Last Updated on May 17, 2023 by Matt
An electric bike‘s performance is only as good as its battery. The other components are important too, but they’re nothing without a high-quality battery to power them up. If you really want to maintain the performance of your electric bike, you should start taking steps that can extend the life of its battery.
Read on to learn how long electric bike batteries last and what you can do to extend their life.
How long do ebike batteries last?
The lifespan of an electric battery depends on multiple factors like its brand, quality level, how often it is used, how it’s charged, and other factors. Generally, electric bike batteries can last between 2-5 years before showing signs of degradation and needing replacement. That’ll give you about 500-1000 charge cycles. With the right charging habits and battery usage, you can extend the lifespan up to 8 years or more.
What factors affect the life of an ebike battery?
You can never exactly determine how long your electric battery will last because its lifespan depends on several varying factors. Some of these are:
Frequency of use
When your battery discharges and then is recharged to 100%, that makes one charge cycle. An electric battery can go through a limited amount of charge cycles before it starts to degrade. The more you use your electric bike, the more charge cycles it will go through in a year.
After the number of charges hits a specific limit, an electric bike battery will start degrading. Though the process will be slow, you’ll eventually begin noticing the signs of degradation. So the battery of an electric bike that is occasionally used will last longer than the battery of an electric bike used regularly for commuting to work.
Brand and quality
The brand and quality of electric bike batteries play a big role in their performance and life span. A brand with a good track record can be trusted to produce batteries with high-quality material because of more advanced production techniques.
This ensures that you get a durable, high-performing battery that has been rigorously tested to meet industry standards.
On the other hand, if you get an electric battery from a lesser-known manufacturer, chances are the battery will be made of low-quality material and made using poor manufacturing techniques. So their batteries will have a short lifespan and poor performance.
Low-quality electric bike batteries are also prone to safety risks which means you’ll be risking the rest of the components of the bike as well.
Storage conditions
How you store your electric bike battery can significantly impact its degradation speed. Improper storage can cause early degradation or even failure. Storing the battery in high temperatures can damage its cells and cause overheating or, in extreme cases, fires.
Many people who ride their electric bikes in the winter notice a reduction in the bike’s performance compared to other seasons. This usually happens when you store your electric bike in an extremely cold area.
An extremely low temperature causes the electrolyte in the ebike battery to become viscous or even freeze. This makes it hard for the ions in a lithium-ion battery to move through the electrolyte and power the bike.
Level of maintenance
Like the rest of the parts of your electric bike, its battery requires regular maintenance. If you don’t maintain your ebike battery, you’ll be looking at replacement costs much earlier than expected.
Not cleaning the battery can cause dirt and moisture to accumulate at its terminals, leading to corrosion. If the battery gets physically damaged and you continue to ride the bike without getting the battery fixed, it can lead to leak and debris accumulation.
Ignoring damage to your electric battery will eventually result in more extensive damage or even battery failure.
Charging habits
A common habit for electric bike users is procrastinating and only charging their battery when it’s almost completely drained. Completely discharging a lithium-ion battery causes its voltage to drop to a level that can damage the battery’s cells and wear them out.
Another bad charging habit is leaving your electric bike on charge overnight and only unplugging the charger when you wake up. I was guilty of this habit myself until I found out that overcharging can disrupt the battery’s charge cycles through a phenomenon called “trickle charging“.
Riding conditions
If you use your electric bike to ride on rough terrains and steep hills, the continuous shocks and vibrations can affect the battery’s internal parts and cell connections. This is more likely to happen if the electric bike isn’t specifically designed for rough paths.
Riding over steep hills or with heavy bags on your ebike can also increase the battery’s discharge speed. So if you regularly ride on rough terrains, you’ll go through the charge cycles of your battery quicker than average.
Age
Unfortunately, lithium-ion batteries are always on borrowed time, even when they aren’t being used. If you often store your electric battery for extended periods, you might have noticed that the battery level is always different after storage than its pre-storage value.
This is because nothing can stop the degradation process of a lithium-ion battery. You can slow it down with proper care and maintenance, but degradation with age is unavoidable.
Tips to extend the life of electric bike batteries
You can’t control the degradation that an electric bike battery goes through with age, but I’ve found that following these tips helps slow down the deterioration speed.
Invest in a reliable brand
I recommend you go for a high-quality electric bike from the get-go so you have fewer problems in the future. Electric bike batteries from good brands have high upfront costs but will benefit you in the long run. They also usually come with warranties.
With a high-quality battery, you won’t need to spend on battery repair or replacement for a good few years, and the electric bike’s performance will be exceptional.
Some popular electric bike battery brands include Samsung, LG, Bosch, Panasonic, etc.
Store the battery properly
It’s important that you take proper measures when storing your ebike.
Secure the battery in a waterproof battery bag and store it somewhere dry and cool after cleaning it. Ensure the battery level is between 20% to 80%, and regularly check the battery to ensure the percentage doesn’t fall below 20%.
If you store your electric bike with the battery for regular commuting, cover the bike with a waterproof cover so the battery is safe from dirt and moisture.
Charge the battery regularly
Don’t overcharge or undercharge your electric bike battery. Try to always keep the bike’s battery level between 20% and 80% for an extended lifespan. I recommend getting an electric bike battery with an in-built battery management system (BMS) to avoid overcharging, undercharging, and overheating.
The battery management system is equipped with a microcontroller and sensor to detect the charging status of an ebike battery and stops the charging process when the battery gets completely charged.
Perform maintenance checks
Perform regular checks on your electric bike battery for damage and dirt. If you do find any sign of damage, don’t delay the repair. Even if it looks like the damage won’t affect the battery’s performance, I still recommend getting it checked.
The damage can worsen over time, adding a few dollars every day to the repair cost that you’ll eventually have to pay.
Follow the user manual
Go through the user manual of your electric bike battery for proper instructions on how to charge and care for it. Most user manuals also explain how to store the battery properly and how to troubleshoot any minor problems.
Manufacturers know the ins and outs of their batteries, so they know better about what things can degrade their batteries faster and what techniques can extend their lifespans.
Keep the battery clean
Clean your electric bike battery regularly, especially after riding through mud or rainfall.
Remove the battery from the electric bike and clean it using a damp rag and light soap. Then use a microfiber cloth to dry it.
Use a soft-bristled brush to clean any dust from the terminals.
Have a backup battery
A friend of mine regularly uses his electric bike, so he always has a backup battery charged for when he forgets to charge the original one. It’s convenient because he doesn’t have to wait for the battery to charge to ride his bike, and makes it easier for him to avoid complete drainage.
The second battery also comes in handy when traveling long distances, so it was worth the money for him.
Signs you need to replace your electric bike battery
Once your electric bike battery has run its course, it’ll start showing signs of needing replacement.
One of the first signs it’ll give is a reduced range. If you can’t travel as long as before, even on a full charge, it means your electric bike battery has lost some of its capacity.
Physical damage can also sign the end of your battery.
I once suffered a nasty fall on my electric bike, but the battery looked fine, so I didn’t think much of it. Later, I got the battery tested after noticing that charging it was taking longer than usual. It turned out the fall messed up some internal connections, and I ended up buying a replacement.
Other signs of your battery needing replacement include slow charging, decreased pedal assistance, signs of physical damage such as deformities, strange smells or vapors coming out of it, and irregular temperatures. Decreased assistance means your battery can’t generate enough energy to power the motor to its full capacity.
