Is This The Ultimate “Universal” E-Bike Battery, Or Too Good To Be True? – CleanTechnica

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A French company is offering what it calls “the world’s ultimate e-bike battery,” a universal and user-repairable and serviceable battery said to be compatible with most e-bike brands, which could be a key sustainability innovation for further reducing the environmental footprint of micromobility. It also claims to be both fireproof and waterproof, both of which could go a long way in helping to allay some of the fears of potential e-bike buyers.

Gouach is the company behind the Infinite Battery, which they describe as “the only battery you’ll ever need” for your e-bike, as it can be repaired and “easily serviced” instead of being replaced by buying a whole new unit. According to the company, “When an e-bike battery fails, 90% of the time, its just 1 or 2 cells that are dead inside or a single electronic component.” By enabling the easy identification and replacement of individual battery cells within the unit by the user (in less than 10 minutes, no less), the Infinite could be infinitely more sustainable and DIY-friendly than any other e-bike battery on the market.

Looking at the claims made about the Infinite on the Indiegogo page, it seems almost too good to be true. An ultimate universal e-bike battery with all the bells and whistles, fully repairable, fireproof and waterproof, that can be repaired by the end user, all for just $249? It certainly pays to be skeptical about claims like those if you’re considering sending a couple hundred bucks over the interwebs for a product that isn’t a finished production-ready model.

However, Gouache is right up front about the status of its product being a working demo, essentially a prototype, and the company has been developing it for about the last five years, so perhaps it really is the e-bike battery of the future and the Infinite is simply the first of its kind to hit the market.

More info about the batteries from Gouache is available on the company website.

[Note: Over the years, we’ve covered plenty of products that were launched via crowdfunding campaigns through sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, and while some have successfully delivered on their promises, other campaigns have either failed to attract enough funding to move forward, or had raised the money but were a victim of their own poor planning and execution, and some were even just straight-up vaporware. We certainly can’t vet every single product or campaign personally, and our coverage isn’t an endorsement of any of them, so it’s worth a reminder that crowdfunding campaigns aren’t a sure thing, and there are inherent risks to backing them. Please do not contribute any money to a crowdfunding campaign that you aren’t prepared to lose, because instead of receiving the product or perk you are expecting, you might end up getting nothing. As in zilch, zip, nada, bupkis. Caveat emptor and all that.]