Tyler and I live up in Seattle and keep our e-bikes in our unfinished and very much uninsulated garage. One of the things we love about Seattle, since leaving the Bay Area, is that it actually has seasons. The downside of this is that our garage becomes very cold during the winter, and gets quite warm in the summer. Seattle has had days in the 20s and in the 100s since we moved here. This is…not good for the longevity of the batteries on our e-bikes. Most e-bike batteries will last for 2-4 years (depending on how often you use it) before you start noticing a decline in how long they hold a charge. There are things you can do to prolong this time period and extend the battery life.
In this post, I cover how we adjusted our battery storage to increase batter longevity, best practices for charging, and why to consider a dual-battery approach.
Where should I store my e-bike battery?
The best practice for e-bike battery storage is to keep the battery in a temperate and dry location. That said, where you store it really doesn’t make a difference to the battery longevity except for very extreme temperatures. For our e-bikes, this has meant that we keep our e-bike batteries in our garage, except in the especially cold or especially hot months when we take them into our house.
When we take our e-bikes out in the rain to run errands or do daycare drop-off, we just park the e-bike outside and keep the battery on it. It doesn’t impact the battery-life longevity to keep it in a wet or extreme climate for such a short period of time. If you live in a moderate climate, it’s perfectly fine to store your e-bike battery in a garage or quasi-outdoor (ideally covered) space, even in the winter or summer months.
Where should I charge my e-bike battery?
While we do store our e-bikes and e-bike batteries in our garage for most of the year, except the more extreme-weather months, we try to charge our e-bike batteries in our house (versus our garage) most of the time. You tend to get a better charge (wears on the battery less) when you charge your e-bike battery in a temperate environment. Meaning, if you’re able to charge your e-bike battery in a temperate environment, it will help the longevity of the battery.
How often should I charge my e-bike battery?
To ensure the longevity of your e-bike battery, it is highly recommended to avoid running it down below 20% and to proactively charge it before reaching that threshold. Additionally, charging your e-bike battery regularly instead of waiting for it to completely drain can greatly extend its lifespan, allowing you to enjoy your e-bike for longer periods of time without worrying about battery degradation. It’s important to remember that consistent charging habits are key to maximizing the lifespan of your e-bike battery, so make sure to prioritize charging your battery even if it hasn’t been fully depleted.
How does a dual-battery system work and why should I consider it?
One thing that truly does extend the life of your e-bike battery is to have multiple batteries that you use on your e-bike at once. This is called a dual-battery system, and the benefits are both convenience and battery longevity. How it works is that you use a Dual Battery Discharge Balancer that is connected to both batteries affixed to your e-bike. This balancer manages the battery power and ensures that you draw down evenly between them, rather than draining one completely first. This is obviously convenient because it means you have to charge less frequently and therefore it extends your mileage capacity, but it also extends the life of the batteries because you don’t run down either of the battery as often.
