00:05Looking after your battery should be one of your main priorities because it does have the ability
00:09to 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
00:19battery, 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 battery
00:30never actually gets to zero and it will cut the charge off to make sure that there's a little bit
00:34of residual power in there. Should you ever actually get to zero, then the cells will never recharge again
00:41and it will be absolutely toast. So the best practice is to ensure you never let your battery
00:46get near that level and to charge it regularly. A question that often comes up is, will I damage my
00:51battery if I charge it up to 100%? Well, no, you won't, but you may get fewer charge cycles.
00:57Now,
00:57a charge cycle is a full discharge and recharge. A normal e-bike battery would be expected to get
01:03between 800 to 1000 charge cycles. If you charge to 100% all the time, then you may be looking
01:10towards
01:10the lower side of that bracket. If, however, you charge to 90%, you could be looking towards the
01:16higher side of that bracket. The trade-off is though that you might be left with slightly less range to
01:21use when you're out riding. The good thing is though that the BMS will ensure that when you get
01:25to 100%, it will cut off the charge and protect the battery. So it is very hard to do long
01:30-term damage.
01:31Balancing a battery is some pretty nerdy e-bike knowledge, but bear with me here. As we already
01:36know, 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, if
01:48you don't
01:48charge the battery to 100% on occasion, then it won't have a chance to balance itself. And this
01:53means that the overall range of the battery will slowly decrease over time. So if you do want to
01:59maximize the number of charge cycles you get by charging to 90%, do ensure that on occasion you
02:04charge to 100% to allow the battery to balance itself so that you ensure that you maintain the
02:10amount of range that the battery is capable of delivering. This may mean that you have to closely
02:14monitor the battery level whilst charging, which for some may just not be practical at all.
02:20Come winter time when perhaps you've stayed with the pony, but you want to ensure that you're still
02:24looking after it properly, there are a couple of things you can do to make sure it doesn't damage
02:28itself. So if you're planning on leaving your bike stationary for anywhere up to a month, it's
02:32absolutely fine to leave at 100%. If you're going to be storing it for over a month and longer,
02:38then I'd recommend leaving it at 70% and also dismounting the battery from the bike and leaving it at
02:44an
02:44ambient room temperature. Some manufacturers recommend charging every six months to ensure
02:50good battery health if you're really putting it into some long-term storage. It should go without
02:54saying, but definitely don't leave it without any battery at all. Like I've previously mentioned,
02:59if the battery then dips below that safe level, it will be completely toast and it will not charge up
03:04again. So do not store it close to empty. Continuing along the vein of storage, if you're able to leave
03:11your
03:11bike or just the battery at an ambient room temperature, then this is definitely a really
03:16good thing to do. If a battery is left out in the cold, then it will lose its charge and
03:20the range
03:20would also drop considerably. If you regularly ride in freezing conditions, then I would recommend
03:25investing in an insulating thermal jacket to keep the battery at an optimal operating temperature.
03:30Now you can find a link to one of these down in the description down below. So there we have
03:35it.
03:35Those are my top tips for looking after your electric bike and hopefully making it last for as long as
03:40possible. Ultimately, a battery is an exhaustible item and over time it will degrade. So if your range
03:46has dropped so far below what it was when you got it from you, it may be that it needs
03:50replacement.
03:51With my tips though, you can make sure that it will last for as long as possible.
03:55If you have any of your own tips that you think are worthwhile sharing, then drop them down in the
03:59comments. If you enjoyed the video, drop it a like, subscribe to the channel for more content and
04:03I will see you again very soon.
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