Hacker News Reader

There is a big difference between cellphone / laptop batteries and some random enormous 72V battery you might buy from AliExpress. I have used those big batteries and the word I would use is “scary.”

View on HN

The battery in the article is 160 watt hours, the kind that slaps into yard equipment. You can get permission to carry that, or use two 80Wh drill batteries instead.

Yes absolutely. Those are in the minority of the home-made ebikes that I’ve seen, though - mainly due to range and power output. People love a bit of power, and they think any battery is just a battery.

I’ve seen a couple of “spicy pillows” smoke out, never a full thermal runaway fire - thank god

My battery pack could have been easily mistaken for a bomb. It was duct taped together, wires coming out of it, heavy and blinking lights on a home made exposed circuit board for the battery management system.

I tried a 72 volt setup for about a week. Too fast lol.

I’ve seen these. All fun and games until they’re forgotten in the basement for a while. Big puffy batteries just waiting for an excuse!

I went through an airport with a home-made LiPo in my backpack. Fortunately one of the TSA recognized it was just a battery but it was a really scary few minutes. Lots of very silent stares

Reply on news.ycombinator.com