7 ms·

Hey guys! We're engineers/designers from France, and we've built the Ultimate DIY Battery that you can repair and refill! It works with 90% of the bikes/motor

by oulipo 2y ago

Hey guys! We're engineers/designers from France, and we've built the Ultimate DIY Battery that you can repair and refill! It works with 90% of the bikes/motor brands on the market, so I assumed that some people here might be interested, if they got a non-functional batteries but they still want to use their e-bike? We believe that everybody should have control about stuff they own, and we should fight against planned obsolescence! Here are a few videos about our founder on the battery itself, why we built it, and how to assemble it: - What is the Gouach Battery: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsuW1NPkvNk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsuW1NPkvNk - Presentation of the pack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLoCihE0eIA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLoCihE0eIA - Presentation of the fireproof and waterproof casing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDJpt7RDbRM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDJpt7RDbRM Here are the juicy bits: https://docs.gouach.com https://docs.gouach.com We'd love some feedback from the e-bike DIY builder community Oh, and it's launching as a Kickstarter in September and there is an offer for early-backers here https://get.gouach.com/1 https://get.gouach.com/1 for a 25% discount on the battery! You can follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/gouach.batteries https://www.instagram.com/gouach.batteries to get the latest news!

k4rli 2y ago
Would order instantly. I have a bunch of e-scooter 18650 battery packs that would be nice to convert to an e-bike one. If Kickstarter is starting in Sept, then I guess it will be another 1-2 years.
- samstave 2y ago
  >>have a bunch of e-scooter 18650 battery packs Where get? There is a guy that rides the trail near me thats riding an ebike with a triangular battery pack that looks identical to one some HNer built here - He's too fast and I havent been able to stop him. Another question for the DIY e-bik crowd, is what kind of OTS motor could one harvest, like a motor from an electric lawm mower, or edger, weed-wacker? Are there power tools where the electric motor is useable? (like how people originally used mower engines in goKarts and such? Also, for fireproofing - mix Powdered Aerogel into a Silicon Slurry and dip the battery in that - the silicon and aerogel will make a heat sleeve thats quite fire resistant.
  - _Microft 2y ago
    > riding an ebike with a triangular battery pack that looks identical to one some HNer built here You might be thinking of jacquesm and this bike: https://jacquesmattheij.com/long-range-ebike/ https://jacquesmattheij.com/long-range-ebike/
- oulipo 2y ago
  Thanks for your message! The battery is already designed and in production, it's running on 1500 free-floating e-bikes in France without issues since around 2 years We're doing a Kickstarter because we're a startup so we need the upfront money to buy the parts and build the battery! We expect to ship to Kickstarter customers in November 2024!
briansm 2y ago
I thought the reason the packs are sealed is to stop amateurs from swapping in cells of differing voltages, which short each other out and cause sparking/fire hazards. There's a reason li-ion battery charging is current-limited, they have no internal resistance.
- slim 2y ago
  from their homepage : A Fireproof Casing which REALLY Works! Scared of battery fires? I know that we are! This is why our Infinite Battery comes with a casing that we designed to resist the heat of a fire, thanks to it's thick aluminum casing, and a design which dissipates heat quickly. And YES THIS WORKS! We have put a massive effort in making our casing sustain the battery fire, and extensively tested it (videos coming soon), so you can sleep safely (and us too!!). See our complete fireproof testing on our documentation/FAQ
  - briansm 2y ago
    Prevention is better than cure though. plus you've got to consider cell gassing/venting/explosion risk/toxic fumes as well as fire prevention. If they were doing per-cell protection, fair enough (cheap 18650's don't have cell protection usually), but I think they are still connecting 4 cells in parallel, with only serial-bank MOSFET's like in usual sealed packs.
    - briansm 2y ago
      (if they're using PTC themistors between the parallel cells to prevent over-current, it's all good though I suppose)
  - passwordoops 2y ago
    >and extensively tested it By themselves or independent 3rd parties with deep experience in battery safety testing?
  - TeMPOraL 2y ago
    > a casing that we designed to resist the heat of a fire, thanks to it's thick aluminum casing, and a design which dissipates heat quickly Thus turning a difficult to deal with Li-Ion inferno into a slightly less difficult to deal with block of superheated aluminum, that will happily set on fire anything that looks at it funny? This is always my concern about fire-proof metal casings for batteries: where do you put that so it doesn't set anything on fire?
