Can I get a bright rear light using AA batteries, or is there a compelling reason why nonreplaceable batteries are so widespread?

Question

The short version: I like the convenience and the ecology of using rechargeable AA/AAA batteries in a rear light. Yet the rear lights using AA batteries I see on the market have puny power. Does anyone build somewhat powerful (30+ lumens, say) rear lights that use AA batteries? I am quite happy if they are drained by flashing (at 30-50 lumens) after just 2-3 hours. I can carry spares. In any case my usual ride is two hours long.

Context: In my jurisdiction reflectors are mandatory, but lights are optional. Since I ride mainly soon after sunrise or in the two hours before sunset, during the summer only, and recreationally only, I intended to skip headlights and rearlights altogether. I avoid main roads and manage to ride on trails, with the occasional stretch on side roads. I miscalculated routes recently and needed to ride just 300m on a road with some level of traffic. A car screeched to a stop behind me, presumably because the driver was distracted by their phone. I'm now revisiting the decision to not have lights, since flashing front and rear lights may increase the safety of my riding, on both trails and side/main roads. I prefer to use replaceable batteries (see below), yet I'm wondering if the much more powerful lights in nonreplaceable lights, especially rear lights, would reduce the chance that a distracted driver would miss seeing me. (The aforementioned 300m stretch was uphill, and I was struggling to keep up with anywhere remotely close to the speed of the cars on that road, 50-60km/h, and so I counted more like an obstacle at the edge of the pavement.)

An ongoing fad is to switch all consumer devices to custom-sized, non-serviceable, permanently attached Lithium-ion batteries. Yet if removable, rechargeable AA batteries had appeared on the market as a new invention after consumers were accustomed to built-in batteries, the replaceable batteries would have likely been deemed a great progress forward.

• One can have an unlimited supply of readily charged batteries to fit in any one of several devices.
• One can travel with a handful of batteries and never need to pack a charger, or need to be in the proximity of electricity.

To cite a non-cycling example, the Apple Wireless Keyboard, in which a pair of 1000mAh rechargeable batteries last me eight weeks of ten hours daily use, is more versatile than the Magic Keyboard, for the reasons just mentioned.

Hence with bike (front and rear) lights, I suspect that it's an advantage to seek lights with replaceable, standard-size batteries.

The abundance of custom-sized, non-removable, non-serviceable, Lithium-ion batteries in front and rear lights puzzle me. Is it just more lumens? If I intend to ride only during (the plentiful in summer) daylight hours, what is the advantage of non-removable batteries in lights?

P.S.1: It's of course a huge waste to use discardable—alkaline, ..—batteries. We're comparing here rechargeable fixed with rechargeable replaceable.)

P.S.2: (At the risk of venturing into preaching,) the ecological cost of each one of us buying headphones, lawn mowers, leaf and snow blowers, wireless keyboards, drills, screwdrivers, and cycling lamps with nonremovable batteries is enormous. The volume or weight lost in cycling components is not nearly as bad as that in larger equipment. From the point of view of the manufacturers, there could be one of many advantages. There we can only speculate. Hence this question asks the consumers of one particular product. In case you have studied this question and found an answer, what is the advantage of non-removable batteries (that may or may not be properly recycled at the end of their life)?

P.S.3: In 2026-2027 this will be a moot point. An EU mandate requires rechargeable batteries in electronic devices to be user-replaceable starting in those years. Judging by the release worldwide of USB-C equipped devices, even though the mandate applied solely to the EU, everyone will benefit from having user-replaceable rechargeable batteries—even those of us outside the EU. (Note that this does not mean that we will be able to carry additional batteries and replace the batteries on the road to keep a light going. The only solution for that problem will remain to carry an additional light. But it means that an otherwise perfectly functioning light will not have to be discarded simply because its battery no longer holds a charge.)

Answer 1

There are advantages of non-replaceable batteries (see other answers; I would point out to better weather sealing specifically), but you shouldn't care about them directly: you need to consider the ultimate usability.

For commuting, you shouldn't care about weight too much, and this eliminates one of the main differences. My experience is this:

• In general, you don't want the brightest lights. Normal moderate lights are plenty bright for any (normal) commuting. Rear lights rarely have power adjustments, and bright ones get distractingly bright at night.
• For the rear light, get anything decent on AAA batteries. In the flashing mode, they will last weeks (if not months). With my 15-min-a-day usage, mine lasts at least half a year, so that I don't even bother to use rechargeables. I just always carry a spare pair.
• For the front light, you do need a Li-Pol (or similar) light. But again, don't hunt for the brightest one; something around 300 lm is more than enough for commuting. In this range, there are options with user-replaceable batteries.
  • Something with standard batteries like 18650 or 18350. I have a small Lezyne of this kind (don't remember the model). It's unlikely you'll have a specialised charger for it, so you'll be charging it in the light, but you can always have a charged spare and buy a replacement.
  • Custom but user-swappable batteries, like CatEye Volt. It makes sense to buy a set (Volt300 offers one, and it's cheaper than many higher-end lights alone) with two batteries and a separate charger dock. This way, you just swap the battery when the light tells you to, and charge it when convenient. Two batteries will probably outlast your bike (or at least the light).

Note that for roads, you mostly need the rear light, whereas for shared paths, mostly the front light (flashing in daytime).

