For the longevity of your ebike battery it is really important that you take care of it.

 Battery Care

• Avoid hot temperatures. Lithium batteries do not like heat so keep the out of the sun and direct sunlight on hot days. Keep away from heat sources such as radiators or fires. Keep extreme heat to a minimum this will help prolong the life of your battery.
• Try to avoid excessively cold temperatures when possible and ideally charge the battery at room temperature. It is important to acclimatise the battery before charging as quick changes in temperature are not good for it.
• If leaving the battery for long periods of time. Such as storing over winter, try to leave it 40% – 50% charged as high cell voltage for long periods also contributes hugely to reduce battery life.
• Do not fully discharge the battery whenever possible and do more little charges between uses. (Larger discharges shorten the cycle count because it puts stress on the battery). However please periodically run a full discharge and full recharge every 3-6 months to keep the battery cells balanced.

Charging Overview

• When charging the battery it is important to charge it correctly by using the charger that comes with it. It is specifically designed for the battery. Using an incorrect charger can not only invalidate your warranty by causing irreversible damage to the cells but it can also potentially cause the battery to catch fire or explode. Please note that even if 2 chargers look alike, they may be very different.
• Choose where to charge. Charge on a dry, flat, non-flammable surface. Do not charge on soft surfaces, close to flammable materials or near hazardous substances. An additional precaution is also to avoid charging batteries in hallways, near doors or blocking escape routes.
• Charge your battery at least once every 4 – 6 weeks whether you are using it or not. This will help stop the battery from going it to a sleep state (Not working) and needing special expertise and equipment to revive. (Allowing this to happen could also affect your warranty)
• Avoid overcharging. It is important to disconnect the battery and unplug the charger once the battery is charged.

Battery Life

One of the most frequently asked questions is how long will my battery last before it dies and will need replacing?

Battery lifespan

All battery cells are different it is very difficult to offer a conclusive answer as each battery will vary slightly, in general we say about 2-3years before it starts to drop capacity and as a guide we suggest that you should budget to replace your battery within 3-5 years.

The above statement is often met with a cough and a splutter from customers, especially when the replacement cost of a new battery is raised. We simply just give you, the customer, all the facts so you can budget against a new battery in that period. In reality your battery can, and could quite easily, last a lot longer providing it is cared for in the proper way and by following these guidelines in this booklet it will go a long way in helping you do that.

Battery deterioration

Unfortunately, all batteries deteriorate over time, and this is no different with your Ebike lithium battery.

It is a use it or lose it mentality: Your battery will decrease in its capacity whether it is used or not. This basically means you will get less and less miles per charge as your battery gets older. So make sure you use it as much as you can.

Charge cycles

Batteries can also be judged by how many charge cycles they can do before they die or drop capacity (80% or less). With lithium batteries 1 single battery charge cycle is made when the battery is charged fully then discharged fully. This can also be made up of lots of little charges. For example, if you discharge the battery by 10% and then recharge it, this is simply 10% of a single charge cycle. So you will need 10 similar discharges and charges to make up 1 single charge cycle. Ebike batteries tend to be specified from 500 – 1000 charge cycles per lifetime or before replacement is needed.

Maintenance tip

A top tip is to not leave your battery fully charged to 100% if you are not riding it regularly.  They do not like being left fully charged and the less you leave it standing charged the longer your battery will last.

Long Discharges

Your battery can get stressed when it reaches the lower levels of the battery capacity, so it is well advised to keep your battery topped up when in every day use to prevent this from happening also with lithium batteries not suffering from degradation as a result of charging to early you can charge them at any time.

All batteries discharge slowly over time, so for example if you did not charge the battery after running it low/flat it can go in to what we call a sleep mode. This is a feature that is built in to protect the cells from over discharging. Once this happens your standard charger will no longer be able to charge your battery until it has received a specialist boost charge and in some cases will not recharge at all (resulting in a dead battery). There are measures put in place to prevent the battery from over discharging in every day use, for instance your bike will no longer power even when there is still some charge left in the battery….in other words it stops powering before being flat, thus to give you time to get it on charge. ( Tip: always charge straight after a long bike ride).

Charging Detail

Like most batteries there is a positive and a negative electrode. Each has it’s own job to do but with lithium batteries each also contributes to the degradation of the life of the battery. See below for the explanation and to help you understand how and why each work differently.

Negative electrode: –

During charge, lithium inside the battery gravitates towards the graphite anode (negative electrode) and the voltage potential changes.

Removing the lithium again during discharge does not reset the battery fully.

A thin film consisting of lithium atoms forms on the surface of the anode called solid electrolyte interface (SEI). This is composed of lithium oxide and lithium carbonate. As the SEI layer grows as the battery cycles (is charged and then discharged). The film gets thicker and eventually forms a barrier that obstructs interaction with graphite causing the battery to be no longer useable (you can reduce this by shortening the discharge and charge times). In layman’s terms do shorter discharges and charges rather than discharging fully then recharging fully. This will help prolong the life of your battery.

Positive electrode: +

The cathode (positive electrode) develops a similar restrictive layer known as electrolyte oxidation. Dr. Dahn stresses that a voltage above 4.10V/cell at high heat causes this. A demise that can be more harmful than cycling. In layman’s terms charging your battery using the wrong charger, or basically over charging the battery causes this!

It is very important to always use the charger provided from manufacturer to prevent this from happening. The longer the battery stays in this condition, the worse the degradation gets. The build-up can result in a sudden capacity loss or simply less miles per charge. Or even a dead battery. Try whenever possible to take the battery off charge when it is finished.

Replacement Batteries

If you have any questions, we can offer advice and also replacement batteries for sale depending on individual circumstances. If you have any queries please contact us.

Please note: when replacing batteries it is important to purchase manufacturer recommended batteries which have safety certification for the product. Purchasing and using non-compatible or non-certified batteries could present a fire risk.

Battery Disposal

Batteries can be recycled at your local recycling center. It is a good idea when disposing of a lithium battery to check local scheme requirements. Alternatively, RooDog can accept old batteries and dispose of them.