agumonkey 2y ago
oulipo, gouache.. these are names i haven't heard in a long time jokes aside, i was curious if weld-less 18650 packs would be possible... seems like you guys answered that 10 years long question :) kudos
- oulipo 2y ago
  Haha! I'm a fan of OuLiPo :) Yes! the pack is using 18650 cells, and a 21700 version is coming early next year!
ulnarkressty 2y ago
It's a very nice concept and I think it's much better than the held-together-with-duct-tape concepts usually seen in diy bike conversions. That being said, I am a bit skeptical about your claims to be fireproof. Did you try to start a battery fire inside your enclosure? Aluminum melts at about 600C, while lithium burns much hotter than that.
- oulipo 2y ago
  Thanks so much!! Yes, it works because we're using a thick aluminum casing and a specific design to evacuate heat fast Videos coming soon!
ttoinou 2y ago
Could this also be used to create external power stations with 230V plugs ? For example to take in a car / van, and recharge with solar panels
- gridspy 2y ago
  To do this with any DC battery you add a solar battery charger to accept the panels and an inverter to turn the DC into mains 230V you can use.
sgu999 2y ago
Super cool! Any plan on making different form factors? For electrified cargo bikes, the battery is better placed bellow the cargo [0] so a squarish and flatter pack would be nicer. [0] This build for example: https://danielbuettner.medium.com/building-a-custom-e-cargo-based-on-the-famous-bullitt-frame-a10e7c89cd8d https://danielbuettner.medium.com/building-a-custom-e-cargo-...
- oulipo 2y ago
  yes! Bigger models coming early 2025
alecco 2y ago
Dude, this is amazing. It deserves its own HN post!
- oulipo 2y ago
  Thanks so much!! Appreciated! We did one a few weeks ago, we don't want to spam so I'll probably add one when we start the Kickstarter :)
butuzov 2y ago
this is amaizing...
- oulipo 2y ago
  Thanks so much!! Appreciated
pmarreck 2y ago
This is a great idea. I'm actually researching DIY solutions to electrifying my boat (I was a USAF electrician, once upon a time) and the prepackaged battery solutions are so expensive and inflexible. (Granted, for marine use there are some extra considerations...)
- oulipo 2y ago
  This would work perfectly indeed!
samstave 2y ago
Since you have the ESP32 - can you emulate the Apple Airtag on it please. I have a $7,000 Orbea E-bike and I have an Airtag hidden in it. Its a great feature. Not sure if I could redo the Orbead Battery this way because its internal to the frame - but it does have an extended battery pack option - perhaps this could be wired to use that connector as your interface allows for any ebike it seems? The post recently on HN about the flipper zero being able to emulate the airtag is pretty nifty, and you could use these guys effort: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41287031 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41287031 --- I LOVE this project. I want. Actually, Can I ask that you add a LORA transceiver network in the build since you have the ESP32 (maybe update it to the ESP3250?) :-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40llxjrIG3w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40llxjrIG3w Imagine being able to lora talk back from your bike to the trailhead, or your campsite. And do you have a better version of Shimano's E-Tube iOs crapware? EDIT: Since you have THIS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQHZFRHiUdg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQHZFRHiUdg The Goauche BMS Tesrt Bench needs its own video/HN post - and this is exactly what would be great info to get via a LORA messaging for all the telemetries from the pack? WOW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sEuBDA_xb8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sEuBDA_xb8 I want to open a Goache Plant in California. Seriously.
- crhulls 2y ago
  I'm the CEO of Tile and we are working on a line of products for theft. As a genuine question, I'm very surprised that many people don't seem concerned that AirTags alert thieves to their presence. If your bike is stolen the thief will get the notification, even if they are on Android (with the new shared platform rogue tag detection). I'm trying to understand the user psychology here - not pitch our own products. Do you have any specific features you would like to prevent theft?
  - yardie 2y ago
    The fact that something is being tracked and the thieves know it’s being tracked is a deterrent itself. Like the value of stolen iPhones crashed because activation lock made them worthless. So they moved on to Samsung Galaxies, until they implemented their own activation lock. If you steal a bike with a tracker on it you’ll probably leave it right there for the real owner to find.

