E-bike battery health

[Alba Zeus]

Having seen lots of conflicting advice r.e battery health online I’m looking for some kind of best practice I can use in my Gain D50s battery.

It looks like the below would be about right?

When the bike is not in use - keep battery between 20% & 80%
Before heading out on a ride - charge bike up to 100%
If not using the bike for over 4 weeks - charge the battery up to 100% to balance cells every 4 weeks..

Does this sound about right?

 

[cheys03]

I'd alter the above very slightly, personally. But - the main thing is you're thinking about it and not abusing the battery willy-nilly, so already you're miles ahead in battery care.

When the bike is not in use - keep battery between 50% & 70%
Before heading out on a ride - charge bike up to 100%
If not using the bike for over 4 weeks - charge the battery up to 100% to balance cells every 4 weeks.. then take the bike for a ride to bring the battery back down to 70% and store

Couple more 'ideal world' tips

* Let the battery rest and cool after any ride before charging
* Charge at the lowest power you can, if you have the choice. e.g. if you have both a 'standard' and 'fast' charger, prefer the standard when you can

You can keep going with the tips to how you use the bike to get the most out of the battery, but eventually it takes from being an ebike and just becomes just a standard bike! Use and enjoy! A nice bike

 

[CXRAndy]

storing battery in winter, take indoors or keep from freezing by having an heated cabinet between 10-20 deg C

 

[Mike_P]

storing battery in winter, take indoors or keep from freezing by having an heated cabinet between 10-20 deg C

And at any time overnight tempatures are low which is most nights in the UK.

 

[numbnuts]

I do all of the above, but from May to October I will leave the battery in the garage overnight
My last battery lasted just over 5 years with a lot of mileage too.

 

[gbb]

Interestingly, my Crossfire battery has done IRO 3800 miles and while its original range was something like 55 miles ?...i suspect i'd be lucky to get 40 now.
Battery never generally left out in the cold.
I try not to discharge below 10%
I try not to leave it charged to 100% and then not use the bike for any lengthy period.
I do try to charge in stages to avoid overheating (of the battery or the charger). I tend to part charge, let it rest and cool, then top up...mainly to protect (hopefully) the charger, they do get quite hot through a full charge cycle.

How do you balance charge, assuming you're just using the standard charger that came with the bike ?

 

[wiggydiggy]

I'd alter the above very slightly, personally. But - the main thing is you're thinking about it and not abusing the battery willy-nilly, so already you're miles ahead in battery care.

When the bike is not in use - keep battery between 50% & 70%
Before heading out on a ride - charge bike up to 100%
If not using the bike for over 4 weeks - charge the battery up to 100% to balance cells every 4 weeks.. then take the bike for a ride to bring the battery back down to 70% and store

Couple more 'ideal world' tips

* Let the battery rest and cool after any ride before charging
* Charge at the lowest power you can, if you have the choice. e.g. if you have both a 'standard' and 'fast' charger, prefer the standard when you can

You can keep going with the tips to how you use the bike to get the most out of the battery, but eventually it takes from being an ebike and just becomes just a standard bike! Use and enjoy! A nice bike

Is the storage advice absolutely essential? I know of 2 e-bike bikes that are not likely to be getting used soon for health reasons unfortunately. I can go and ride them myself (one at a time of course) if needed to keep the batteries ticking over.

 

[youngoldbloke]

In autumn 2019, after a long ride which completely exhausted my Orbea Gain's battery, I fully re-charged it to 100% with a view to riding again the following day. Unfortunately I was unable to ride again for more than 6 weeks due to Covid-like sickness. The battery lost 10% of it's capacity during that time. At that time e-bike manufacturer's information regarding battery care was often confusing and inadequate. Subsequently after much online research I followed the 20-80% regime, only charging to 100% prior to long rides, and as far as I can tell the battery has not lost any more capacity.

 

[Alba Zeus]

My bike is kept indoors all year round so no issues with it being out in the cold.

Interestingly though I had an over voltage error number 193 on the bike when I turned it on yesterday. Spoke to Sigma who I purchased it from and the suggested running the battery down to 0% then full charge of 5 hours plus 2 hours additional to recalibrate the battery. Done this yesterday and turned the bike on today and unfortunately still the purple light with the error code and you can't engage any of the assist. Spoke to sigma who advised the bike would need ridden to clear the code then charge the bike again to 100% and the over voltage issue should be gone.

Just back from a ride and indeed 1 mile in the purple light disappeared and the assist kicked in so was able to get all levels of assist again.

Just letting it cool before I try the charge again that was advised by sigma.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

It seems important not to charge when the battery is cold
I always remove the battery, especially in winter, and only put it back on the bike just before I set off

 

[Alba Zeus]

It seems important not to charge when the battery is cold
I always remove the battery, especially in winter, and only put it back on the bike just before I set off

I have an orbea gain so the battery is integrated

 

[Alba Zeus]

So charged the battery this evening up to 100% and no more error code.

I have emailed sigma to ask
- when charging does the charger cut out when the bike is at full charge
- the battery care question I put above in the OP I have posed to them also.

Hopefully hey have some concrete instructions for the Orbea at least.

 

[CXRAndy]

Our bikes don't have proprietary software regarding chargers, one being Tongscheng and the other Bafang. I use a 80/90/100% adjustable charger. I charge almost solely to 80%, and when wanting max power and range 100% just before the ride.

 

[Alba Zeus]

Answers in bold from sigma

When the bike is not in use - keep battery between 20% & 80% - Allowing it to drain is more the issue than the amount of charge here, keeping an eye on it if not using is a good idea, apparently being left below 40% consistently for long periods of time is the issue.

Before heading out on a ride - charge bike up to 100% - this is good practice for range but charging batteries to 100% all the time isnt good for long term life so not needed here like with a phone.

If not using the bike for a long period of time I.e winter - charge the battery up to 100% every 4 weeks to balance cells then ride it back to 80% to be stored - just keep it topped up to a reasonable level

Don’t let the bike sit on a full 100% charge for more than a day or 2 - I wouldn't say this is needed here

 

[youngoldbloke]

Answers in bold from sigma

When the bike is not in use - keep battery between 20% & 80% - Allowing it to drain is more the issue than the amount of charge here, keeping an eye on it if not using is a good idea, apparently being left below 40% consistently for long periods of time is the issue.

Before heading out on a ride - charge bike up to 100% - this is good practice for range but charging batteries to 100% all the time isnt good for long term life so not needed here like with a phone.

If not using the bike for a long period of time I.e winter - charge the battery up to 100% every 4 weeks to balance cells then ride it back to 80% to be stored - just keep it topped up to a reasonable level

Don’t let the bike sit on a full 100% charge for more than a day or 2 - I wouldn't say this is needed here

Thanks - a little vague - eg. what is 'a reasonable level'?