Replacing/refurbishing a battery

[Mububban]

Since buying my road bike, my MTB e-bike kit I was using for commuting has been unused. The battery was dying anyway, but after ~18 months of no use, now it's really dead.

Can anyone give me some pointers on whether it's possible to open it up and just replace the battery cells, without buying a new battery at full retail (~$450)?

http://solarbike.com.au/batteries/36v-9ah-tube-battery/

If I can do it for under say $200 it might be worthwhile, otherwise I'll retire it officially.

[twowheels]

This situation is alluded to in a book I've recently read. The author mentioned he believes e-bikes are not viable long term. Anecdotally he says many have been impulse purchased ( not suggesting this was your case), then left parked in favour of traditionally propelled bikes.
Book/author - Copenhagenize by Mikael Colville-Andersen.

[find_bruce]

Should be easy enough to open up - the black plastic caps are held on by 3 screws, however they may be some weird "security" head. You should then be able to reuse the battery case & BMS

The battery takes 40 cells so to bring it under $200 you need to find a source of 18650 cells at less than $5 ea, preferably with welded tabs, which won't be an easy task.

[Mububban]

Oh well. I'll keep looking around, but if it never gets used gain, it was still money well spent. E-biking got me back on the bike commuting regularly after years away (starting a family and just doing other hobbies), and from there I bought my first road bike and have never looked back.

I'll always regard e-bikes fondly