What is an e-bike?

An electric bicycle (e-bike) is a motor-powered bicycle with a combined electric motor that helps to drive. Several kinds of e-bikes are available all over the world but, in general, divided into two broad categories:

• E-bikes with a hub motor
• E-bikes with mid-motor

Both hang on to the capability of the rider to pedal, so therefore, not e-bikes are not electric motorcycles.

Everything you need to know about the bike and its battery 

E-bikes are very convenient and massively advantageous to riders.  It’s not a surprise that they are popular around the world. It is very expensive when replacing the parts of the bike. So if you want to save your money, you might as well take care of your electric bike, especially the battery. When charging a battery of an e-bike, you must be very careful, and it isn’t a very easy task. There are so many things you need to consider when using an e-bike and charging it.

How to take care of the battery of an e-bike?

Safekeeping the battery of your electric bike is not as convenient as you think. Most e-bikes have lithium batteries like your laptop/ mobile phone so that you can refill whenever you want to.

What is the battery life of an electric bike?

The battery of an e-bike is warranted for two years, but that doesn’t mean it won’t remain any longer. Typically a battery of an e-bike would last around 2 to 4 years, to 50000charge cycles.

Can to clean the battery of an e-bike?

Yes, you can. You can clean your battery when you’re cleaning the bike, but you should be careful not to immerse it in water. You should use a washer without much water pressure. Or you can clean it using a soft cloth, especially when you’re cleaning the electrical contacts and the frame of the battery. If you cycle in conditions such as wintery, salty, and wet, the contacts should be wiped with a small amount of grease. So the battery won’t corrode at all.

Can I Leave the battery on my e-bike On Charge Overnight?

Let’s find out,

Just imagine you ride your way home after a tiresome day and put the bike for charging in your garage. While you’re resting, you have no energy to be back and unplug your bike. But you’re also worried about whether it is a safe step to keep your bike plugged into the charger overnight.  You’d be glad to hear that it can charge the battery overnight safely. But charging all through the night is only unharmed if you’re cautiously taking good care of your charger and battery. And also, it depends on the modernity of your bike.

Brands with good reputations, such as Yamaha Shimano, giant, and Bosch, offer a management system for the battery of the e-bike. It prevents the battery from getting surcharged, which would damage the lifespan of the battery. So if your bike is missing this feature, our bike shouldn’t be kept charging overnight. If you have a lithium-ion battery in your bike, it could overheat and flare up to flames. It can also start a dreadful fire even. So it’s more appropriate not to charge your lithium-ion-based battery charge overnight.

Can I Overcharge the battery of an e-Bike?

The answer can be yes as well as no.  It depends on several factors, specifically the model of your bike. You can charge an older bike because they don’t have the new advanced technology to finish charging automatically. If you have a new model, you don’t have to dwell on overcharging because it automatically stops when it reaches 100%. But there’s another problem that arises even if it stops charging automatically if you don’t disconnect the plug after it’s fully charged. The battery will start to depreciate after some time, even when you’re not using it.

How Can Overcharging affect the battery of an E-Bike?

When you overcharge your e-bike battery, you’ll be reducing the battery life and overhearing the batteries. Overheating a battery could damage its lifespan. And that will be beyond repair, so you won’t have any option either but to replace it.

If you use the latest e-bike, you’re faintly safer because of the advanced charging option. This option avoids over overheating and overcharging. So as mentioned, overcharging can steadily and slowly affect the battery’s lifespan.

What should you do when charging An E-Bike?

• Should fully charge your e-bike before the initial ride

When you buy a new e-bike for the first time, you must charge the battery before riding it. Or else charge your bike for around 12 hours till it is 100%. If you want to maintain the health of your e-bike battery so you can use it for a long time

• Should charge the battery of your bike to 85%

Overcharging can have an effect on the battery’s performance. Also, retaining the battery to full charge (100%) all the time isn’t very ideal either. Regardless you have an older/modern model, and you should charge the battery too (80% to 90%) to keep healthy battery life.

• Should use the right charger 

It is a must to charge the e-bike from the charger you gain along with it when buying it. The charger they give has the same voltage ad amps as the battery of your bike requires. That makes sure the bike is charged safely without any harm to the battery.

You generally gain the charger along with the bike, or else if you don’t, you should check the voltage and amps when buying a charger.

As an example;

If your bike has a 48volts with five amps battery, you shouldn’t join it to a charger with 36volts with 2amps.

• Should turn the motor and battery off

When plugging your bike, you should turn off the motor’s power. That makes sure it charges quickly and lasts longer. It even helps to keep up your battery’s lifespan.

If you have a portable battery for your bike, you should separate the bike before turning on the charger. If you don’t have a movable battery, you should power it off when plugging on the refilling station.

