50 Rebels batteries just got bigger, better and stronger

Hey everyone,

When we founded 50 Rebels Company in 2019, we wanted to make sure that we are always transparent and straightforward with our customers. The bicycle industry is in turmoil as I'm sure you will have heard on the news – business is booming, but the supply chains are clocked and shipping is nothing short of a nightmare. Knowing this, we used 2020 to strengthen our partnerships and made sure we will not be hit with delays like last year. Fingers crossed everything should still be on track for delivery mid-May.

However, now we have some good news and some bad news. Let's start with the bad news: Samsung fell short on their delivery on our E3500 cells. This would have meant that we need to change to battery cells with less energy density (3200mAh), however we decided to go a different route. A route that will put us right up there with Elon Musk and Tesla in terms of battery cells! Big words, I know... Let me explain:

The mentioned shortage of cells gave us the chance to change from 18650 to 21700 cell size. It's the future. This size enables us to store 5000 mAh per cell, and not the promised 3500 mAh. Okay... Numbers and stuff. Why would you care? Well, you don't necessarily have to care, if you already ordered your bike and the battery, because we just made it bigger, better and longer! So congrats on that steal! But it's still not what you signed up for, and we need to tell you. In case you haven't ordered your bike yet, here is why our bike just got much better:

These are the actual changes:

1. Bigger battery. Our standard battery has now 15Ah instead of 14Ah. The battery upgrade that some of you ordered will not have 17.5Ah anymore... it will have a staggering 20Ah!
2. A lot more range! Not only because the capacity increased, but also because the discharge of the bigger 21700 cells means the effectiveness is much higher.
3. Longer life! The higher battery capacity will bring a longer life, because the single cell outcharge will be less and more equal.
4. Bigger case. Bigger cells and more battery capacity means bigger battery case. But don't worry, we are only talking about 1.5 cm added on top. It will look a tiny bit different, but pretty much the same. 
5. Less cells. Less cells means less issues. Not that we had issues before, but less potential issues are always better.

Okay, so in the end, all of this is good news for you. For the company it means we need to raise the price, because the costs just increased significantly... However as most of you know, in 2021 we want to grow the 50 Rebels community as much as we can and just be cool to the people that are into our bikes... and then we can look closer at the margins next year. So, because all of you are basically getting a battery upgrade for free, we wanted to give this chance to tell your friends and our followers and subscribers too: we'll keep all the prices the same until March 21st. After that, it is what it is.

All the best and hopefully talk to you soon.
Andreas