Approaching 8,000 miles on my wheels I am conscious my batteries are nearing the end of their life. Genny's power unit is a Segway, complete with a pair of 72v 5.2Ah Lithium-ion batteries. Getting new batteries is complicated as they are consider dangerous goods. The movement of lithium batteries is subject to regulation by the International Air Transport Association. Segway going bust has added further complications to replacing my tired old batteries
After loads of research I have purchased a pair of ultra high capacity (UHC) batteries from a clever man who makes them in northern Switzerland. These are new batteries made with the same technology but a more modern build with higher capacity cells. To get these batteries I needed to drive across Europe and collect them in person
As I'm up for a road trip and COVID is starting to settle, and having been doubly vaccinated the world is opening again for me. Packing my VW van with mattress, cooker and of course my wheels, I set off for a grand tour and to collect my new batteries
These batteries are built into refurbished cases and there is a trade-in on the old batteries. They are made with a bespoke battery monitoring system that works in a slightly different way but still relies on the standard Segway charging interface. The usual charge indication shown on the Segway infokey reports it's level based on the use of the battery and measured by a built in shunt. The following image shows Genny having used 1/4 of its capacity
The new batteries don't have that same shunt monitoring system and are more variable in how they report their level of charge however they have considerably more capacity. This is of course dependent on many variables like terrain and weight of load. I understand these batteries have powered a Segway i2 for over 92km which is easily more than twice the usual capacity of the standard battery. What I can say is that in my experience, I have been able ride for much greater distance than my old batteries would have taken me. There will be more on this in subsequent posts where I try these batteries on the Comino de Santiago
This graph compares the normal 5.2Ah (yellow), a newer releassed 5.6Ah battery (orange) and the new Swiss UHC batteries (blue) and indicates an increase in capacity of well over 200%
Delighted as I am with my new batteries I will probably revert back to my old ones till they finally die on me
