As the title says guys… Basically I’m looking for large lots of either 50 or 100 18650 battery cells for cheap. They can be button top or flat top. I figured this would be one of the best places to ask. I’m planning on building an ebike so I need 18650 cells! LOTS
I’ve heard of breaking apart used laptop batteries for the cells but I’m hoping to not have to spend all that time doing that…
I’ve seen some lots on ebake (ebay) for 50 or 100 cells that are dirt cheap like $0.50/cell… Also the stupid claimed capacity of like 5000MAH or 9800MAH!!!
Basically my goal here is getting a bulk order of 50-100 18650 cells, button top or not, with hopefully a 2000mAh per cell….
Imrbatteries, they get cheaper as you purchase more.
Stay away from eBay batteries unless you don’t mind if your crotch explodes while riding. I know I wouldn’t put my butt on top of .50 eBay batteries.
You can use laptop pulls but then you need to seperate them by capacity and such.
If you want cheap and willing to take something apart. Lowes kobalt 1.5 ah powertool battery packs. Have 6 Samsung 15l cells in them 1500mah 18amp discharge. For $10 for 6 cells. Just need a torx bit to remove the casing. The 2000mah packs are $20 for 6. But should look at imr by that point. But the $10 pack is hard to beat
What I’m looking for is around $1-$1.90 per cell at around 2000mAh… I purchased a test “new” 9 cell laptop battery from a US ebay supplier. I’ll check out the cells once I get it and see if its worth going that route…my initial guess is no but we’ll see…lol
A lot of vendors lie about the capacity on those packs. I’ve bought a few of them off eBay. 2600 was 2000mah. I still suggest quality cells. For a 1.50 a cell the Lowes tool pack is the only thing really good in that price range. Imrbatteries gives a nice discount on cells once you get up around 100 cells. They have some already at 3.50/3.75 might be fine with offbrajd laptop pulls. China isn’t known for safety. Name brand batteries have a Cid/PTC built in
With GBATTS coupon, just $20.63 for a LiitoKala 26650-50A 4-pack at GearBest. That is roughly equal to an 8-pack of ICR18650-26Fs, with slightly better power delivery.
Breaking apart used laptop packs for the cells is an unworthy idea unless you can be sure the packs have not been used and have been properly stored. It's way more interesting to get a good wholesale deal from some reputable seller, as you'd need a good heap of elbow grease if going with the former route.
They have some nice prices for multiple piece orders on known good/cells from reputable manufacturers.
The TaoBao option could be nice, for as long as you don't game much with it in trying to save a deal of bucks with a heap of cells of unknown quality, as you may end up being ripped off. Search for good cells I'd say.
Thanks for the advice. I’m still hoping to get under $2 a cell. I’m going to check out this laptop battery once I get it. They supposedly have 10+ available so that’s easily be enough if I can get good quality cells from them… I’ll likely have to use one of those usb charger tester for measuring capacity…
Not to be rude, but if you are even considering 9000mAh eBay cells and laptop pulls, you are very far from the knowledge and capability needed to build a safe e-bike battery pack.
Laptop pulls are not what you want for an e-bike. $0.50 9000mAh eBay cells will be even worse.
You need high-discharge cells; those cells are not.
You need fairly well matched cells; those cells are not.
…
Now that I’ve insulted you , here’s the helpful part:
You need to be looking at bulk prices for quality name-brand cells.
Samsung 25R would be a good starting point as the standard for a good high-drain, decent capacity cell. 2500mAh, 20A rated, $3.50/cell in qty>100 on imrbatteries.com
For lower cost, maybe Samsung 20Q - 2000mAh, 15A, $2.75/cell in qty>100.
For greater capacity but less current (i.e. you better not plan to use the 1000W BBSHD, and plan to turn down your BBS02) you could use Panasonic NCR18650B’s (3400mAh, 5A, $4.40/cell in qty>100)
“Moderate” discharge rate cells can be adequate for e-biking. Unless you are gearing for kart track GP competitions of a handful of laps, runtime is also a wanted feature in this world, I believe.
In the aforementioned Aliexpress store, one can buy 40 pieces of LiitoKala 26650-50A cells for a tad above $160 ($40.67 a 10-pack). With that bunch of cells, a 10S4P pack could be assembled, reliably delivering 36V × 80A = 2.88KW of thrust power. I'd say that would be a fast enough e-bike, though such a pack wouldn't be slim. Half the cells, half the power and weight.
Samsung ICR18650-26FMs for $2.21 a pop ($11.04/5-pack), they aren't that good power delivery wise but still may suffice if enough of them are assembled together to meet our expected power output requirements.
Also, despite what other people may argue, hybrid packs can be assembled in order to get a combination of capacity and burst power output to overcome some hills.
Lol… I wasn’t considering 9800 or 9900mAH fake cells guys…lol I hope I made that clear in the first OP….
I know the Panasonic cells are like the holy grail of 18650 cells right now but it stinks there no bulk producer of them for cheap… come on tesla…build that gigafactory…
Honestly, all this battery stuff is completely new to me… like what the heck is a BMS? I guess you have to have it? lol…
My goal is to produce a battery that is a 48v around ~100 cells…however many I need to even the capacity per voltage bank…
“Battery management system”. Balances batteries as capacity changes over time/cycles, keeps 1 cell in a series-chain from running down too low, all sorts of fun useful things that keep your battery pack from going supernova in your crotchal area.
Basically, in this case, you don’t want your ebike to become a crotch-rocket. That would be a Bad Thing.
Might I suggest that it’d be cheaper in the long run to just buy a completed (replacement) battery pack? This way, you get the cells, the BMS, the (weatherproof) enclosure, etc., and all the homework is done for you.
Kind why we buy completed flashlights instead of machining our own aluminum blocks… Sometimes it’s just easier and cheaper to buy off-the-rack.
For all of the reasons already stated above, you don’t want to cheap out on cells.
You will regret it.
You said “What I’m looking for is around $1-$1.90 per cell at around 2000mAh”.
This is like going to a car dealership and asking for something with 4 doors
for $350 per month. It is not a good way to go about it and you will not likely end up
happy with the results.
There are more factors you need to be considering.
How many amps do they need to be able to put out?
How does the voltage sag under load?
Do they have CID/PTC protection?
There is a lot more to it than just mAh and cost.
You should join an ebike forum to get some ideas of what is feasible.
I take it you haven’t, because you would already know the minimum acceptable cell for your configuration and the cheapest place to get them.
Nothing will be worse than for you to go to the time and expense of building this,
only to find out that it sucks and you should have used better cells.
Or even worse, that it overheats and burns up.
Barkuti, I think that math is wrong. A 5000mAh cell like the Liitokala 26650 in 10S4P would be 36V 20Ah,which is 720Wh, which is a medium sized pack.
But 18650s will pack tighter and can supply enough juice. 10S6P HG2 for example would be about the same capacity (648Wh), plenty of current, and for about the same price (I’m seeing $2.87/cell for what appear to be genuine HG2 in bulk) in a more compact pack. About 8% smaller by my quick napkin math and questionable recollection of circle packing.
The Liitokala are pretty good value though, no doubt.
sac02, I wasn't speaking of capacity, I was referring to power handling. I said “reliably delivering 36V × 80A”; since the LiitoKala 26650-50A cells have proved to handle 20A per cell, with a 4P arrangement the pack would deliver 2.88KW of power (3.8+HP) without issue. 10S6P HG2s would handle more, but with somewhat less capacity and thus lesser cruise runtime. Hell if you can't go up to 45+MPH with that power on a e-powered bicycle (albeit you'd have to make a pit stop in less than ¼h)…
So little back story. The whole ebike thing is new to me. Completely new…heck I don’t even have my bike yet… Basically apartment living has really reduced what I can have…so my parents still have my bike…I think its just like a Giant mountain/city bike…can’t even remember. My idea is to bike to work since I spend more on parking than retirement per month right now and convert it to an ebike also since I don’t want to be hot and sweaty for work…woohoo. I live 4.8mi from work so that’s pretty easy. It can sometimes take me 30-45minutes to go that 4.8mi traffic is so bad so it might help on that end…
I was going to buy a geared motor Chinese conversion kit and run it on a separate chain while still keeping my pedals and gearing for the rear tire….The hub motors look alright but yea…still not sure yet. I guess batteries are more expensive than I thought…
Apart from that, if you know nothing about ebikes and bateries then you have a lot to read and learn before you may consider building your own pack and bike.
Li-Ion batteries are somewhat delicate and need some care to work properly and safely. They should not be overcharged, overdischarged or overloaded and in a battery pack you need some electronics to make sure this does not happen to any cell - BMS. That’s why cordless tools usually come with a pack and a dedicated charger - and not bare 18650 for instance.
Yea. I don’t have $4k to drop on a grom. I’d love to though. But ebike right now is the way to go. Especially since i wouldn’t have to pay for parking that’s a huge plus for me.
I’m in the early stages so I’ve got alot of learning to do. Heck I bet my bike needs new tires and alot of tlc before I even consider the ebike route.
, here’s the helpful part:
