How long does the battery last on an electric bike？

[ellacg96]

Most lithium-ion batteries have between 500 and 800 charge cycles, depending on the make and model of the battery.
Remember that a charge cycle is from fully charged to fully depleted, and when you receive your order for an e-bike, the first thing to do is to fully charge it.
Naturally, we want our bike batteries to last as long as possible. After all, e-bike batteries aren't cheap. For example, my OKAI STRIDE bike, it uses LG 13s2p, which has the characteristics of high energy, long cycle life, good safety, excellent high and low-temperature performance, light and portable battery, and good consistency, and environmental protection.
Also, if you haven't used your e-bike for a few months, be sure to partially charge the battery before riding. This is because it will self-discharge a bit and will not be at the same charge level as the last time you rode the bike

 

[Tabithae]

I own an Addmotor citypro e-bike with a 20AH battery. They ensure 125+ miles per charge on PAS 1 MODE. I ride it for daily commuting. About 15 miles round trip. It just uses more than half of my battery capacity every week.

 

[Member 4888]

Treat the battery properly and 1200+ recharge cycles are possible. "Properly" means not charging past 85% capacity or discharging past 20% capacity, not charging in temperatures near freezing, or letting them sit idle for long periods of time. That means using a Grin Satiator for charging or something similar, although I have never seen anything comparable. The bigger that battery the faster you can charge without stressing the cells and the more recharge cycles you will be able to get. Why do you think manufacturers only sell small batteries or worse a pair of small batteries? They want you to burn through them and buy more, that's why they all have their own proprietary parts. I've been using 3 triangle lithium packs (2000Wh per) for almost 7 years now for a combined 37+K miles and don't feel any difference in them from when they were still virgins. Unlike those that actually believe manufacturers BS and that they can get 100+ miles on a single charge... but oddly have never ridden the bike for more than 30 miles at a time, I do get 70+ miles on a loaded bike on smooth surfaces using approximately 65% of the pack. Before any arguments flare out of control... every single ebike manufactured or cobbled together like mine, can get unlimited mileage if you don't use any assist, but that's not how people ride... if they ride. Use batteries that you can ride further than you want on less than 65% of the battery's capacity and charge them with a Grin Satiator. Have more than one battery available. I also suggest reading everything you can on lithium batteries on BatteryUniversity.com before advising others. Treat them properly and you will be using them for a decade or more even if it's not to push a bike motor. Stay safe.

 

[cmcdermott]

The lifespan of a typical e-bike battery is 800 full charge cycles. You can expect an e-bike battery to last 5 years. Typically, you can expect a range of 25 to 70 miles on a single e-bike charge. If you're using it at full capacity, expect less; manage your battery life well and you can get more. I have an eMTB which is a 1000-cycle Lithium battery and it is very good and durable.

 

[Member 4888]

The lifespan of a typical e-bike battery is 800 full charge cycles. You can expect an e-bike battery to last 5 years. Typically, you can expect a range of 25 to 70 miles on a single e-bike charge. If you're using it at full capacity, expect less; manage your battery life well and you can get more. I have an eMTB which is a 1000-cycle Lithium battery and it is very good and durable.

Man, manufacturers love you guys! What about the people that ride every day? 5 x 365 + more than 800... right? 25 to 70 is a safe bet alright. The only way to manage a pack properly is with a charger that allows you to charge to a preset voltage, or you could try to disconnect it once it gets close I suppose. I have in excess of 800 recharge cycles on all my packs. Don't believe what manufacturers are trying to get you to literally buy.

 

[RayRay954305]

Most lithium-ion batteries have between 500 and 800 charge cycles, depending on the make and model of the battery.
Remember that a charge cycle is from fully charged to fully depleted, and when you receive your order for an e-bike, the first thing to do is to fully charge it.
Naturally, we want our bike batteries to last as long as possible. After all, e-bike batteries aren't cheap. For example, my OKAI STRIDE bike, it uses LG 13s2p, which has the characteristics of high energy, long cycle life, good safety, excellent high and low-temperature performance, light and portable battery, and good consistency, and environmental protection.
Also, if you haven't used your e-bike for a few months, be sure to partially charge the battery before riding. This is because it will self-discharge a bit and will not be at the same charge level as the last time you rode the bike

Hi Ellacg96,
I just purchased the OKAI Stride E-Bike, I recently contacted the company for a spare battery and I was surprised...425$ shipped to the door. I'm more concerned now with battery maintenance and care. Any advice?

 

[HumanPerson]

Hi Ellacg96,
I just purchased the OKAI Stride E-Bike, I recently contacted the company for a spare battery and I was surprised...425$ shipped to the door. I'm more concerned now with battery maintenance and care. Any advice?

Hey!
Welcome to the forums!!

Balance charge the battery first thing... then ride it until it is about down to 20% of the battery then only charge up to around 80 to 90%
state of charge....then ride more for like a few months.... then balance charge it again, make sense?

More members will chime in on balance charging and batteries here in a bit.....

Ride Safe!!

HP

 

[neutron]

From what I understand, charging to 100% is ok as long as you use the battery right away and don't let it sit at 100% for long. I'd like to know that I can use 100% down to 20% to get the maximum mileage out of my battery. 90% down to 20% seems extra cautious just to get a few more charge cycles out of a battery.

