Last Updated on February 10, 2023 by Matt
Electric scooter battery life is the only major expense you will have related to your electric scooter.
Since batteries for electric scooters are not exactly cheap, many scooterists are wondering about the battery lifespan. So today, we will answer how long do electric scooter batteries last.
Electric scooter battery life – how long do electric scooter batteries last?
An electric scooter battery will typically last between 2 and 3 years, or 300 to 500 full charge cycles, whichever comes first. You can expect the battery performance to start degrading after 200-300 charge cycles. Lower-quality batteries can last less than 1 year, but good batteries can last up to 5 years. Responsible use prolongs the lifespan of the battery.
This article will inform you on everything you need to know about electric scooter battery life, most importantly what you can do to increase it, or not shorten it at the very least.
How long do electric scooter batteries last?
Electric scooter batteries can last anywhere from 6 months to 5 years, but most will last between 2 and 3 years.
However, measuring the lifespan of a battery in time is less precise, and it’s better to measure it in charge cycles. Most batteries will have between 300 and 500 full charge cycles, but the best quality batteries can reach up to 1000 cycles. After a few hundred charge cycles, the battery performance will slowly start to degrade.
A full charge cycle would mean charging the battery from 0 to 100%, but that will rarely happen.
Roughly speaking, 300 to 500 full charge cycles are almost like 600 to 1000 charges from half to full.
So, for example, if you charge your scooter every day, the battery will last you between 1 and 2 years. But based on my experience, you will probably not ride your scooter every single day. Charging it once every 2 or 3 days is a much better estimate for most people. That means your battery will probably last at least 2 years, and possibly even up to 5 years!
There are several other factors in play that can shorten or extend battery life.
What does battery life depend upon?
There are a few important factors that will determine the lifetime of an electric battery.
Battery brand
The manufacturer of the battery may easily be the primary factor.
There are several big battery brands and lots of smaller ones. They make batteries for electric scooters with more or less similar performances and metrics.
But in a lot of ways, the numbers that describe the battery, as its voltage and charge and capacity, are only half the story.
Battery production is a brutally competitive, highly lucrative business with crazy amounts of innovation and competition all the time. There are many trade secrets involved that possibly only the best brands know. They jealously guard them in any way they can, while trying to improve upon them at the same time.
That’s why a Samsung battery will last and perform much better than a generic no-name Chinese battery.
I don’t want to write off Chinese batteries completely, as China has many great battery manufacturers. But in general, they will be inferior to Samsung or LG batteries.
Also, a battery from a big Chinese manufacturer like BYD or CATL will always be a better choice than a manufacturer that started making batteries 3 months ago.
Battery and motor specifications
There are a few ways that the battery specifications, like its voltage and charge capacity, affect its lifespan. This can also be related to the motor as well.
If you have a battery with a larger charge capacity, it will be able to keep more power so you will not need to charge it so frequently. As this will reduce the rate at which you add up charge cycles, it means that it extends the battery life.
Meaning, the higher the charge capacity of the battery is (the measurement expressed in Ah, or Ampere-hours), the longer its lifespan should be.
On the other hand, if the battery has a higher output voltage, the faster it will release power for the motor.
This is especially true if the voltage is close to the maximum voltage that the motor can handle. In that case, the motor will simply drain the battery as fast as it can.
The faster the battery gets drained, the sooner you need to recharge it. The more you recharge it, the faster you use up the available charge cycles, and the less your battery lasts.
While you can try and tweak the internals of the scooter to try and increase the battery lifespan, it is not advisable. The attempt may easily backfire. This is something to be aware of.
Battery usage
As mentioned, electric batteries have a finite number of charge cycles before they get worn out. Naturally, that number is always reached faster than the time it takes for the battery to wear out on its own.
Of course, the more you use your scooter, the more frequently you will need to charge its battery, meaning the faster its lifespan will end.
Battery care
Here’s where you as the scooter owner come in.
There are several things that you can do in order to increase the maximum lifespan of the battery.
Extending the battery life by a lot, like say doubling its lifespan, will not be possible, no matter how well you apply these tips. You can reasonably expect to increase its lifespan by anywhere between 20% and 35% if you follow the proper ownership etiquette.
Read on for what you can do to maximize your battery’s life.
How can I make my electric scooter battery last longer?
We will go over a list of everything you can do, starting from the most important and impactful ways.
Don’t let your battery get completelly drained
The most important thing you can do to extend the battery life is to never let it get completely drained.
It will not be the end of the world. But keep in mind – every time an electric battery gets fully discharged, it wears out a little faster than it would have otherwise.
In some lithium-ion batteries, there is a mechanism that gets activated when the battery gets empty. This makes it not respond to a regular charger later, and it may even appear dead. You will need an additional kind of charger to resurrect the battery. These are usually older models, but this is still common.
Charge your scooter frequently
The next best thing you can do for your scooter’s battery is to charge it frequently. Experts recommend to charge it after every use, no matter how small.
This will vary from battery to battery. It’s wise to see if the scooter’s manual has something to say about this. If not, simply charging your scooter every day when used should be optimal.
