How far can you go with each battery pack?

Comparison between products I tested

Leed 30K 10.4 Ah Samsung Li-ion battery pack 

(349 USD plus shipping 26 USD shipping = 375 USD total)

Specs: 24 volts multiplied by 10.4 Ah equals 250 watt hours (uses pink ICR18650-26F SAMSUNG SDI 2600 mAh cells). If each mile (1.6 km) requires 20 watt hours then this pack will give you 12.5 miles or 20 kilometers. My own test confirms this calculation.

Ideally, the pack should last 600 charge cycles. If it does (I have no user confirmation of this yet), then the pack should give you 12,000 kilometers of electric-powered rides. That is 3 cents per kilometer (electric charging costs, motor kit and accessories not included).

If you calculate the costs of a complete kit (700 USD), then the cost per km is 6 cents.

Left: Clean Republic 10K 6.6 Ah Sprinter with 29.2V/2.0A charger. Right: Leed 30K 10.4 Ah with 29.4V/3.0A charger. 

Leed 10K 5.2 Ah Samsung Li-ion battery pack 

(199 USD plus shipping 25 USD = 224 USD total)

Specs: 24 volts multiplied by 5.2 Ah equals 125 watt hours (uses pink ICR18650-26F SAMSUNG SDI 2600 mAh cells). If each mile (1.6 km) requires 20 watt hours then this pack will give you 6.25 miles or 10 kilometers. I am still in the process of testing to confirms this calculation.

If the pack lasts for 600 charge cycles, then the cost per kilometer is 4 cents (6,000 kilometers/229 USD). If it lasts only 100 cycles then the cost is 24 cents per kilometer.

Clean Republic 10K 6.6 Ah Samsung Li-ion battery pack 

(269 USD plus UPS shipping 36.64 USD)

Specs: 24 volts multiplied by 6.6 Ah equals 158 watt hours (uses blue ICR18650-26E SAMSUNG SDI 2900 mAh cells). If each mile (1.6 km) requires 20 watt hours then this pack will give you 8 miles or 12.6 kilometers. My own test confirms this calculation.

No charge cycles are available on the Clean Republic site for their packs anymore. So assuming 100 charge cycles, the pack will cost 21 cents per kilometer (1,260 kilometers/269 USD).

Cost per day and maximizing the warranty

If the above calculations are correct and you want to maximize the 1-year warranty, you must use the pack, say, the 30K pack, and charge it at least two times a day for 300 days. Why? Because it is likely, based on my experience, that the pack will only last 100 charge cycles. I have tried it and I am still waiting for other users to confirm if the same thing happened to their battery pack.

If you do not use the pack everyday of the year and only use it 100 times a year (2 times a week for 50 weeks), like I did, the 365-day warranty will expire without using up all the 600 cycles at 100% capacity it is guaranteed for. Using it 100 times will only use up 100 charge cycles.

If the pack lasts only 100 charge cycles, then the cost per kilometer for the 30K battery pack becomes 18 cents. For the complete kit, it is 36 cents.

Compared to taking the bus to cover the same distance per ride, a bus ride of 17 kilometers will cost me 2 USD per ride, which is 12 cents per kilometer. Does this mean that taking the bus is 12 cents cheaper than the cost of a 100 charge cycle battery pack? My 17 kilometer bicycle ride costs me 3 USD, that means I spend 2 USD more per ride on my electric bike. The 379 USD battery pack costs 3.79 USD per 20 kilometers of riding.

I still prefer cycling than taking the bus, so the extra 12 cents I pay per kilometer or 2 USD per ride is actually worth it.

NOTE: More posts on e-bike conversion projects are available here.