5 ms·

I wonder if this will allow flying with an ebike battery in disassembled form. The regulations allow up to 100Wh per battery, and an unlimited number of batteri

by jfim 1y ago

I wonder if this will allow flying with an ebike battery in disassembled form. The regulations allow up to 100Wh per battery, and an unlimited number of batteries, so transporting the individual cells should be okay, at least in theory.

Analemma_ 1y ago
Lugging an entire suitcase full of 1 kWh worth of batteries might not technically be against regulations, but I imagine you'd be signing yourself up for a long series of headaches at the security checkpoint anyway. To be honest, if I knew that security wouldn't stop me because "it's not technically against regulations", that's exactly what I would do if I wanted to bring down a plane.
- jfim 1y ago
  Right, that's basically the problem, if one wants to travel by air with an ebike without hassle, there's no real option to do so. There's the Ligo 10X (https://ebikes.ca/product-info/grin-products/ligo10x-battery.html https://ebikes.ca/product-info/grin-products/ligo10x-battery...) which makes 99Wh battery packs that can be connected together, but otherwise it just seems like rules lawyering. There really needs to be standardization of battery packs for ebikes instead of proprietary ones, so that one could rent a battery at their destination.
  - kevincox 1y ago
    At that point why not just rent the whole bike and not need to bring the large object onto the plane?
    - pmg101 1y ago
      Because ones bike is a carefully selected item perfectly fitted to ones body shape and preferences, whereas the battery is simply a line replaceable unit.
      - lm28469 1y ago
        That's such an edge case though.... what about my fine tuned piano? Or my aquarium? At some point personal luxuries don't have to be accommodated for
        mc3301 1y ago
        Even as an avid cyclist who fully understands geometry and the personal connection one may have to one's bike, I agree with you. Privileged enough to fly somewhere specifically to ride bicycles? C'mon, I think you can find a good enough bike to rent when you get there.
        bazzargh 1y ago
        Absolutely you can. The places in France and Spain I've flown to just suggest you bring your own pedals, so they match your shoe cleats; they'll fit them before your hire. You can usually bring your own saddle too. It's far more convenient than bringing the bike. I've also done it the other way, my main bike has S&S coupling so I could bring it aboard the Eurostar. For touring I prefer my own bike, because I have the racks set up for my panniers, but when I do that, I prefer travelling by ferry/train.
        mc3301 1y ago
        I love it! Even for the lift/shuttling-bike-park crowd, I bet many places would happily install cleat-matching pedals (or your own), your saddle... maybe your grips if you are picky?
      - prmoustache 1y ago
        I think the intersection between people who ride e-bikes and cyclists who obsess about bike fit is fairly small. You totally have the option to fly with a regular muscular powered bike.
swader999 1y ago
I would honestly not want to fly on a plane with this or anyone else's ebike batteries. To dangerous.
- jacquesm 1y ago
  You don't even want to be in an elevator with them. There are some absolutely horrific videos of how quickly this can get out of hand.
oulipo2 1y ago
(Gouach co-founder here) Yes! that's a possibility in theory. You can just remove all the cells, which then become "inert", and the pack set aside. It then only takes 5 min to reassemble them at your arrival.

by jfim 1y ago

Analemma_ 1y ago

Lugging an entire suitcase full of 1 kWh worth of batteries might not technically be against regulations, but I imagine you'd be signing yourself up for a long series of headaches at the security checkpoint anyway. To be honest, if I knew that security wouldn't stop me because "it's not technically against regulations", that's exactly what I would do if I wanted to bring down a plane.

jfim 1y ago
Right, that's basically the problem, if one wants to travel by air with an ebike without hassle, there's no real option to do so. There's the Ligo 10X (https://ebikes.ca/product-info/grin-products/ligo10x-battery.html https://ebikes.ca/product-info/grin-products/ligo10x-battery...) which makes 99Wh battery packs that can be connected together, but otherwise it just seems like rules lawyering. There really needs to be standardization of battery packs for ebikes instead of proprietary ones, so that one could rent a battery at their destination.
- kevincox 1y ago
  At that point why not just rent the whole bike and not need to bring the large object onto the plane?
  - pmg101 1y ago
    Because ones bike is a carefully selected item perfectly fitted to ones body shape and preferences, whereas the battery is simply a line replaceable unit.
    - lm28469 1y ago
      That's such an edge case though.... what about my fine tuned piano? Or my aquarium? At some point personal luxuries don't have to be accommodated for
      - mc3301 1y ago
        Even as an avid cyclist who fully understands geometry and the personal connection one may have to one's bike, I agree with you. Privileged enough to fly somewhere specifically to ride bicycles? C'mon, I think you can find a good enough bike to rent when you get there.
        bazzargh 1y ago
        Absolutely you can. The places in France and Spain I've flown to just suggest you bring your own pedals, so they match your shoe cleats; they'll fit them before your hire. You can usually bring your own saddle too. It's far more convenient than bringing the bike. I've also done it the other way, my main bike has S&S coupling so I could bring it aboard the Eurostar. For touring I prefer my own bike, because I have the racks set up for my panniers, but when I do that, I prefer travelling by ferry/train.
        mc3301 1y ago
        I love it! Even for the lift/shuttling-bike-park crowd, I bet many places would happily install cleat-matching pedals (or your own), your saddle... maybe your grips if you are picky?
    - prmoustache 1y ago
      I think the intersection between people who ride e-bikes and cyclists who obsess about bike fit is fairly small. You totally have the option to fly with a regular muscular powered bike.

swader999 1y ago

I would honestly not want to fly on a plane with this or anyone else's ebike batteries. To dangerous.

jacquesm 1y ago
You don't even want to be in an elevator with them. There are some absolutely horrific videos of how quickly this can get out of hand.

oulipo2 1y ago

(Gouach co-founder here) Yes! that's a possibility in theory. You can just remove all the cells, which then become "inert", and the pack set aside. It then only takes 5 min to reassemble them at your arrival.