by oulipo 2y ago

k4rli 2y ago

Would order instantly. I have a bunch of e-scooter 18650 battery packs that would be nice to convert to an e-bike one. If Kickstarter is starting in Sept, then I guess it will be another 1-2 years.

samstave 2y ago
>>have a bunch of e-scooter 18650 battery packs Where get? There is a guy that rides the trail near me thats riding an ebike with a triangular battery pack that looks identical to one some HNer built here - He's too fast and I havent been able to stop him. Another question for the DIY e-bik crowd, is what kind of OTS motor could one harvest, like a motor from an electric lawm mower, or edger, weed-wacker? Are there power tools where the electric motor is useable? (like how people originally used mower engines in goKarts and such? Also, for fireproofing - mix Powdered Aerogel into a Silicon Slurry and dip the battery in that - the silicon and aerogel will make a heat sleeve thats quite fire resistant.
- _Microft 2y ago
  > riding an ebike with a triangular battery pack that looks identical to one some HNer built here You might be thinking of jacquesm and this bike: https://jacquesmattheij.com/long-range-ebike/ https://jacquesmattheij.com/long-range-ebike/
oulipo 2y ago
Thanks for your message! The battery is already designed and in production, it's running on 1500 free-floating e-bikes in France without issues since around 2 years We're doing a Kickstarter because we're a startup so we need the upfront money to buy the parts and build the battery! We expect to ship to Kickstarter customers in November 2024!

briansm 2y ago

I thought the reason the packs are sealed is to stop amateurs from swapping in cells of differing voltages, which short each other out and cause sparking/fire hazards. There's a reason li-ion battery charging is current-limited, they have no internal resistance.

slim 2y ago
from their homepage : A Fireproof Casing which REALLY Works! Scared of battery fires? I know that we are! This is why our Infinite Battery comes with a casing that we designed to resist the heat of a fire, thanks to it's thick aluminum casing, and a design which dissipates heat quickly. And YES THIS WORKS! We have put a massive effort in making our casing sustain the battery fire, and extensively tested it (videos coming soon), so you can sleep safely (and us too!!). See our complete fireproof testing on our documentation/FAQ
- briansm 2y ago
  Prevention is better than cure though. plus you've got to consider cell gassing/venting/explosion risk/toxic fumes as well as fire prevention. If they were doing per-cell protection, fair enough (cheap 18650's don't have cell protection usually), but I think they are still connecting 4 cells in parallel, with only serial-bank MOSFET's like in usual sealed packs.
  - briansm 2y ago
    (if they're using PTC themistors between the parallel cells to prevent over-current, it's all good though I suppose)
- passwordoops 2y ago
  >and extensively tested it By themselves or independent 3rd parties with deep experience in battery safety testing?
- TeMPOraL 2y ago
  > a casing that we designed to resist the heat of a fire, thanks to it's thick aluminum casing, and a design which dissipates heat quickly Thus turning a difficult to deal with Li-Ion inferno into a slightly less difficult to deal with block of superheated aluminum, that will happily set on fire anything that looks at it funny? This is always my concern about fire-proof metal casings for batteries: where do you put that so it doesn't set anything on fire?