 

[HumanPerson]

From what I understand, charging to 100% is ok as long as you use the battery right away and don't let it sit at 100% for long. I'd like to know that I can use 100% down to 20% to get the maximum mileage out of my battery. 90% down to 20% seems extra cautious just to get a few more charge cycles out of a battery.

To each, their own.

We each do things a bit differently...hopefully others will chime in here to enlighten others

 

[m@Robertson]

From what I understand, charging to 100% is ok as long as you use the battery right away and don't let it sit at 100% for long. I'd like to know that I can use 100% down to 20% to get the maximum mileage out of my battery. 90% down to 20% seems extra cautious just to get a few more charge cycles out of a battery.

As @HumanPerson noted, everyone does things differently. The science on this is pretty much settled: Charging to 80% increases pack life by a wider than 20% margin. In other words, you aren't just getting a 20% increase in life by foregoing 20% of the charge (the battery will actually last longer; the 800 cycle count is not set in stone, so to speak).

Below is a very commonly reproduced graphic whose origin is Grin Technologies. Its simple and straightforward in terms of giving you a ballpark of the typical numbers.

The 100%-and-use-it-immediately reasoning is sound. The reason for this is the damage that occurs from a 100% charge takes place as the battery sits at that State Of Charge. Its still not good to have it touch 100%, but its not a big deal so long as you ride the bike immediately and draw down that charge.

Here's an article whose title is self explanatory. Note how old it is. Like I said above... Settled science. None of this is new info but there are plenty of one-trick knuckleheads on the internet who will pipe up and tell you how they charge to 100% and leave the pack sitting like that for weeks and them thar scientists are all full o' hooie. Listen to the people who know wtf they are talking about instead.

How to make a lithium battery last, or…kill it, if you like.

We have written in the past about tips that will help your expensive lithium battery pack last as long as possible. This article will cover some additional information about what happens inside the…

www.electricbike.com

The above is a rather technical article. Skip to the conclusion section for the TL/DR version.

The 20% at the bottom end is not extra cautious. Its extra-generous. Really the battery is going to be happiest at about 40%. This is called Depth of Discharge and it is every bit as bad for the cells as a 100% SOC. The reason you don't hear so much about it is its tough enough to get the layman to accept and follow an 80% regimen. Telling someone that the battery is best kept in a narrower range is a bridge too far for the general consumer to wrap their heads around and accept.

The way you navigate thru this is always buy a bigger battery than you need and go a step further and make it bigger than you think you will ever need. At that point, if your battery is say double the size needed for you to do your stuff, then more limited percentage-use range is easy. FYI I am over 2500 cycles on an XL 52v pack that I bought in 2015. It was charged twice daily, once at home and once at work so I didn't have to drain it down hard and could live with a lower SOC when I pulled it off the charger.

Here's one place where DoD *is* discussed.

BU-808: How to Prolong Lithium-based Batteries

BU meta description needed...

batteryuniversity.com

Once you know all this: Then what?

The answer is ride the bike and, if you need to, charge the crap out of it so you can ride the bike the way you want to.

Use the above info to know more about wtf you are doing. When you can, when it doesn't impact your enjoyment of the bike, treat that expensive battery right. When you buy another one someday, buy it smarter than you did the first time around knowing more about the subject than you did before.

 

[neutron]

M@Robertson, thanks for your insite on this topic. I trust what you have to say regarding ebikes based on what you have shared over the last year that I have paid attention to this forum. As far as charging the crap out of the battery I only do that immediately before riding and I don't think I've ever let it go below 40%. I think riding the bike the way I want to is the key for me. If I have to buy a new battery a little sooner than if I had followed a strict regiment of keeping it between 20% and 80%, so be it. I've got 1500 miles on my bike in almost one year, and my battery will still charge to 54.6 volts if I let it charge until the light on the charger turns green. I did that yesterday morning and then immediately rode it for 30 miles. I rode another 11 miles today so 41 miles on this charge. Measured voltage now is 47.3 so about 53% left. Last summer I got 70 miles out of one charge and the voltage measured 45.6 so 42% left. That's good for me because I'm riding a 62lb? (KBO Breeze) bike and I weigh 200lbs. I ride mostly flat rails to trails and I'm 73 years old. I'm really happy with my ebike and glad I discovered ebikes riding.

 

[HumanPerson]

M@Robertson, thanks for your insite on this topic. I trust what you have to say regarding ebikes based on what you have shared over the last year that I have paid attention to this forum. As far as charging the crap out of the battery I only do that immediately before riding and I don't think I've ever let it go below 40%. I think riding the bike the way I want to is the key for me. If I have to buy a new battery a little sooner than if I had followed a strict regiment of keeping it between 20% and 80%, so be it. I've got 1500 miles on my bike in almost one year, and my battery will still charge to 54.6 volts if I let it charge until the light on the charger turns green. I did that yesterday morning and then immediately rode it for 30 miles. I rode another 11 miles today so 41 miles on this charge. Measured voltage now is 47.3 so about 53% left. Last summer I got 70 miles out of one charge and the voltage measured 45.6 so 42% left. That's good for me because I'm riding a 62lb? (KBO Breeze) bike and I weigh 200lbs. I ride mostly flat rails to trails and I'm 73 years old. I'm really happy with my ebike and glad I discovered ebikes riding.

Sounds good now quit talkin about it and get out there and RIDE!!
Just messin with ya, those are good numbers and as long as you're happy, that's all that matters