DIY YouTuber powers an EV using 500 disposable vapes

In a new video uploaded to his channel, DIY YouTuber Chris Doel has showcased his new project — a mini electric vehicle he customized to run on a custom-made battery pack from lithium-ion cells salvaged from 500 used vapes.

According to Chris, he undertook this project to raise awareness for the potential dangers of disposable vapes, with over one million vapes being discarded every day in the UK alone. Before this project, he built a fast-charging power bank, an e-bike battery pack, and a larger battery pack used for home backup power. It is this battery pack that he repurposed for his latest project.

For his latest project, he chose to power a 48 V mini EV Reva G-Wiz using the 50 V battery pack. Given his choice of vehicle, only a little configuration was needed to get the car to run smoothly on the battery, including reprogramming the inverter so it would not draw more power than the battery could supply.

In the end, the car ran perfectly, with some impressive numbers to appreciate: over 17 (27 kilometers) miles of range and over 35 mph (56 kph) top speed. Though pushed to new limits, the battery pack managed to keep temperatures under 30 °C (86 °F) while delivering 2.07 kWh of usable energy from a theoretical 2.5 kWh capacity.