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Founder of Gouach, the repairable (and fireproof!) e-bike battery mentioned in the article, happy to answer any question! - we salvaged 100s of discarded e-bik
by oulipo 2y ago
Founder of Gouach, the repairable (and fireproof!) e-bike battery mentioned in the article, happy to answer any question!
- we salvaged 100s of discarded e-bike batteries
- we found that 90% of components were like new
- batteries were thrown away because of the spot-welding and the glue which prevents repairability
- we spent 2 years (and 5 patents) to design a robust, safe, and easy to assemble system that requires nothing but a screwdriver
Our batteries have been in use since 2 years in the streets of France, on micro-mobility e-bikes, in the harshest possible conditions (rain, snow, cold, heat, shocks), and we're very happy with their performances!
We're now opening it to the general public (for conversion kits, and to replace old batteries that are no longer manufactured)
We plan to open-source at least part of the embedded software, so people can write extensions (to let their battery "talk" with any e-bike system, and share it — using WASM embeddable code — to other people on the web!)
Let's fight planned obsolescence!
(and if you're looking for a new battery, there's 25% off on https://get.gouach.com https://get.gouach.com)
- gr__or 2y agoabsolutely beautiful mission, thank you!
- oulipo 2y agoThanks so much!! Appreciated
- acyou 2y agoHow do you address local heat generation at the interfaces between the cells and the contacts? Does that pose additional risk of cell failure leading to thermal runaway in high current scenarios?
- oulipo 2y agoYes! You can check the technical details on our documentation and our FAQ here (sorry, we're still cleaning up now, but feel free to ask for details) https://docs.gouach.com/knowledge-base/frequently-asked-questions-on-the-infinite-battery https://docs.gouach.com/knowledge-base/frequently-asked-ques... We've seen that our design does not pose heating or resistance issues
- acyou 2y agoWhich cells did you test with? Is that result valid for other cells? What is your team's background in battery safety?
- oulipo 2y agoWe are using DMEGC INR 18650 cells, which is the best quality/price ratio that we've found, often beating even great brands. We've developed a LOT of experience on safety after fighting a few fires haha, this is why we added a lot of software and hardware safeties (fuses everywhere, alerts, etc) Oh and we designed a fireproof casing to be extra-cautious that nothing would happen to our clients! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJETffg0kFc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJETffg0kFc
- acyou 2y agoAre you working with any external lithium ion battery safety specialists?
- pims 2y agoHello, I own a Specialized Vado SL from 2022. Can I use your battery as a range extender?
- oulipo 2y agoYes! You can use the Datex extender that we sell when you order the battery here https://get.gouach.com https://get.gouach.com
- UltraSane 2y agoWhy does that URL redirect to your indigogo site?
- dylan604 2y agoSeems like a perfectly valid question to me. Why the flagging? Redirecting to IndiGoGo makes it look like it's not yet a real product. Linking directly to the product mentioned when the link was provided seems like a much more helpful thing rather than some generic self promotion. So is the product being pitched actually being sold as claimed, or is it hoping to become a product while looking for funding? So, why is the link redirecting?
- oulipo 2y agoHi! Thanks for the question! The link was our original pre-launch page, and now redirecting to the Indiegogo campaign! The product does exist, and is in use, but until now our clients have been B2B, who are able to pay upfront for the commands. As we are now opening to the general public, and we're a startup, we needed a schema like Indiegogo to get the money upfront and be able to buy the materials to assemble all the batteries! We're expecting to ship at the end of the year
- bsimpson 2y agoThat's awesome! Minor grammar tip - saying "since 2 years" is a tell that you're a non-native speaker. It's a common mistake that most people will understand, but the correct phrasing is "for 2 years." I'm sure this is a pitch you practice a lot, so I wanted to help for next time.
- oulipo 2y agoThank you!! Appreciated :)
- rodgerd 2y agoMeanwhile, English speakers are trying to get the hang of depuis/pendant...
- tharkun__ 2y agoAnd French teachers scream at students: "h muet!!!!1onze" and then turn around and say things like "I ate you!" and I want to scream: "h non muet in English you little..." So what's your point exactly?
- wlesieutre 2y agoAlternately, “since two years ago” works too. “Since” goes with a particular moment in time (rather than an amount of time) to refer to the period between that time and now, like an old restaurant saying “making pizza since 1922” or for recent events like “since yesterday.”
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- mrkstu 2y ago'Since two years ago' is still awkward. Generally a native speaker would choose the phrasing 'for the last two years.' The other two examples work, though 'since yesterday' is still slightly forced unless its an answer to a direct question.
- b59831 2y ago[dead]
- cibyr 2y agoWhy does configuration require a closed-source app, with an account on your proprietary platform?
- sriacha 2y agoWeb page claims the app is being open-sourced.
- cibyr 2y agoIt's the "account required" part that really bugs me. Implies that everything is routed through some cloud backend that'll shut down one day and then you lose access to all the smarts in your "infinitely repairable" battery.
- oulipo 2y agoNo, the app is never needed! It's for extra features and configurability
- oulipo 2y agoThere is no required account :) The app just allows to connect over Bluetooth to the battery if you want to set a wifi password to retrieve your data and set alerts! It also lets you configure your battery for any type of e-bike system
- cibyr 2y ago"Required" is hiding the ball here. There's desirable functionality - that you're touting in your sales pitch! - that isn't accessible without your client software, and it sure looks like https://clients.gouach.com/ https://clients.gouach.com/ won't do anything without a login. https://docs.gouach.com/connected-batteries/monitoring-interfaces#809b075b77554eb6a066b4aa0633d054 https://docs.gouach.com/connected-batteries/monitoring-inter... explicitly states "In order to access the connectivity features, you will need a Gouach client account." None of this is the end of the world, and I'm glad the batteries will continue to work as batteries after you go out of business, but it does come off as hypocritical given your big talk about repairability.
- sandworm101 2y ago>> 2 years in the streets of France, on micro-mobility e-bikes, in the harshest possible conditions (rain, snow, cold, heat, shocks) Um... Paris isn't exactly a harsh climate. Send some batteries to me in a month or two and I'll show them winter. Proper winter starts when it stops snowing.
- oneplane 2y agoEverything is relative ;-) Hash in the context of places where you'd ride your bike is a very different kind of hash than let's say, the weather on mercury or pluto.
- detourdog 2y agoThat’s great have you looked into the marine industry?
- oulipo 2y agoNot yet! If you have interesting applications or contacts, we'd love to know! Send us an email at contact@gouach.com :)
- biglyburrito 2y agoI just read about Gouach on Indiegogo last week ( https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/infinite-the-repairable-universal-ebike-battery https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/infinite-the-repairable-u... ) -- very cool stuff.
- oulipo 2y agoThanks so much!!
- dperrin 2y agoIn the thermal runaway video, you have steel bars holding the battery down. Is there risk of the battery casing blowing apart without that steel holding it down?
- oulipo 2y agoNo! The casing contains the explosion. We just used steel bar to be extra safe, and make sure the batteries don't move while filming