• Should fully charge only before long rides

You can keep your bike charged around 85% to 100% occasionally, so it doesn’t get hurt. If you planned a long ride for the next day, it’s a must to charge your bike completely until 100%. Because you wouldn’t want to pamper your long ride if the battery is dead halfway through the ride. It would take some time to refill the battery. Therefore you can make sure you have a smooth ride when you charge your e-bike up to 100%. So you should install a power bar or a smart plus on your mobile phone to control charging.

You can install the app to set up a timer and remove the charger after it reaches the essential charging time.

• Should consider the temperature around the battery

Charging an e-bike during critical climatic changes can cause trouble to the performance and the useful life of the battery. That’s one of the reasons why overheating diminishes the lifespan of the battery immediately. So you should always check and keep the temperature of the battery stable when you’re charging it and using the bike.

E-bikes charges and works the best at average temperatures. It is a reason why you should retain the battery somewhere that it is not too freezing or hot. For example, when you charge your battery, the temperature should be around 50 -70 °F

What you should not do when charging an e-bike

• Shouldn’t store Empty Batteries

Someday you might not want to use your bike when it’s too hot or cold outside when you’re busy with work and don’t have the good mood for a ride. It’s fine if you’re not using your bike regularly.  So you can remove the battery and keep it somewhere safe in a room with a suitable temperature after charging it partly. You don’t have to charge the battery of your bike to 80%, and you can charge between 40 and 60. Storing a discharged, empty battery and keeping it unchanged for a while can damage the performance of the battery.

• Shouldn’t overcharge the E-bike on a daily basis

If you overcharge your bike once mistakenly won’t damage the battery. But if you keep overcharging the battery continuously, it can be enormous damage because overcharging can reduce the capacity and the performance of the battery. Even if you have modern bikes, you shouldn’t charge the batteries to 100%.  Instead, you can plug them off immediately after the completion.

• Shouldn’t let the E-bike not be charged on a time

The lithium-ion batteries are famed for their broad battery life. They work even better when you charge them every day in a regular charging pattern. When you use the bike, you should never allow the battery dead to 0%.  You should make sure your battery life is about 30% to 70% nevertheless you’re not riding it. 30% of the battery is the marginal percent, so it’s good if you plug the e-bike sooner when you see it is 34 or 33. It’s best not to use the e-bike when it’s only 21% to 26% charged to protect the battery’s lifespan and performance. 

Facts that need to be considered before taking your electric bike for a ride

• Checking the tire pressures: the tire pressure should be between the minimum and maximum value that is written on the tire sidewall.
• Checking the brakes

1. Rim brake pads; should have noticeable channels in them for the water to escape or else they would need to be replaced.
2. Disc brake pads should have 1milimetre of friction material that lasts before it needs to be replaced.

• Checking battery: Check the charge level indicator and battery amount before you go out for a ride 
• Check your chain: You should always keep your chain well-oiled and cleaned; if the surface starts to rust, you should oil it and clean it before the ride.
• Check your bolts: you should check Handlebars, brakes, pedals, crank arms, stems, levers, and shifters. If you ride for too long, you should check if your bolts are vibrating loose or not.

The benefits/advantages of using an e-bike

• Improves physical health of the riders

So many people think that the e-bike is electric and very easy to ride.  A study performed by Brigham young university was published in a journal (Journal of Medical Internet Research) about bikes. It says that people who ride bikes experience a similar experience as people who ride mountain bikes. But without the feeling of a difficult workout because even if it has the pedal assist, riders should pedal. Pedaling burns calories which is similar to a good workout session. It is one of the best cardiovascular workouts which helps in building muscles and endurance.

• Very convenient to ride

It is very easier to use an e-bike because the pedal assist gives a boost to the riders. You can smoothly ride inclined hills and tough countryside that reduces the stress on the joints of your legs. Also, you can ride the bike with a greater speed and power than the normal bicycle. It is very beneficial for riders with physical pains as they can ride longer without any physical weariness.

• Better for the mental health of the riders

E-bikes are popular among people. After all, it makes cycling more fun and accessible because it’s easier and does the same workout without much effort. For the people who do their jobs desk, bounded cycling is very good as it gets them moving. They will be able to enjoy nature which is very good for one’s mental health. The sceneries, exercise, and fresh air help to reduce stress and improve sleep patterns and mood, which increases productivity.

• It can be used as an alternative to cars.

E-bikes are a better mode of transportation if you’re working a few miles away or for short journeys. It is labeled as a bike in so many cities, so you can ride on bike lanes, across parks, and on sidewalks. So it can be used as an alternative to cars to travel to the places you want. It is much easier than cars because cars get stuck in traffic. When people ride their bikes instead of driving their cars, it decreases pollution and increases air quality.

• Very much faster and safer than regular bikes 

Most normal bikes travel 10 to 12mph, but e-bikes travel around 20moh. It is much faster than a regular bike. Also, e-bikes are less dangerous compared to regular bikes. It is much safer to ride an e-bike because you can accelerate faster to get out of the way. You can also travel at higher speeds to reach your destination in time than using a normal bike.