Answer 2

Most modern lights use rechargeable lithium ion batteries. Those come in three form factors: Pouch cells, cylindrical cells and coin cells.

Pouch cells come in a lot of different dimensions which gives manufacturers a lot of flexibility when designing the product. They also have cables directly attached and are quite fragile. Good for weight and size but bad for handling by a user.

Cylindrical cells like 18650 have a relatively robust metal shell. Sometimes they are user replaceable but somehow this never caught on. Most of the time they are directly soldered or combined into a battery pack (most older laptop batteries are just a plastic shell and some electronics around 18650 cells).

Coin cells are usually directly soldered to the circuit board. I guess you could make a coin cell holder but that just increases size and weight and introduces another point of failure.

So only the cylindrical cells could really be replaced by a normal end user.

Another factor is charging current and voltage. Lithium ion batteries differ slightly in charging cutoff voltage and charging current. Some can be charged up to 4.3V, others only up to 4.1V. Charging a 4.1V cell up to 4.3V can cause it to go up in flames. So if the device has a built-in charger you’d somehow have to make sure that a cell with the correct charging cutoff voltage is inserted or that the correct voltage is selected. I guess yet another factor is that a battery charge level indicator can be directly integrated into the device’s circuit board instead of being a separate circuit inside the battery. Charge level indicators either estimate the level via battery voltage (which again, varies slightly between LiIon batteries) or by measuring the energy going in and out of the battery (Coulomb counters)

Apart from that there are generally some advantages in not having a hatch and battery holder for user-replaceable batteries.

• Less complexity (more robust, cheaper)
• Easier to make dust and waterproof
• Smaller
• Lighter
• More flexibility in the case design
• Product only lasts about 5 to 10 years. Of course that’s only an advantage for the manufacturer because they can sell you a new one.

There is simply no easy way to make a tiny, water-resistant, 40g light like this with a 420mAh Li-Ion battery and have it user-replaceable:

Answer 3

You mention riding from dusk to dawn. That's a rare situation. Most buyers of lights do fairly short rides, at least the after dark bit of the ride, and may want daytime flashing. Being able to charge a light with a phone charger is more convenient in that case, and phone chargers are ubiquitous unlike NiMH chargers.

Then much of that niche overnight riding demand is satisfied by dynamo setups.

The closest to what you're after are probably USB-powered lights, that run off a big battery with USB outputs - and you can carry more than one battery.

Added after question clarified:

Runtimes of flashing rear lights can be quite long - you could ride all day on one charge. I have (and don't particularly recommend) an older version of this Lezyne Zecto with 9 or 14 hours of running in daytime flash. That's a pair of flashes about 0.2 seconds apart, once per second, and very visible. Other models do better still, and would allow you to run for a tour of several days off one charge; personally I'd use it only in higher-risk situations.

For commuting use, lights left on bikes tend to be stolen unless screwed to racks, so you're taking your lights into the office anyway, and being able to charge off your PC is very handy, only needing a cheap cable you've probably got anyway. My workplace is unusual in that not only could I lay my hands on a NiMH charger, I have been able to rig a charger to top up a 6x18650 pack,and I still like being able to plug in to my PC.

Specifically for the rear, there are AA- or AAA-powered lights, from good quality (AXA) to OK but cheap (Oxford). I've found that much cheaper than that and they fail due to water ingress at the switch.

Some fancy lights come in AA and USB models. I've just bought a USB light ("Smart RL326R") that also comes in an AA version. This has both all-night (steady, sensible brightness) and all day (bright flash, not very frequent) modes. As I haven't put it through its paces yet, I haven't formed enough of an opinion to recommend or otherwise.

Answer 4

Energy density

A modern Lithium-something based rechargeable will be more energy-dense than the same mass or volume of 1.5V disposable batteries, which is also more energy-dense than a 1.5V rechargeable battery of similar size.

This allows a light to run for longer between charges, or to be smaller/lighter for the same runtime.

Answer 5

Oh yes AA batteries are suitable for bright rear light.

The traditional wattage of bicycle front lights has been 2.4 watts and bicycle rear lights has been 0.6 watts. This was in times of incandescent / halogen light bulbs.

The trouble with incandescent light bulbs is that the 0.6 watt bulb is so tiny it's energy efficiency is poor. Incandescent light bulb energy efficiency generally increases with wattage. Also the incandescent 0.6 watt rear light has a red glass, so most of its output (blue & green) is wasted. I'd be surprised if you get more than 4 lumens out of a 0.6 watt incandescent rear light, taking into account the red glass.

A red LED can be made having 40 lumens per watt. So approximately 0.1 watts of state of the art red LED lighting provides the needed luminous flux.

A Sanyo Eneloop AA battery has about 2.5 watt-hours of energy so a pair of AA batteries could give even 50 hours of light. Not only that but they don't self-discharge practically at all over time so you don't need to charge every month if you only ride little, and you'll find after the dark season ends, if you put the light aside for multiple months, and the dark season begins again, the light you stored with its batteries is still working.

And oh, if you're one of those non-Germans who think a flashing rear light is a good idea, you'll find a flasher with an annoying pattern could last even 200 hours to distract other road users. Think about how many accidents you can cause by one pair of AA batteries!