Hello! I am trying to figure out the best way to get two Lift eFoil batteries from New York to the Maldives in a timely fashion.
They’re not permitted on commercial planes, or private ones, and I’m having no luck with shipping companies (I’ve contacted 7…). I’ve got fire-proof cases for both batteries, and am willing to eat almost any cost. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thank you 
I think getting a new battery down there would be less pricy then hiring a privet jet. But I have the same probelm. From Austria to Greece. And for sure it would be possible by car, but we are always flying.
Thanks - unfortunately the only way to get a new one down there is for Lift to ship through a third party, and they’re estimating 3-4 weeks which won’t work for the timeline. I think technically they’re not permitted on private jets or freight planes due to the high watt hours, so we’re talking about ocean transport.
Even if the Maldives doesn’t work I’m curious to hear how others travel with their hydrofoil batteries to non-drivable destinations, its a recurring issue for me!
I bought cells locally and built a new battery in a day. But my build is DIY. Now have a battery in 2 locations for when I travel.
It is only going to get harder as more regulations are added to battery transportation. There is no great solution other than using large amounts of battery packs connected together that are separated into less than 100wh each, then you have to split them up among people you are traveling with.
Can you fly with 18650 cells individually and reassemble at the destination?
I made a travel split board once using male carbon tubes into female ones.
Now, there is a travel split battery to think about. With Samsung 30Q,
Number of cells per pack = 100Wh/3.7V/3Ah = 9 cells
To make a 12s9P you need 11 friends going to the same place in the same or different planes.
If travelling with one partner only, two weeks before departure, you have to ship (12-2) = 10 individual parcels to your hotel. At the end of your stay, you’ll have to ship the same 10 parcels to your home address.
If your stay is cancelled for any reason (health, job, …) you’ll have to contact the resort to have them sent back.
Why don’t you write to Armando who has done it in the past and keep us posted ? 
https://press.fourseasons.com/maldiveslg/hotel-news/2019/hydrofoil-watersports/
Funny, I actually did talk to the Four Seasons, the battery took 3-4 weeks to get there came via the aqua sport company mentioned in that article (the foil shipped separately)!
It does seem that there’s not a good way to do this efficiently with Lift’s battery, since it obviously can’t be split apart. Seems like an issue since their purchase demographic definitely has a lot of global travelers.
I would venture to guess a good percentage of the Lift boards that are traveling around the world are doing so in the garage bay of big boats next to a diesel powered tender and an assortment of other water toys.
Lift is using Fedex to ship batteries from the US to global destinations and they usually arrive within 5 business days or less. Did you try Fedex?
Yep, sadly FedEx does not ship dangerous goods to the Maldives.
You have to be a pre-approved shipper to ship “Level 9” (anything over 300wh) batteries pretty much anywhere. Lift had to go through a process to be able to do it.
According to most regulations most definitely not. They absolutely hate loose cells. You can get away with 1 or two or three, but definitely not the 100-200 18650’s you will need for a efoiling.