Your electric bike battery is expensive. Knowing how to charge it properly and take care of it can extend its life by 2 to 3 times. There are also a few things to avoid that can drastically shorten your battery's life. This article will tell you:
What to do when your battery is new
Basic Electric Bike Battery Charging Guide
How to store items when you're not riding for a while
Lithium-ion batteries and safety
How to extend battery life
Charging with a "smart charger"
These guides and instructions assume you purchased the battery with your motor or e-bike and that its power and charging capacity match your motor and charger respectively.
If you buy them separately, you'll need to know more to make sure you have the right batteries and don't have a potentially dangerous combination. Ideally, a battery can provide more power than a motor and charge faster than a charger can. With room for both, your battery won't be stressed, will be safer, and will last longer.
Lithium-ion batteries require little maintenance; they last longest when they are 30 to 80 percent charged. Unlike other battery chemistries, lithium-ion batteries have no memory and can be replenished when needed.
When your battery is new,
Please fully charge before use. For the first charge, you should charge the battery to 100%. If you have time, leave it on the charger for about 12 hours to ensure all batteries are evenly charged. After that, if you have a smart charger, you can charge it to 80% or 90% to extend battery life, and then every few months or so, give the battery a full 12-hour charge after a deep discharge. Charge.
Basic e-bike battery charging guide:
The battery can be charged on or off the bike.
Start by plugging the charger into an AC outlet. If there is a switch, it should be turned on and off. Doing so will charge the charger's internal capacitor and avoid inrush current from the battery.
Next, plug the charger into the battery's charging port and turn it on (if you have a switch). Most chargers have a set of LED lights. One of them glows red when charging and green when the battery is fully charged. When the light is green, the charger is not charging the battery and should be disconnected.
The battery should not be near flammable objects when charging.
Electrify Bike Co batteries with switches should be turned on before charging.
When the green light comes on, disconnect the charger.
Charge the battery when the remaining battery power is between 30% and 60%.
Partial charging extends service life better than full charging
Do not charge below freezing or above 50°C (120°F)
Charge to 100% every 1-3 months
Storing Lithium-Ion Electric Bike Batteries
The two most important things to pay attention to when storing your battery when you're not riding for a while are charge percentage and temperature. To store your battery for longer than a few weeks, you should set it between 40% and 70% charge. Never store batteries at 100% charge. This will shorten its overall lifespan. Also, never store batteries with less than 40% charge, as batteries will lose capacity over time. If it drops below its low voltage (approximately 2.6-2.8 volts per battery), it may be permanently damaged and the battery may not charge after that.
When storing for a long time, the voltage should be checked regularly and charged to above 50% when necessary. This frequency may be every 3 to 6 months.
Keep the battery at a moderate temperature. Partially charged lithium-ion batteries will last longer if they are stored in a cool place. The worst combination is 100% high voltage and high temperature. For long-term storage (months or more), store lithium-ion batteries at approximately 50% capacity. Make sure not to leave the battery in an area where the temperature could rise above 120 degrees Fahrenheit for an extended period of time, such as in an enclosed car or a building without climate control.
Do not charge the battery if the temperature drops below 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0°C) or damage may occur. Place the battery indoors and allow it to warm up before charging. It's possible to discharge the battery when it's cold (cycling), but this will reduce your range. However, it won't harm your battery or shorten its life. Conversely, do not charge if the temperature is above 120 degrees Fahrenheit or damage may occur.
Lithium-ion batteries and safety
Lithium-ion batteries may present a fire hazard. This danger is greatly reduced if you purchase high-quality batteries from name-brand batteries from a reputable source. However, this risk increases if any of the cells in the battery are damaged by being dropped or exceeding charge/discharge limits. Do not leave charging batteries unattended and should not be charged near flammable materials. If the battery is visibly damaged due to being dropped or exposed to water, the battery should be recycled and replaced.
Failure to charge lithium-ion batteries according to the following guidelines will shorten the battery life and may result in significant safety hazards.
Li-ion battery charging temperature
0°C to 45°C
(32°F to 113°F)
Lithium-ion battery discharge temperature
–20°C to 60°C
(–4°F to 140°F)
Extreme Temperature Guide
Charge at reduced current below 41°F.
No charges are allowed below freezing.
The charge and discharge performance is good at higher temperatures, but the life is shorter.
Extend battery life
Lithium-ion batteries don't have a memory function like other technologies, so you can charge them at any time without completely discharging them. When charged to 100%, expect 300-400 full charge cycles before the battery capacity drops to 80% of its original capacity. In terms of range, this means that at 80% capacity, if your new battery has a range of 20 miles, it will have a range of 16 miles after 300-400 full charge cycles.
The easiest way to extend battery life is to charge it to 80% or 90% only when you're not riding for a few days. Most rides don't require a full charge anyway. Doing so can extend the life of your battery by 2 to 4 times. When the battery is charged to 90%, you will get 1000 charge cycles; when the battery is charged to 80%, you will get 1600 charge cycles. This is similar to your smartphone. After a year of charging it every day, you'll find it has only 80% of its original talk or screen time.
If you know you're going on a long ride and want to make sure your battery has enough juice, go ahead and charge it to 100%. Doing this before riding will not shorten the life of your battery. To control charging to turn off at 80% or 90%, you need an "advanced" or "smart" charger with this feature. Most chargers that come with e-bikes don't have this feature.
If you use a smart charger to extend battery life by charging to 80% or 90%, you should balance the battery occasionally (every 2-4 months). To do this, you need to deeply discharge (below 30%) and then charge the battery to 100% to give the battery's internal electronics (BMS) a chance to rebalance the battery for maximum capacity.
High drain on the battery will shorten its life. If your battery is rated for 40 amps of continuous power, it won't necessarily run at that power for long periods of time. If your battery becomes warm to the touch when in use, you may be drawing too much current for too long. A battery's BMS rating may allow you to draw more current when needed, but you should be aware that you shouldn't abuse it.
Don't charge the battery too quickly or too many times. Just like your electric car with fast charging stations, you can also fast charge your e-bike. Electric car manufacturers warn against using fast-charging stations all the time, which can shorten the life of your car's battery. Unlike car fast chargers, unless you've found and purchased an ultra-fast charger, most e-bike fast chargers stay within the battery's safe charging limits and won't shorten its lifespan.
