Last year, Luna Cycles produced a battery pack that was fully potted, and every cell is individually fused. They call it the Wolf pack. This month they have released another pack that is smaller, but still uses those advanced battery design features, which they are calling the Wolf Pup. Let’s take a look.
It was March of 2018 when Luna Cycles revealed a battery pack using their new pack design principles (click here). The size and shape was very similar to the most popular packs. Large enough to have a certain range, but small enough that could fit into a wide variety of frames.
The Luna Wolf pack is available with the Samsung 30Q cell (my personal favorite for ebikes), which is rated as 3.0-Ah per cell, and 15A each. It is also available with the MJ1 cell, From LG-Chem in South Korea. The MJ1 is factory-rated at 3500-mAh per cell, and 10A.
The Wolf pack uses four cells in parallel, so the 30Q pack can provide 60A (which is limited to 50A by the Battery Management System / BMS). The MJ1 version can provide a continuous 40A and a temporary peak of amps that exceeds the 50A BMS that is provided.
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The Wolf “Pup”
Luna Cycles has had some success with their small “Mighty Mini” battery pack, which used the high-amp 30Q cell. By having only 28 cells, this small pack could fit almost anywhere, and it still reliably provided 30A for such popular mid drives as the Bafang BBS02 and BBSHD. I have been very open about how the BBSHD is my favorite ebike kit, and I have ridden literally hundreds of ebikes when I have attended several Interbike conventions…
Some ebike enthusiasts who were exposed to the Mighty Mini have asked…”who would want a pack so small?”, and certainly it is not for everyone. However, nobody else is making a high-amp 52V battery pack this small. Luna Cycles sales of the mighty mini have been surprisingly robust, which suggests that there are many efficient mid-drive kit owners who don’t need a large pack.
Personally, I have been able to get over one mile per amp-hour on my BBSHD cruiser when using only the hand-throttle, with no pedaling added. So the 6.0-Ah Mighty Mini would provide over six miles using the throttle only. If you switch to “Pedal Assist Sensor / PAS”, then you only get motor power while you pedal, so, the range of the battery can be easily doubled, if not more (depending on the PAS setting that you use).
If your normal rides are only 12 miles or less, then the Mighty Mini would be the smallest and least expensive pack that would achieve this.
Which brings us to the Wolf Pup. The success of the Wolf battery pack design is a major shift in the industry, and a great improvement for ebike battery pack buyers. Luna Cycles decided to use this pack architecture to produce the smallest possible pack as an option.
It uses the Samsung 40T cell, which has 4000-mAh per cell, and is rated for 35A per cell. This means that you only need one cell in parallel to achieve 52V and 35A. The Wolf Pup achieves a 14S voltage of 52V with only 14 cells. The stock BBSHD only uses a 30A temporary peak, so when coupled with Wolf Pup, the battery pack will easily run cool, with no damage from heat.
A pack with only 4.0-Ah of range is not for everyone, but there are many situations where it is a very appropriate choice. One benefit is that the Wolf Pup is currently only $249, which is surprisingly affordable, considering that it uses the latest advanced battery pack design, with full potting and individual cell fusing.
Down-hillers use some of the most robust bicycle frames available. They grind up to the top of a hill, and then freewheel down the trail at high speed. By adding a motor, the uphill portion can be a little easier, so they don’t need a huge boost, or a heavy battery. The Wolf Pup is the lightest and most compact 52V battery pack available, and it is also the most affordable.
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Written by Ron/spinningmagnets, August 2019