Stolen e-bike batteries could soon be worthless, if only Bosch were less greedy

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www.theverge.com/2025/1/5/24336198/e-bike-batteโ€ฆ

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/29515358

A subscription anti-theft feature that should be free.

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This crap goes against right to repair. Serialization of parts is bullshit.

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Yeah, this feels more like preventing third party batteries from working. An average shady shop can definitely hotwire this.

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This doesn't seem like it would make them worthless. It would just make it that you can't power a bike off a stolen battery.

It doesn't destroy the actual cells and there's definitely a market for used EV cells for DIY or refurbished power storage solutions.

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So after the battery is no longer attached to the orginial bike it no longer works. The government isn't going to properly regulate this practice if it starts and battery waste will increase.

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Cut it open, remove the cells, sell on ebay as "reclaimed, good" cells.

This DRM just moves the goal post like 5 feet. It does not actually remove the value of the battery.

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Because everyone knows how to and wants to modify batteries.

Maybe we shouldn't allow it to be legal to put DRM on fuel?

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Not everyone needs to know how. Yeah the DRM hurts repairability, hence why the post in this c/. But the article is positing it as a move that will make them pointless to steal because they will lose all their worth from being locked down--my point is that that is wrong. The battery has value because the thing that makes it an actual battery isn't disabled or destroyed. They just put a simple lock on the regulator.

The actually thing that is holding power still holds it, and that power can still be accessed. This is already happening with things like DIY power-backups for houses, but the uses for those cells exists far beyond that--refurbs for other bikes, scooters, or other personal transport options; vapes; off grid packs like the jackery; flashlights; cameras; etc. If something runs on a battery it can be made to use the easily accessible parts from a stolen pack, and there's nothing that a manufacturer can do to stop that.

Tldr, there's still worth so they aren't "worthless," and they remain worthwhile to steal.

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I think they should have a system that will make these things explode if stolen. Would be nice karma

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Does this also mean all of their ebikes will become unusable if their servers go offline?

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Comments in micromobility - Bikes, scooters, boards: Whatever floats your goat, this is micromobility@lemmy.world

Bosch and the writer seem to be under the impression that it is impossible to get batteries out of the raw battery compartment. People stealing proprietary ebike batteries aren't doing it to sell them to people who just so happen do own the same bike and are also missing a battery.

 
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At least with Bosch, the batteries are standardized if not universal, so you wouldn't need to find someone with the exact same model, just someone whose bike needed a Bosch 400/500 battery, for instance.

 
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I just hope it doesn't turn into this:

... a new digital Battery Lock function this summer that would make stolen batteries worthless to thieves looking to make a quick buck.

 
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Stolen batteries immediately short out turning them into a lithium bomb.

 
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And when you buy a scooter from Craigslist and it blows your legs off you can bet your ass SCOTUS will protect the manufacturers of the RDM battery bombs.

 
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Comments in Right To Repair@midwest.social

Anti theft is often anti repair.

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