E-bike project - General E Lee

[zeropointbug]

I am thinking you need a big bulk order to lower the price, like 500 to 1000 or more?

Also, are you dead set on a specific voltage to use? If not, you could use some Prius NiMH cell modules, they are supposed to be fairly equal in performance to A123 cells (surprisingly)... you can get 2 7.2v/6.5Ah modules for $30 (at least it shows 2 in the pic, might be for one). There is a large selection of them on eBay.

These would be a very good option IMO, as NiMH are very durable and have very high cycle life, they have a nice 'packaged' appearance. It would make for easy pack making, nice and clean, and very robust, electrically wise. I was reading on the endless-sphere board and a couple guys used them in their ebikes and some say they would prefer them over LiFe pack.