My e-bike got phased out in a couple of years. There are many better models available today for the same price. My only bragging rights are magnesium alloy wheels and it's a foldable 26er. My vintage e-Bike has a voltmeter as a charge indicator, an awkward looking large controller and a 36 volt battery.
My 250 watt hub motor e-Bike has had a rough ride. I have been driving the bike like a moped, off-roading, and has been battered by a few storms as well. My bicycle has survived, but I had to replace the controller, throttle and now battery!
I'm not keen on buying a new e-bike, hence I'm tinkering around to see how I can upgrade the parts cost-effectively. I upgraded the controller to a dual mode 36 volt / 48 volt water proof controller which burned a hole in my pocket. Replaced the broken thumb throttle with a half-twist. IMO thumb throttle is the dumbest idea for an e-Bike. And then the freaking battery died and a new battery was a no go. I opened the battery up to check the voltage, but the configuration was awkward to test, so decided to build a new battery pack.
My strategy was to make stuff as modular as possible keeping future upgrades in mind. After researching a lot I decided to use a solderless battery kit. I ordered 20x18650 cells and the battery assembly kit, meanwhile got my old battery pack desoldered by professional PCB welder, btw I did try to desolder them myself, but lack of tools and technique coupled with some fireworks meant that it was saner to take it to a professional. So then, surprise, it was just a faulty BMS!! And then a few weeks later this discussion thread spawned!
I have been extra careful while building the battery pack since I'm not a mechanical or an electrical engineer.
Few pics of my e-bike: