2020
The start: original-for-original replacements
Since 2020 I have been upgrading BMW i3s — replacing HV batteries, original for original. I documented the process at the time on Elektroforum.
180 Ah · in development
Coming soon to our cars?
The story of a battery I have been working on since 2023 and which we have been developing together with the Hong Kong company LFPPower since 2025. The prototypes are on the road in Hong Kong today.
What we are working towards
180 Ahnominal capacity
54–57 kWhusable energy
≈ 415–440 kmindicative range at 13 kWh/100 km
How it came about
2023
A first attempt at my own battery
As a curious engineer I wanted to build a battery of my own. 135 Ah cells were available at the time, and my inspiration was the Hong Kong company LFPPower — I wanted to use the same cells but my own design.
It ended at a half-finished prototype: enough usable batteries from crashed cars came onto the market and prices fell. The discussion from back then is on the German GoingElectric forum.
2024
The end of the 135 Ah cells
Production of the 135 Ah cells — the very cells my original design was built on — ended in 2024. That route was closed for good.
2024
The SME control unit
I never gave up on the idea, though. The main limitation was the SME control unit, capped at 40 kWh. I got past it — I studied the vehicle control mechanisms and worked out how the capacity can be increased.
2024
Looking for a partner
Europe does not have enough battery cells, so I went looking for a partner. The division of work was clear: I would develop a way to code the SME for larger capacities, and the partner would bring access to cells and knowledge of automotive battery construction.
2024
Why not China
Several workshops focused on this segment had appeared in China in the meantime. On closer inspection, however, I found their products to be of very poor and dangerous quality, with stated figures that did not match reality.
So I remembered my inspiration and approached LFPPower. It turned out they take a similar view of those colleagues — and that Hong Kong is not China; copying and stolen designs annoy people there just as much as they annoy us in Europe. The road to cooperation was therefore not a straight one: at first they were worried I might be a Chinese spy. 🙂
2025
Developing the 180 Ah together
Intensive cooperation began in early 2025. I showed my progress and how an operating capacity of 180 Ah could be reached. LFPPower showed me the design of their batteries, from the 135 Ah range to the new 180 Ah, which they had only half finished — they were missing the control module.
I reviewed the design and proposed several changes, without which the battery would not succeed in Europe; Hong Kong simply has a different climate. My comments were built into the design.
23 August 2025
The first prototype on wheels
The first prototype took to the road on 23 August 2025. More followed.
7 September 2026
The prototypes are driving around Hong Kong
Roughly 10 to 15 prototypes were built and are on the road in Hong Kong today. Photos and posts from the street are below.
This week
Protecting the SME software
I am finishing a crucial piece of work: securing the SME software against theft. It is done.
The Electrified mobile diagnostics app
From the on-board computer
Straight from Hong Kong
Posts by LFPPower from Hong Kong. A click opens the original post on Facebook. The figures in the images are LFPPower's, not ours.
Discussion in the Facebook group
And what about us here in Europe?
I think i3 owners in Hong Kong will be very happy very soon — more than that, they will be celebrating Christmas. Who would turn down 54 to 57 usable kWh?
With a homologated tow bar for 850 kg and this range, you no longer need a Tesla. 🙂
I will be posting more information here. Soon.