RnD-Africa: Super Electric Bikes made in Ghana

Do you see where I am seated?

This is what we bring you on this
episode of R&D Africa on AAU TV.

The spotlight has been put on the young
Lawrence Adjei, who has been able to make

this electronic motorcycle
from dead laptop batteries.

Stay tuned.
We'll bring you more.

In an era where environmental protection,
fitness and green travel

are increasingly being valued and
practiced by people,

what comes to mind when
transportation that allows you

to avoid road traffic congestion,

be green and environmentally
friendly is mentioned.

Electric bicycles or e-bikes
are equipped with electric devices

activated to assist
or replace peddling.

They provide a number of benefits.

They are fuel efficient, faster,
reduces traffic congestion

and are mostly non-pollutant.

Inventors mainly rely on
batteries such as lithium-ion,

nickel-cadmium,

lithium-cobalt batteries

lead acid,

nickel-metal hydrate,

lithium-manganese

and lithium-ion polymer
batteries as the accessories.

Interestingly, a young
Ghanaian, Lawrence Adjei

has added to the innovations
in the electric bike industry.

He uses sports laptop
batteries, which he purchases

from scrap yards and computer
shops in Accra to make his unique e-bikes.

He is known to be the first
Ghanaian to make electric bicycles

from sports laptop batteries
and he is self-taught.

I stay close to Lawrence and
I happen to be this co-helper.

This is not my first time riding.

I've been riding for two years now.

The experience is different.

Different. I can't even compare
because riding a normal bicycle...

is full of pain.

And then you actually admire the
kind of kilometers you need to go.

So this is really different compared
to the ones I have ever used.

This has three gears
and then the others don't.

It has a brake which charges the battery
back when applying, the others don't have.

It has a USB spot which
can charge your phone

or use a USB light.

Which the others don't have.

And then it also has a bell,
the others didn't have a bell.

And then the brakes are instant stop.

They stop instantly.

Next. Coming to the battery,

it has a large capacity,
which you can even

give a house a light.

This is where Mr. Lawrence
AJ makes all the inventions.

This is where the
creation of electric bicycles

made out of dead
laptop batteries happens and

I'm currently here with Mr. Lawrence.

Take us through
the process involved in the

usage of these batteries
to make the electric bicycle.

So you have the batteries here.

So, you just crack them like this.

You sometimes bend it or...

or use a plier.

Okay

You can see that we
don't use all the cells.

This one is here, the bud.

-Okay
-You can't use this one, so

You find a different one.

Try another one.

Same.

This one is okay. So you take
like the motherboard

- of the battery. So...
- Okay

So taking them off

[Inaudible]

Then take the cells out like this.

Okay

So in total, how many
of these do you need?

I need a lot, but

I only have 6 batteries here.

Okay

Then you test it with the voltmeter to
see whether they have some voltage inside.

What is the average voltage
you need in the batteries?

I think like 2.5 volts.
2.5 volts is fine.

- Okay
- This one is good

- Okay
- So then we come here

and test with this machine here.

This one is called Opus.

This one does the capacity testing.

- Okay
- So you place the cells inside like this.

So you can see it charging, so...

It will charge the batteries
for like two hours

- Okay
- Only two hours

After that, the machine will discharge
the battery and give you the capacity.

-Okay
-Then we take it off.

Then we write the capacity on it.

Comparing the other things too

It has a Bluetooth device in it,
which you can use to program your phone.

So imagine I'm going on a
high speed, you don't like drop

it on your phone and then
it will drop automatically.

It doesn't matter the acceleration.

For the other bikes,
they don't have reverse.

You just need to push them back like this.

But then this one has a reverse.

So there is no need.

When the key is on, you just push
the button and then you accelerate.

It doesn't accelerate
like you're on a top

speed, but it's very strong
and it takes you back slowly.

No matter what obstacle,
it will take you back slowly.

I think this is all about.

For the other bikes,
we do have front shocks.

