Rights re parts.

Alderbank

I assume this is a lithium ion battery. There are high safety risks unique to Li-ion batteries which is why they are designed not to be interchangeable and why you can't use a different battery or a different charger. The performance degrades over time but I would expect a slow and progressive loss of capacity and to still hold at least 50% of its original charge after 6 years use.
I think you have a reasonable chance of being able to reject the bike with its associated power issues as not fit for purpose. However after 3-4 years use Halfords could seek to reduce a refund to perhaps as little as a third of what you paid for it.

Ectophile

Alderbank said:

I assume this is a lithium ion battery. There are high safety risks unique to Li-ion batteries which is why they are designed not to be interchangeable and why you can't use a different battery or a different charger. The performance degrades over time but I would expect a slow and progressive loss of capacity and to still hold at least 50% of its original charge after 6 years use.
I think you have a reasonable chance of being able to reject the bike with its associated power issues as not fit for purpose. However after 3-4 years use Halfords could seek to reduce a refund to perhaps as little as a third of what you paid for it.

There's a very high chance that the battery pack was assembled using standard sized LiIon cells.  Probably 18650's as they are as common as muck.

If it's possible to disassemble the pack, there's a fair chance that the original pack could be refurbished by swapping out the old cells for new ones.  But that would take someone with a good familiarity with electronics repair.

Manxman_in_exile

As the bike is approaching 4 years old and Halfords seem unable to provide a working replacement battery, this is one occasion where I'd contact the manufacturer direct and ask if they can supply one or if they can offer any alternative suggestions.

Or, as @Alderbank said, try rejecting the bike as not fit for purpose in the hope of a reasonable partial refund.  But going into the fourth year of ownership I'd expect no more than 25 - 30% refund.

FeaturelessVoid

Manxman_in_exile said:

As the bike is approaching 4 years old and Halfords seem unable to provide a working replacement battery, this is one occasion where I'd contact the manufacturer direct and ask if they can supply one or if they can offer any alternative suggestions.

Or, as @Alderbank said, try rejecting the bike as not fit for purpose in the hope of a reasonable partial refund.  But going into the fourth year of ownership I'd expect no more than 25 - 30% refund.

Batteries are consumables though, and lithium batteries won't last forever.  In fact 4 years is quite reasonable unless you follow fairly strict charge/discharge regimen, and even that won't eke out that much more life.

Manxman_in_exile

Yes - batteries are consumables and I don't have a problem with a rechargeable battery "only" lasting 4 years.  Where I have a problem regarding "fit for purpose" is that Halfords apparently can't find replacement batteries for this bike that actually work. (I'd expect "consumable" items to still be obtainable after* 3 and a bit years). That's why I suggest approaching the manufacturer (if they still exist!) direct - to see what they can offer.

You'll note that I also said the OP could "try rejecting the bike" with Halfords on these grounds, but if Halfords refused I'm not sure what else the OP could do as I'm not sure they have solid grounds for rejection.


*  I cycle on a non-electric bike almost every day.  The bike is 30 years old and I've gone through many consumable chains in that time.  I have no problem in regularly replacing the chain.  But If I'd bought the bike 4 years ago and now found that I couldn't get a replacement chain that worked, I'd be pretty unhappy... 

jazzbow

“
*  I cycle on a non-electric bike almost every day.  The bike is 30 years old and I've gone through many consumable chains in that time.  I have no problem in regularly replacing the chain.  But If I'd bought the bike 4 years ago and now found that I couldn't get a replacement chain that worked, I'd be pretty unhappy... “

this is exactly my point.

Ath_Wat

Manxman_in_exile said:

*  I cycle on a non-electric bike almost every day.  The bike is 30 years old and I've gone through many consumable chains in that time.  I have no problem in regularly replacing the chain.  But If I'd bought the bike 4 years ago and now found that I couldn't get a replacement chain that worked, I'd be pretty unhappy... 

Well yes, but being unhappy about something doesn't automatically mean that somebody else is morally or legally responsible for making you happy.  Sometimes you have just been unfortunate.

Ergates

jazzbow said:

“
*  I cycle on a non-electric bike almost every day.  The bike is 30 years old and I've gone through many consumable chains in that time.  I have no problem in regularly replacing the chain.  But If I'd bought the bike 4 years ago and now found that I couldn't get a replacement chain that worked, I'd be pretty unhappy... “

this is exactly my point.

It's not that the batteries aren't available though - it's that Halfords seem to be having a problem getting a working one.   If there are *no* working batteries, then that is one thing.  If they have a high chance of being a dud on supply, then that is annoying but not the same thing.

Jenni_D

jazzbow said:

“
*  I cycle on a non-electric bike almost every day.  The bike is 30 years old and I've gone through many consumable chains in that time.  I have no problem in regularly replacing the chain.  But If I'd bought the bike 4 years ago and now found that I couldn't get a replacement chain that worked, I'd be pretty unhappy... “

this is exactly my point.

Whose point? (You're not the OP, and that was your first post in this thread).

I'm a doofus  

MarvinDay

Jenni_D said:

jazzbow said:

“
*  I cycle on a non-electric bike almost every day.  The bike is 30 years old and I've gone through many consumable chains in that time.  I have no problem in regularly replacing the chain.  But If I'd bought the bike 4 years ago and now found that I couldn't get a replacement chain that worked, I'd be pretty unhappy... “

this is exactly my point.

Whose point? (You're not the OP, and that was your first post in this thread).

Jazzbow is the OP of this thread.