agumonkey 2y ago

oulipo, gouache.. these are names i haven't heard in a long time jokes aside, i was curious if weld-less 18650 packs would be possible... seems like you guys answered that 10 years long question :) kudos

oulipo 2y ago
Haha! I'm a fan of OuLiPo :) Yes! the pack is using 18650 cells, and a 21700 version is coming early next year!

ulnarkressty 2y ago

It's a very nice concept and I think it's much better than the held-together-with-duct-tape concepts usually seen in diy bike conversions. That being said, I am a bit skeptical about your claims to be fireproof. Did you try to start a battery fire inside your enclosure? Aluminum melts at about 600C, while lithium burns much hotter than that.

oulipo 2y ago
Thanks so much!! Yes, it works because we're using a thick aluminum casing and a specific design to evacuate heat fast Videos coming soon!

ttoinou 2y ago

Could this also be used to create external power stations with 230V plugs ? For example to take in a car / van, and recharge with solar panels

gridspy 2y ago
To do this with any DC battery you add a solar battery charger to accept the panels and an inverter to turn the DC into mains 230V you can use.

sgu999 2y ago

Super cool! Any plan on making different form factors? For electrified cargo bikes, the battery is better placed bellow the cargo [0] so a squarish and flatter pack would be nicer. [0] This build for example: https://danielbuettner.medium.com/building-a-custom-e-cargo-based-on-the-famous-bullitt-frame-a10e7c89cd8d https://danielbuettner.medium.com/building-a-custom-e-cargo-...

oulipo 2y ago
yes! Bigger models coming early 2025

alecco 2y ago

Dude, this is amazing. It deserves its own HN post!

oulipo 2y ago
Thanks so much!! Appreciated! We did one a few weeks ago, we don't want to spam so I'll probably add one when we start the Kickstarter :)

butuzov 2y ago

this is amaizing...

oulipo 2y ago
Thanks so much!! Appreciated

pmarreck 2y ago

This is a great idea. I'm actually researching DIY solutions to electrifying my boat (I was a USAF electrician, once upon a time) and the prepackaged battery solutions are so expensive and inflexible. (Granted, for marine use there are some extra considerations...)

oulipo 2y ago
This would work perfectly indeed!

samstave 2y ago

Since you have the ESP32 - can you emulate the Apple Airtag on it please. I have a $7,000 Orbea E-bike and I have an Airtag hidden in it. Its a great feature. Not sure if I could redo the Orbead Battery this way because its internal to the frame - but it does have an extended battery pack option - perhaps this could be wired to use that connector as your interface allows for any ebike it seems? The post recently on HN about the flipper zero being able to emulate the airtag is pretty nifty, and you could use these guys effort: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41287031 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41287031 --- I LOVE this project. I want. Actually, Can I ask that you add a LORA transceiver network in the build since you have the ESP32 (maybe update it to the ESP3250?) :-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40llxjrIG3w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40llxjrIG3w Imagine being able to lora talk back from your bike to the trailhead, or your campsite. And do you have a better version of Shimano's E-Tube iOs crapware? EDIT: Since you have THIS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQHZFRHiUdg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQHZFRHiUdg The Goauche BMS Tesrt Bench needs its own video/HN post - and this is exactly what would be great info to get via a LORA messaging for all the telemetries from the pack? WOW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sEuBDA_xb8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sEuBDA_xb8 I want to open a Goache Plant in California. Seriously.

crhulls 2y ago
I'm the CEO of Tile and we are working on a line of products for theft. As a genuine question, I'm very surprised that many people don't seem concerned that AirTags alert thieves to their presence. If your bike is stolen the thief will get the notification, even if they are on Android (with the new shared platform rogue tag detection). I'm trying to understand the user psychology here - not pitch our own products. Do you have any specific features you would like to prevent theft?
- yardie 2y ago
  The fact that something is being tracked and the thieves know it’s being tracked is a deterrent itself. Like the value of stolen iPhones crashed because activation lock made them worthless. So they moved on to Samsung Galaxies, until they implemented their own activation lock. If you steal a bike with a tracker on it you’ll probably leave it right there for the real owner to find.