How long should an e-bike battery last?
Before delving into e-bike battery maintenance, it’s important to consider the natural service life of a battery.
As a battery goes through charging cycles, it will naturally discharge over time, so you shouldn’t expect an e-bike battery to last forever. How long it lasts will depend on the individual battery, but most bikes will have a warranty covering a certain number of years or charges.
For example, Carrera’s new impel e-bikes come with a 2-year or 500-charge warranty. Of course, this is only the minimal amount of time the battery should last, but by maintaining it in the correct way, you can prolong your battery’s service life. Here are a few different ways.
Charging an e-bike battery
It’s something you’ll have to do on a regular basis so it’s easy to forget how important it is to charge your e-bike’s battery in the correct way. There are several things to be aware of when charging a battery, all of which will help maintain the battery’s health.
- Always charge a battery indoors in a dry location and at room temperature. The ideal temperature range is 10 to 20 degrees Celsius. We also recommend that you charge your battery in a room with a smoke detector.
- Use a charger approved by your e-bike’s manufacturer as an unapproved one could damage the battery and, just as importantly, it could also invalidate your warranty.
- We’d also recommend that you regularly charge the battery to at least 80% capacity to maintain the optimal level of performance. Letting the battery fully drain for long periods of time will quickly reduce a battery’s capacity.
- It’s possible to either remove a battery and charge it or charge it while it’s still on the bike, and both are safe methods that won’t affect a battery’s health.