morph999 

Do you guys realize that you can buy a 36v40ah thundersky lifepo4 at evcomponents.com for the same price as a 36v20ah ping battery? Just saying. All I seem to hear about is ping this and ping that. We should support the businesses who are going to make lifepo4 cheaper.

36v40ah thundersky from evcomponents.com = $530 after shipping about $600

36v20ah from pingbattery.com = $470 + $150 to ship from China = $620

morph999 

Like I said, with 40AH capacity, you wouldn't even need a BMS because you'd have so much capacity. Get 36v of it, buy 12 individual chargers at batteryspace or all-battery.com...the 6 amp or 2 amp ones. They will balance the pack individually every time you charge it. There you go. Only use 20 - 25 AH each time and you'll have a pack that will last 5 years or more. You'll get 25 *2 = 50 miles on the pack without pedaling...more if you pedal. That shouuld be enough for just about anybody. And you are only using 50 % so it will last a lot longer than a ping would.

crackerdog

Has Thundersky improved their battery? I seem to recall it had a bad rep.

morph999 

Good question. I don't know. You'd find out better information like that from some of the electric car enthusiasts because they have more cycles on these thundersky's than anyone else. I know a guy has about 50 cycles on these thundersky's. He likes them and thinks they are a good product. I've only got about 8 cycles on mine, so far so good. I decided to go with them after investigating them at the diyelectriccar forum. Most guys over there are using the thundersky battery. My cells that I just ordered were made in July of 2009 so they are the new ones.

SoCal Commute

These look like very nice batteries. I have had my ping for about 2 weeks now and am pleased with it's performance. I think ping is the way to go for someone on their first build looking for something that will work out of box. I know I had enough issues with the build itself that I'm glad I had a battery that I wouldn't have to worry about. Also, having multiple chargers is ok if you only plan on charging at home but for those of us that charge on the go, single chargers are a must. I only have 20A and feel like I would like more so I will definitely be looking at these when I'm ready for an upgrade.