[Steltek]

I feel the same way about e-bikes: expensive, proprietary parts and form factors everywhere. Oh, your battery is worn out? You need one that's custom molded to your downtube? That's too bad.

Thankfully they're easier to DIY than an EV car.

[mikro2nd]

I think that at least some of this comes about because it's still relatively early days for the form-factor. As the industry matures, as it becomes more cutthroat everything will become more comodified and therefore standardised.

Look at some of the cars of (say) the late-19thC where not even the steering wheel was standard. So, while e-bikes are probably not quite that early stage right now, they've not advanced terribly far from the plain vanilla bicycle yet.

[dreamcompiler]

There are thousands of e-bike manufacturers. Many use the so-called "dolphin" battery pack which is fairly standard and always removable. The dolphin doesn't look as sleek as an in-frame battery but it's replaceable and it will usually provide longer range.

https://bafangusadirect.com/products/52v-11-6-ah-dolphin-ebi...

[linsomniac]

I've been expecting a ebike that could take the tool eco-system batteries: DeWalt 60v, Eco 58v, Milwaukee 18v. Probably would need to dock several of them with the exception of the Eco.

[xorcist]

There's the Makita BBY 18V foldable bike.

[evan_]

The battery case might be molded plastic but inside it’s probably just a wad of 18650s that can be replaced.

[AstralStorm]

Unless you find out it's potted, the BMS needs to be reprogrammed and there's a custom mesh or holder that doesn't work with some standard cells because of tolerances...

[dreamcompiler]

Can confirm.