I've been troubling over which electric kit to buy for weeks now. I've been to a bunch of sites and even dug up old posts here. Tonight, I finally ordered the Bionx 250W with NiMH battery. I think it's going to work for me. :)

I recently installed a the PL250 and has worked great for me so far, about 100 miles and working great! Good luck with yours.

Congrats

...But the order was cancelled since they are out of the the 250W with NiMH battery until mid August. :( They are out of everything except the 250W with Lithium Manganese battery.

...So, I have spent a day researching the batteries again. Apparently, the lithium is not as scary as I thought. It can withstand temperatures of up to around 470 degrees farenheit (basically burning temperature). This type of battery is also designed to shut down before it even hits 200 degrees farenheit, so the overheating thing should never happen. As long as the battery is not manufactured in China, it will have several built in safety features. The smart charger is an additional safety measure.

So, I'm thinking that I'm OK, especially since I don't think twice about putting a cell phone with a lithium battery up to my ear or driving my car with a lead acid battery. :rolleyes: I went ahead and ordered the kit with the lithium batteries. I'm still a little :twitchy: but I'll get over it.

You'll get over it - nimh is a pita. You're better off with lithium.

Congratulations!

Your better off with the Lithium, I feel you made the right choice.

Thanks. Those votes of support for the lithium make me feel better already. Is the NiMH a pita because of the weight or because of the charging process?

Some of us who have NiMh are happy with it. No problem charging, no problem with batt life. Not as powerful as lithium but not as problematic as SOME lithium.

Unless charged/cycled daily NiMh won't deliver full capacity. So you have to carry more AH of NiMh for those occasions where you might miss a day or two of regular use. Result = no weight savings over lead. They're just as picky about cell balance issues as Lithium and they don't deliver a large amount of current (compared to SLA/Lithium) either. They also retain more heat than Lithium/Lead.

About the only thing going for them IMO is they can sit on a shelf for long periods of time and with a few charge cycles they'll return to normal.

I've got 'em - I use 'em - but for eBikes I don't like 'em compared to my Lithium (nano-phosphate) pack.