00:06Looking after your battery should be one of your main priorities because it does have the ability
00:10to degrade over time but to what extent can be determined by how you treat it. So here are my
00:15top tips to ensure that it lasts for as long as possible. First up, if you've got a lithium-ion
00:20battery, which most e-bikes do, then don't allow your battery to get all the way to zero. You do
00:25have what's called a BMS or battery management system. Now that's there to ensure that the
00:30battery never actually gets to zero and it will cut the charge off to make sure that there's a little
00:34bit of residual power in there. Should you ever actually get to zero then the cells will never
00:40recharge again and it will be absolutely toast. So the best practice is to ensure you never let your
00:46battery get near that level and to charge it regularly. A question that often comes up is
00:51will I damage my battery if I charge it up to 100%? Well no you won't but you may
00:56get fewer
00:56charge cycles. Now a charge cycle is a full discharge and recharge. A normal e-bike battery
01:02would be expected to get between 800 to 1000 charge cycles. If you charge to 100% all the time
01:09then you
01:10may be looking towards the lower side of that bracket. If however you charge to 90% you could
01:15be looking towards the higher side of that bracket. The trade-off is though that you might be left with
01:20slightly less range to use when you're out riding. The good thing is though that the BMS will ensure
01:25that when you get to 100% it will cut off the charge and protect the battery so it is
01:29very hard to do
01:30long-term damage. Balancing a battery is some pretty nerdy e-bike knowledge but bear with me here. As we
01:36already know the BMS will protect the battery so that the level won't get so low that it damages itself
01:42and it will also mean that when we get to 100% it will also cut off the charge. However
01:48if you don't
01:49charge the battery to 100% on occasion then it won't have a chance to balance itself and this means
01:54that the overall range of the battery will slowly decrease over time. So if you do want to maximize
02:00the number of charge cycles you get by charging to 90% do ensure that on occasion you charge to
02:05100%
02:06to allow the battery to balance itself so that you ensure that you maintain the amount of range that
02:11the battery is capable of delivering. This may mean that you have to closely monitor the battery level
02:16whilst charging which for some may just not be practical at all. Come winter time when perhaps
02:22you've stayed with the pony but you want to ensure that you're still looking after it properly there
02:25are a couple of things you can do to make sure it doesn't damage itself. So if you're planning on
02:30leaving your bike stationary for anywhere up to a month it's absolutely fine to leave at 100%.
02:35If you're going to be storing it for over a month and longer then I'd recommend leaving it at 70
02:40%
02:40and also dismounting the battery from the bike and leaving it at an ambient room temperature.
02:46Some manufacturers recommend charging every six months to ensure good battery health if you're
02:51really putting it into some long-term storage. It should go without saying but definitely don't
02:56leave it without any battery at all. Like I've previously mentioned if the battery then dips below
03:01that safe level it will be completely toast and it will not charge up again so do not store it
03:06close to empty.
03:08Continuing along the vein of storage if you're able to leave your bike or just the battery at an
03:13ambient room temperature then this is definitely a really good thing to do. If a battery is left out
03:18in the cold then it will lose its charge and the range will also drop considerably. If you regularly
03:23ride in freezing conditions then I would recommend investing in an insulating thermal jacket to keep
03:28the battery at an optimal operating temperature. Now you can find a link to one of these down in the
03:33description down below. So there we have it those are my top tips for looking after your electric bike
03:38and hopefully making it last for as long as possible. Ultimately a battery is an exhaustible
03:43item and over time it will degrade so if your range has dropped so far below what it was when
03:48you got it
03:48from you it may be that it needs replacement. With my tips though you can make sure that it will
03:54last
03:54for as long as possible. If you have any of your own tips that you think are worthwhile sharing then
03:59drop
03:59them down in the comments. If you enjoyed the video drop it a like, subscribe to the channel
04:02for more content and I will see you again very soon!
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