The Wheego is Dead

OK. Been meaning for some time to suggest that you tackle building an ebike, and now would seem to be an ideal time. You’ll need some easy transportation around the campground when you get the bus finished and start using it. I built two bikes for the wife and I last year, and they have proven to be fun as well as useful. I’m going to convert mine to a 2 wheel drive with 2 batteries and a single throttle. I really enjoy watching others such as you tackle projects, especially when they are something I’m considering doing myself. T’ll give you a dollar...

I'm now imagining the dancing pallbearers carrying the Wheego on their shoulders.

LiFePo4 batteries are a beast, they really dont like dying, but they have low storage capabilities, so your batteries are likely fine. Also your problem is probably that the cell voltages are too low, most chargers for some reason refuse to charge batteries if their voltage is low, so maybe if you charge them up you can use the wheego again but it depends on the chargers in the car

József Krisztián Kovács

I think you did not measure the voltage correctly. But in any case - do not let it sit for a month. Every minute is precious in this case. The longer you keep the cell undercharged, the worse it will get. There is likely only one cell pack faulty causing kinda short circuit and discharging the rest. So majority of cells should be fine as long as you act fast and charge them.

Maybe you could ask Rich Rebuilds for help, he's always playing around with Tesla batteries. If not you may buy a battery pack from a used Prius and change the chargers.

I really don't know what I'm going to do. I'd like to construct a new pack using 18650 cells, but I don't want to pay for all that. I also don't want to gut the Wheego because it is a piece of history. We'll see what happens.

Aging Wheels

If the batteries end up being dead after all the poking and prodding and bench charging, and the Wheego is effectively a doorstop, do you have any interest in building a new pack? There are a few standard sizes of LiFeO4 batteries, but who knows what Wheego used. And then there is the question of what that would cost.

Andy Clements

If you want to save the battery, do it now. Not in a month, not in a week, now. Every day they sit discharged damages them more.

just take it apart already!

Misha Dellinger

Have you considered swapping a IC engine back in it for shits and giggles since you seem to have a very rare car?

Graham Burgdorf

Put a Trabant engine in there!

In my limited experience with LiFePO4 cells, you can be pretty ham fisted and discharge them ludicrously. The challenge is being able to fool whatever charger you have into ramming some electrons back in there. A bench power supply works well but would probably take you a while to get 30 cells back up to a level the vehicles charger will work again. Then again, time is cheap right now. Good luck!

Ben Jones