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I was searching around for batteries to use in my personal electric scooter project. I've found some LiFePO4 that has sufficient capacities like:

http://en.winston-battery.com/index.php/products/power-battery/category/lithium-ion-power-battery/1

But they seemed heavy and I found out that there is an alternative some people have constructed arrays from 18650 Li-ion batteries that worked for them. I am a bit of a novice when working with batteries. I don't know how hard or hazardous it is to construct the array myself and maybe it's just safer to buy them pre-constructed. So I've searched more and found these:

https://www.energusps.com/shop/product/li-ion-building-block-with-temp-sensor-3-6v-20ah-18c-discharge-37

These modules seem like a good solution for me, but I have never use them or something similar and can't find anything like reviews or forum posts about these are they worth the money? Have anyone tried something similar? What should I know about them ? Or should I just try making a custom pack myself?

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  • \$\begingroup\$ You may find a different lifetime in terms of number of charge and discharge cycles, from either the detailed data, or experiments on each battery type. This may or may not be important in your application. \$\endgroup\$
    – user16324
    Jun 27, 2016 at 16:39
  • \$\begingroup\$ A personal electric scooter will require a significant amount of stored energy. If you don't know whether you should build your own pack, then you definitely should not. \$\endgroup\$
    – Neil_UK
    Jun 27, 2016 at 16:51
  • \$\begingroup\$ To me, those building blocks look like a reasonably good idea. If you start to connect cells in series, though, make sure the protection circuitry is rated for the full series voltage of the pack. Because once you make an open circuit anywhere in the series stack, the full series voltage will be present across the open. \$\endgroup\$
    – user57037
    Jun 28, 2016 at 3:29

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I know there are several electric formula teams running their cars with these Energus modules, so I guess it is worth the money. I am thinking of these modules myself, following the company for some time now, but did not yet commit to buy. If you are novice with lithium cells, it is better to buy than to do yourself, it will be cheaper in the end. Just make sure yiu use a good BMS, that yiu can trus your home with. Energus offers that as well, if your are not going above 60V nominal.

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