July 2017| 29
announced a new ,
cell battery. These batteries
are touted to last longer, have a bigger capacity, and let
you cover more pedal-assisted ground when fitted. This
all happened because Tesla wanted to create a budget
version of their electric cars, helping to push technology
to the benefit of cycling.
When will you see a ,
-cell battery on an e-bike
They look highly likely to be a part of many brand s
models for the
season. The battery will be slightly
bigger than the
current 18,650 but
the improvements
will more than
make up for
that. The ,
battery is 18mm
in diameter and
65mm long, while
the new 21,700 will
be 21mm in diameter and 70mm long. It is not a huge
increase in si e, but the output is. The current ,
batteries are managing 3.5Ah and the new 21,700 will
manage . Ah. The life of the battery is also hugely
increased and part of this is due to the increased output.
This means that you should not need to charge your
battery as often, this prolongs its life and you should see
this rise from 500 recharging cycles to between 1,500
and 2,000 cycles.
greener. The team have already have created a sodium
ion-powered e-bike but the timeline on the mass adoption
of the technology is as yet unknown.
If we pull all this together, we can see that there is a lot
coming from the world of e-bikes and to bring us back
to motor manufacturers, Ford believes that the folding
e-bike is the future of an integrated transport system.
Allowing people to jump between cars, trains, buses, and
ferries with ease and
no hassle, also means
that those for whom a
conventional bike is of
no use can still benefit
from cycling. As such,
Ford are currently in
an experimental phase
with where they would
like to take e-bike
design, but with their
budget, it can only be safe to expect big things from one
of the top five car manufacturers in the world.
It seems that many people with motor
trade experience are bringing their
ideas to the e-bike world.
The other ma or advance is sodium ion battery
technology. Lithium ion batteries require lithium in order
to be made, a volatile material that is expensive to
transport and work with. As a result, any application of
lithium is expensive. Scientists in Sheffield have, however,
started to develop sodium ion batteries. These are a
direct replacement for lithium ion batteries, allowing
current li-ion battery manufacturers to use existing
equipment to construct batteries using next-generation
materials. Sodium ion is cheaper, more abundant and