One important thing to keep in mind here – don’t charge your scooter immediately after riding it. Give it half an hour to cool down, and then plug the charger in – charging it while the battery is still hot will degrade the battery faster.
Avoid overcharging your battery
While many electric scooters today will not be damaged if you leave them charging after the battery is full, it is still not smart to risk it. The chances for damage are small, but they do exist.
Many scooter apps can send you a notification when the battery is fully charged.
Avoid water contact
This is not so much to increase the lifespan of the battery as it is to prevent decreasing it.
Almost all manufacturers claim that their scooters are water-resistant. About half of the models today actually do have an IP rating, making the scooters officially water-resistant at least to a degree. And yet, all brands will agree on one thing – you should really avoid riding your scooter in rain or wet environments.
This is mostly because of the battery, which is both the most important part of the scooter, and also the one most vulnerable to water damage.
The thing is, many owners do ride their scooters in rain and report no damage at all. But there is a potential issue they may be missing. Small amounts of water may not destroy the battery immediately, but they can cause corrosion or speed up the wear and tear.
That’s why it’s best if you keep your scooter’s battery as dry as possible.
Avoid using your battery at too hot or too cold temperatures
Electric batteries work most optimally at room temperature. When the temperature deviates too much from that, they work less efficiently and degrade faster.
The ideal temperatures for batteries are around 20 °C. Their performances start to drop when they are used at below 0 °C or higher than 40 °C.
Using the battery in ideal temperatures will expand its lifespan to its maximum. Since that is not always possible, simply try to avoid using your scooter when it’s too cold or too hot.
Avoid keeping or charging your battery in the sun
Exposing your battery to the sun for longer periods of time may cause unwanted chemical reactions from the substances in them. That will either completely ruin the battery, or significantly degrade its performance.
Charging your battery under the sun may activate mechanisms that will prevent the battery from charging. Or worse, it may break the protection circuit and make the battery overheat, or even explode.
All in all, batteries and sunshine don’t work that well together.
Use the original charger
Using the original charger that came with your scooter is the best way to charge it. It is already optimal for your battery life and everything is as good as it can be.
If something goes wrong with it, getting the exact same charger from the exact same manufacturer should be equally as good.
If you’re forced to use a different charger, make sure that the voltage and the charge capacity of it are as close to the ones of the original as possible.
Avoid using a charger that has very different specifications from the original. Only do it as a last resort.
Charge at the normal or slower rate
Users that go long distances with their scooters often need to charge them more than once a day.
To do this, sometimes they use chargers with higher charge capacities (expressed in Ampere-hours, or Ah). These charge the batteries faster, but they also make them deteriorate faster and reduce their lifespan.
If battery lifespan is important to you, avoid using chargers with higher charge capacities altogether and stick with the original charger.
Ride with fully inflated tires
A small but helpful tip – riding with partially deflated tires increases friction, which causes the entire scooter to work harder to cover the same distances. That will use more power over time, causing you to have to charge your battery more often, and thus end its life sooner.
Inflate your tires sufficiently (but don’t overinflate them!). That will optimize a lot of things about your ride, including your battery lifespan.
Store your scooter properly
When storing your scooter for a longer period of time, make sure you keep it in a cool, dry, dark place. Charge the battery at around 60%, and recharge it to that same amount once every month.
Check out the complete guide to storing your scooter to learn exactly how to do that.
Inspect your battery
It is very smart to incorporate at least a quick battery inspection as part of your regular maintenance routine.
At the very minimum, take a look at it and make sure there are no holes, cracks, corrosion, swelling or unusual forms, or any other form of damage.
You can apply other more advanced battery testing methods less frequently. If you lack the equipment for that, you don’t really need to test the battery unless something feels wrong. Common methods for battery testing include:
- voltage testing
- current testing
- temperature testing
- specific gravity measurement
- impedance article
- discharge testing (requires a full discharge, so not always optimal)
For these tests, you will need to get a battery testing set, or take your scooter to an expert.
How long does a Xiaomi M365 battery last?
With the Xiaomi M365, you can expect around 300-500 charge cycles in total, and around 200-300 charge cycles before the battery starts to wear out. Since the range on a single charge for the Xiaomi M365 is 30 kilometers, you can expect 6.000 kilometers before you notice your range decreasing, and at least 9.000 kilometers before your battery dies.
How long does a Xiaomi M365 Pro battery last?
The Xiaomi 365 Pro can last between 300 and 500 charge cycles, although the performance will probably start to degrade after 250-300 charge cycles. With a range of 45 kilometers on one charge, the battery should give you around 8.000 – 10.000 kilometers before it starts degrading, and somewhere between 15.000 and 25.000 before it completely dies out.
When should a scooter battery be replaced?
The best sign that you may need to change your battery will be the range you get from your scooter. It’s normal for the range to decrease as the battery wears out, but when you start getting half the range your scooter can provide or less, it’s probably time to change your battery.
Also, when the overall performance of your scooter has dropped to a level where you find it unacceptable, it’s the perfect time to consider getting a new battery.
How much does a new electric scooter battery cost?
A replacement battery for your electric scooter will typically cost between 15% and 30% of the original scooter’s price. So for example, if your scooter costs $500, a new battery will cost you somewhere between $75 and $150.
