Man proves "vape batteries aren't disposable" by using 80 of them to power electric scooter

A smart graduate has used 80 discarded vape batteries to power his e-scooter - to make a point about waste. Tobiasz Stanford, 23, says disposable vapes aren't as expendable as is claimed. So he scooped up around 80 discarded vapes and wired the lithium-ion batteries up to a scooter he bought for £30 on eBay. The scooter is now fully functioning and "very reliable", said CGI and visual effects grad Tobiasz. He wants to raise awareness about the effect vapes are having on the environment. Tobiasz, from Trowbridge, Wilts., said: "I use [the scooter] everyday and it's very reliable. "It can go up any hill, has been used in rain and has been driven through puddles. "The only downfall is that it's quite noisy but other than that the performance is crazy." "The amount of vapes I see on the street is really upsetting. These vape batteries have the potential to power a scooter. "They're very active still yet they're marketed as disposable. It needs to stop" Tobiasz discovered vapes used a lithium-ion battery - which can be recharged - after taking several apart. He began recharging the batteries and found after one cycle they could function "almost like a brand new battery". Tobiasz then noticed fellow students at his university in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs., using e-scooters. So he decided to use his collection of vape batteries to build his own. He said: "I've always had a fascination with electronics and moving parts. I've always wondered how things work and have built things like my own drones before. "One day I saw my friend smoking a vape and began to wonder how they worked. "I used all different types of vapes. Some of them could have been recharged and reused five times before the vape liquid ran out. "I got all of the batteries for free and found a cheap offer for a scooter on eBay. The scooter didn't have good range and could only go to 16 kilometers per hour. "It took me a month or two to get it together and I had to be careful wiring up the batteries but now the scooter works better with the vape batteries than it did before. "Now it goes to 25kph and can go up any hill. I usually charge it overnight and can charge in about three hours. "Once it's fully charged I go around six miles everyday on it." Tobiasz says people are "wowed" when he tells them the small scooter is powered completely by disposable vape batteries. He said: "Everyone's quite surprised. My family and friends are completely shocked when they see what I've done. "It's a very small scooter and most people can't even tell it's even powered - never mind powered by vapes." Tobiasz says he wants others to know that disposable vapes can in fact be reused and believes there needs to be more restrictions on the sale of disposable vapes. He said: "We need to think about 'ewaste' with greater importance. "The amount of vapes I see on the street or in ponds - which have the potential to power a scooter - is so bad. "They're very active still. When those chemicals break down lithium will start to spill out. "The consequences of that will be ridiculous. It will happen over time. "We need to do what we can to stop this from happening and that includes banning disposable vapes."