Look after your battery and your battery will look after you.

If you’re already an eBike rider of any experience, you’ll know that one of the two most important components of your bike is the battery.

Without it you haven’t got an eBike; you’ve got a heavy bike. How long your battery lasts is all important for your cycling adventures no matter who made it.

The thing we see, as eBike specialists, is batteries that suffer through poor handling. A basic understanding of a few simple tips will help you to look after your battery, so your battery will look after you.

Here are three tips from the experts.

Store it according to the conditions. When the weather gets cold, lithium ion batteries can lose up to 30% of their efficiency. When they are cold, they consume their own energy to get up to working temperature. This is, effectively, a reduction in your range.

Avoid this by keeping your battery in the house and not in the garage or shed. The ambient temperature of your living space is enough to raise the battery core temperature. It also helps when charging your battery. Charging a cold battery takes longer than a warm one.

This might be the No:1 thing to avoid. If storing your battery for the winter don’t charge it first. Batteries that are stored at full charge and left in the cold will deteriorate more quickly.

Manufacturer advice is to deplete your charge to between 20% and 40% (one to two bars) and take it off your bike to keep indoors. This is the best long term storage state.

When we say, store it indoors, we don’t mean in the airing cupboard. Too much heat, for too long can also be detrimental to a battery so leave it somewhere like in the hall or utility. That’s enough.

Lastly, batteries are made to withstand knocks and tumbles but it’s always a good idea to handle a battery confidently. If you drop a battery onto a hard surface, there is a chance that a cell will be damaged. One damaged cell will render the battery broken so it is worth being careful.

And that’s the basics covered in three steps.

Ride safe

Tristan Allen
Fully Charged Silverstone