalt-manganese polymer cells its supplier manufactures for electric wheelchair distributors and full electric bike producers. A big Lithium battery is made up of many smaller batteries called “cells” inside the outer battery casing. Ultimately it is the quality standard by which these individual cells are produced that determines the performance, reliability, stability, and safety of the actual battery.

The cells in the Clean Republic lithium batteries are specifically chosen from one of the largest volume (50,000 unit per month) production lines inside our cell supplier’s factory. Basically this means that the cells in your Clean Republic electric bike conversion kit are manufactured to the same safety and stability standards required by the other large customers of our cell manufacturer who produce electric wheelchairs, medical equipment, and high-end full electric bikes. There’s a big difference between this type of cell production and small-scale project-based manufacturing. In other words, a world-class electric wheelchair producer is not going to be satisfied with a lithium battery wrapped up in duct tape selling on e-Bay from a small-scale production run, and neither are we, so we have our battery custom built from the same cells that already meet these high standards of other large companies.

As we are making sure our customers are getting the same high-grade cells that are sought after by large producers of electric bikes, our cell manufacturer is using the same philosophy one step higher up the production chain. Japan is world famous for its leading role in the lithium battery industry, and has experts and companies that specialize in the highest quality niches of all levels of production. Since finished lithium batteries can be only as good as the quality of the raw chemical materials they’re built from, it’s imperative that the Japanese world leaders in lithium battery production also produce the world’s purest lithium battery chemical compounds to insure a steady supply. Though often more expensive than the lower-grade lithium chemical compounds that can be sourced from China and other areas, our cell manufacturer sources its raw materials from Japanese suppliers, the best in the world. This pays off in overall higher quality control, cell stability, and safety in the end products.

Another important but often overlooked safety feature of an electric bike lithium battery is the casing that protects all the cells and BMS from shocks, vibration, and weather. Some lithium “batteries” are sold with nothing more than some plastic shrink wrap or tape covering up the individual cells and BMS computer board. This is okay if the battery is to be used on some kind of stationary system in a safe, dry place, but to safely operate in the harsh environment of a bouncing bike frame, a lithium battery must be protected from shock and water. This should be a straight forward cost consideration when shopping for a lithium bike battery. You may find a good deal on an ‘unprotected’ battery but you must then remember to factor in some extra money, and probably a lot of time and energy, to get that battery into some kind of shock-proof, weather-proof container. All Clean Republic lithium batteries come standard with a heavy duty, weather sealed aluminum case that protects the internal cells and BMS from the shocks, vibrations, and splashes that are the norm that any piece of bike equipment needs to handle.