And then, front shocks, talking
about this one, this is filled with air.

It's different from the other one.

The other one is a
little air, but more of oil.

But then this one is
air, so you stop instantly.

And you see for the back too.

It's also different for the back.

Actually, the other
bikes, when you are riding

and then you pass through a pothole,
you feel some pains in your waist.

But then this one, you don't feel.

You just go through and then you're okay.

So anytime you are
riding this bike, it makes

you feel like go more,
go more, go more.

It's really nice to have
one of these bikes.

My name is AJ Lawrence.

I live in Kaswa in the
central region of Ghana.

At age 11, when Lawrence
discovered his talent,

he acquainted himself with playing with
electronic gadgets such as computers.

A year after his
interest in that field grew,

he picked up the mantle
of repairing bicycles.

Until date, he still
repairs a number of bikes.

So far, Lawrence has made and
sold four e-bikes made by himself.

Current bicycle presents upgraded features
from the ones he has made in the past.

Professor Jay looks
forward to contacting

universities for
collaborations and partnerships

in order to take his innovative
ideas to the next level.

He has dreams of using solar to propel his
bikes in future, but needs collaborations

and partnerships with
universities and technical

institutions to scale up
production from prototype

to commercialization.

In such partnerships,
he seeks to train technical

students to improve their
knowledge on electronics.

I have a question.

So this experiment only works
when you are using the spot

or dead laptop batteries or
you can use brand new ones.

You can use brand new ones for sure.

Okay

Okay.

So now on charging the
bicycle, how is it charged?

It's charged with this charger here.

This one is a custom built charger.

It's not like the normal charger.

It will take like maybe 12
hours, 6 hours to charge.

Ok

This one does around like 3 hours.

Okay.

And did you make it yourself?

Yes.

I bought the parts.

Okay.

So with the parts that you
worked on, can you run us briefly

through the process, how
you came to that conclusion?

For this one, it's a server power supply.

Okay.

It's in light service.

You know, light service, they
have a lot of computers inside.

So they have very good processor.

And this one here is called
step up converter

Okay

So if you take 3 volts and pass

Then it coverts you to 84 volts

Okay

Now on the features of your bike

What features does your bicycle have that
ones in the market do not have?

This one has everything programmable.

You can choose the programm that
work on your phone.

Okay, okay.

It also has like phone charging
to charge your phones.

It also has Evergine brake.

That means when you hit a break
it charges a bike

So like you don't try to use like
Venoma Veperseto stop when you hit a break

It does it instantly in a break

How do you respond to support
this project?

How have you been doing it?

Believing in myself.

Okay, so my challenges when
I was working on a bike

was, at first I didn't have a welding
machine and a spray machine.

So I take it to welders and sprayers.

But they take your money
and they wouldn't do the work.

I decided to buy the welding
machine and the spray machine.

Then started learning
welding and spraying myself.

So it took me like a
week or two to learn all.

Sometimes my friends
always discouraging me

that it won't work and
you're always wasting

your time on this thing, go
find a job and get some money.

My challenges about
financing is like sometimes

I don't really get the money
in bulk to buy the parts.

So like I'll buy one
maybe this month, the

next month I'll buy
the one and they all like

take shipments, which
like is a lot of cost.

So when I get like funds to buy them
in bulk, I think it will help the process.

Lawrence intends to set
up a permanent working

place for himself,
create employment for

interested inventors
and give back to society.

Lawrence Adjei is not
only putting the African

continent on the map,
he has also distinguished.

himself as one of the
many undiscovered great

minds in Africa who can
do more with a little push.

This is where we end
this interesting, revealing

and educative episode
of R&D Africa on AAU TV.

Don't forget that next time the
spotlight could be put on you.

So if you have any
innovations or inventions

out there, contact AAU TV
and we'll be at your doorstep.

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our social media
platforms for more content.

My name is Maame Ekua Otuakoa Nyame.

Until next time, it's a wrap!

[Music].