Samsung SDI unveiled an e-bike battery pack that can run for 100 km with a single battery charge at the Eurobike 2015. (Photo: Business Wire)
The 500 Wh battery pack achieves its small size by incorporating high-capacity cells and advanced battery pack technology.
Samsung SDI exhibited six standardized types of battery packs that can be built inside or installed outside for immediate use. They also displayed 12 types of battery packs that are currently being supplied to global manufacturing companies and battery cells of various specifications that are used in the packs.
Worth noting is the addition of a Bluetooth function that enables users to use their smartphones to check for residual battery levels, remaining distance and other data while riding their bicycles.
Samsung SDI also unveiled a battery pack product equipped with “21700” batteries, offering an upgraded energy capacity of a maximum of 35 percent of energy by volume. Besides e-bikes, other “21700” battery pack applications include electric tools, laptops and other electronic products.
The “18650” battery, or rather the small cylindrical battery that’s 18 mm in diameter and 65 mm in length, has been in dominant use until recently. However, the creation of new battery applications has boosted the demand for high capacity batteries.
Samsung SDI expects the “21700” to become the future standard in small cylindrical batteries, replacing the “18650” battery.
The consumer market is seeing an increasing demand for eco-friendly e-bikes that can perform reliably and for longer distances, due to diversification of uses for leisure and commuting.
JaeHo Ahn, executive vice president and head of the battery pack business division of Samsung SDI, explained that, “Samsung SDI’s high capacity battery packs will dramatically increase the mileage of electric bicycles and this will create new demands in the e-bike industry.”
According to market research companies such as Navigant Research and Bike Europe, the global e-bike market is estimated to have reached around 34 million bikes this year. B3, a secondary cell market research company in Japan, stated in their data that the replacement rate of lead-acid batteries in China has been on the rise and, as a result, the demand for e-bike lithium-ion batteries will mark 163 million cells by the end of 2015, which is a 14 percent increase from last year.
For the past two years, Samsung SDI has been No. 1 in the e-bike lithium-ion battery market, and B3 estimates that they will also come out as this year’s leader with a total market share of 25 percent.
More details about the e-bike battery pack is available at Samsung SDI’s website.