Toronto, Ontario — United-Kingdom-based Youtuber and electrical engineer, Chris Doel, has reportedly made a high-capacity e-bike battery out of used vape pens.
In order to produce the battery, Doel collected hundreds of discarded vapes at a music festival and repurposed them.
As Doel demonstrates in his YouTube video, even when used, most disposable vape pens are filled with the same materials—namely lithium—that lithium-ion e-bike batteries are also made of.
Doel began by dismantling every vape and removing its battery. From here, he then used 3D-printed battery modules to hold the individual cells and further wired them together in series in order to transform the individual cells into one 48-volt battery.
When testing out his creation, Doel was able to travel 33 kilometres on his own e-bike without requiring any other motive power.
In total, it took around 130 vapes for Doel to build his battery, and, while his homemade battery pack is rated for around 300 recharge cycles, vape manufacturers instead allow consumers a single use.
Click here to see the full video.
