The electric bike battery is one of the most important and expensive elements you have on your bike. Taking care of your battery is very critical so you can get the full capacity of the battery performance over the years you will be riding.
We generally know what the life of a battery will be if used correctly and we have stats to back that up. One of our clients who rode only 5km a day came back after 10.5 years for a new battery! 10 and a half years! On average the timeframe is a little lower for an average rider. If riding 20km a day you battery should last you between 4-6 years whilst if you are doing 40km a day, 2-4 years is the expected life of your battery, if you take care of it.
What can you do to get the maximum benefits of your ebike purchase in Perth?
You can follow the following 12 commandments:
- Get a battery that has either Panasonic or Samsung cells only. This may be hard if you go to bike shops who are not experts in the field. These cells will last the longest but also more importantly if something goes wrong we have a better success in repairing the battery. Whilst batteries that have LG, DLG, BAK, SIN, CIN, CHAM cells we found that most are not repairable or very hard to repair. Also in most cases it does not make sense to repair them since their replacement cost is significantly lower than the Panasonic and Samsung cells. We recommend just getting a new battery. Rebalancing the ebike batteries is also simpler with the good cells and we have a much better success rate.
- Warranty on electrics is 2 years not just 1 year. This should tell you how confident the supplier is in their own product. We have found that 1 year warranty batteries experience issues around 45% of the time in the first year, 25% of those are critical failures.
- Charge your battery between 20% and 80%. Never let it go down to zero if you can. If you charge to 100% you are telling your ebike that you will be riding in the next few day. If you are not going to be riding do not charge for the sake of charging. For storage ride your ebike to a battery level of between 40%-60% this way you can leave the battery in storage mode for up to 8 weeks. Never charge your ebike straight after a ride. Let the battery cool down for 30minutes at least.
- Never overcharge your battery. Yes some ebikes come with a smart charger which will turn itself off but most do not. You should unplug your charger after the green light come on. We encourage people to charge their ebikes whilst there are near the ebike. Charging overnight is a fire risk should anything go wrong but moreso it is way too long. Most batteries take 4 hours to charge. Some people do not care about charging overnight so then we just recommend that they buy a timer so that it turns off the charging at the specified time.
- Charge only on a power board with a fuse. Would you believe that some batteries do not have a good BMS or a fuse! Crazy! Also when you want to charge the battery, first plug the charger into the battery and then into the power board and only then should you switch the power board on. To stop charging just redo the steps above in reverse order. Charging should be done in a covered but well ventilated space.
- Always use the charger that came with your battery. Do not use “fake” chargers. Your charger should cost you more than $50 for a 36v system and $80 for a 48v system and so on.
- The Perth heat will play a role in your overall capacity and range. Try to not leave your battery exposed in direct sunlight, especially when it is over 40 Celsius. Take it with you and at the same time that is your first line of defence because if there is no battery on an ebike it’s not worth stealing. Also do not charge at low temperatures, room temperature would be perfect.
- Some batteries are not water proof, ask the question, they call them splash proof. Our batteries are water proof.
- Power washing is never allowed. You will damage your battery. Just clean your ebike using a rag.
- The way you ride. Riding with full assist will deplete the battery much faster over the years. Try and play with your assistance levels and ride on 1 or 2. You will also wear out the motor quicker than normal.
- Never drop the battery! But if you accidently do drop the battery have it tested as soon as possible and do not use it under any circumstances.
- Never drop your charger! But if you accidently do drop the charger have it tested as soon as possible and do not use it under any circumstances.
RIDE SAFE !