Will you leave an electric bike exposed to the sun?

   Most people love summer vacation as it has many activities and fun included. A summer spent without cycling and swimming is not a well-spent summer.

   When the sun is blazing high in the sky, lapping in the water or cruising in the cycle are the best ways we spend our summers. Love for bicycles has never left us, and it is not hard to retrieve cycling skills. Even if you have spent years without as much as touching a bike, you can easily brush up on cycling in a day or two.

   The emergence of the electric bike made cycling more enjoyable with many of its traits. From young to old, everyone can enjoy a ride in one. It also assists people with special conditions like; arthritis, heart diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc. to experience cycling. 

   There are many features in ebike that we cannot see in traditional bikes and traits that make ebike stand out. A few of them are:

Pedal-assist –Cycling is all about pedaling, requiring more effort from us. How fast your bicycle moves forward depends on your stamina and the force you exert on the pedal. It may tire you up too fast. With the pedal assist in an electric bike, you can pedal with less effort and still move more quickly without exhausting yourself. 

You can adjust the pedal help according to the pressure you want to exert into pedaling. This feature in electric bikes makes you enjoy your ride with less tension in your legs and joints. 

• Motor, controller, and battery

Including a motor, controller, and battery differentiates the traditional bike from an electric bike. They are the components that make the cycle an electric device.

The motor using the power from the battery propels the electric bike and supplies the energy yielded from the battery to all the electrical parts of the ebike. 

The controller is the main component that transfers electric energy from the battery to the motor as the current energy. It limits the flow of energy discharging from the battery to the engine. 

The battery of an electric bike supplies the energy required by the motor to propel the bike. It is one of the primary parts of an electric bike. You can have the engine and the controller, but without the battery, they don’t work. It is a battery that gives life to an electric bike.

These parts are what distinguish electric bikes from traditional bikes. Traditional bikes only take the energy from the rider and transfer it into the cycle to push forward. 

• Speed

The force of exertion on the rider’s pedal determines the speed of the traditional bike. This speed is meager when compared to the speed of the electric bike. 

Electric bikes can speed up to 20-28 mph, depending on the electric bike’s class, using the motor’s assistance. 

When commuting, a person touring on an electric bike will reach the destination faster and less tiring than traveling on a traditional bicycle. It encourages people to use electric bikes more often than conventional bikes. 

• Better physical activity

Cycling is not only fun but an exercise for your body. It increases your metabolism and endurance while making you stronger. With an electric bike, you can attain better results faster. 

When using an electric bike for physical fitness, you can cycle without acquiring any aid from your bike. You can ease your legs when you feel tired using the pedal assist. Or you can use the pedal assist in working on your workout and covering more areas. It would let you exercise for more time, increasing your results. And research shows it has a positive impact.

People who are starting to exercise through cycling will find it encouraging. They can start with little effort from their side and increase it gradually.

• Safety 

Traditional bicycles on the road have high chances of crashing into other vehicles or street walls due to their complete control solely depending on the rider. Its speed would rise when the rider pedals faster and slow down when he pedals. But in an electric bike, you can control the bike’s speed. 

If a rider on a bicycle meets a condition where a sudden accident might occur, it might shock the rider, and he might lose his balance and control of the bike, leading him to crash into other vehicles. 

Electric bikes, on the other hand, would be easy to handle. Even though the rider controls the ebike, the motor and the controller have control of the bike. A person riding an electric bike has a low chance of crashing than one riding a traditional bicycle. 

An electric bike is better if you want to ride along a road with other vehicles. With its popularity rising, the crowd is slowly accepting it as a better means of transportation with safety.

• Better commute

We all want to commute new and fresh and reach the destination perfectly fit to work without sweat or tiredness, with a cheaper means of transportation. 

Electric bikes hand out all. They don’t need any fuel for their motor to work but electricity to charge them up, and with little to no effort, you can commute to work while looking fresh and sweat-free. Whereas if you ride your bicycle, you will come to your workplace all sweat and tired, even before the day has started, you would feel your energy drained.

• Explore new places

We go on trekking and cycling with friends and explore new places. Though the traditional bicycle limits the range of your exploring, you cannot go far as it would tire you up, and you will find that you have no energy to pedal back. But with an electric bike, you can explore new places far and wide.

You can pedal all through the way and use the motor’s assistance when getting back. You can also go on long trips with an electric bike, but take additional batteries with a full charge, and as there are lightweight batteries, one need not worry. 

An electric bike is better if you want to go on a more extended trip and explore more places with limited cash, as you do not have to buy gas for it.

• Connect your phone 

Electric bikes’ main feature is their electronics. Though there were only motors, batteries, and controllers in the initial age of the ebike, many electronic gadgets are fused into it now.

Electric bikes have LED lights on the front of the bike, which torches when the motor starts up. It makes it comfortable to travel at night. There are also electric horns that work only when the electric mode of the bike is on. And there are also LCD monitor displays that show information like; battery level, speed, level of pedal assist, and many more. These displays can connect to your smartphones and operate apps like; GPS, tracking, fitness apps, navigation, etc. 

One can store the memories, places traveled, and the route you took to journey in your electric bike.

Some bikes have USB ports, too in them.

You can modify your traditional bikes by integrating electronics available in electric bikes.

 

• Climb hills with ease

When cycling with friends or families, we go places far and high. But when going high, we walk the bicycle up there, as it requires more effort than one can give to climb steep paths. But with an electric bike, you can climb up with the motor’s assistance and reach up less tired and more energetic. 

Most electric bikes are designed for climbing hills and exploring ridges, as they replicate the bicycle’s model to build them, with extra features. 

• High and quality materials 

To assemble electric bikes, manufacturers use high-quality materials as they will last longer than traditional bikes. Also, they have to be strong enough to carry the weight of the motor and battery with the rider. 

You can find that to make electric bikes; manufacturers use rare and expensive materials that would increase the bike’s lifespan. Not only the frame of the bike but to build its battery and the motor designers use high-quality materials. It often causes the price of the bike to hike up.

• Carry loads

Traditional bikes are lightweight and easy to carry, whereas electric bikes are hefty even without their motor and battery. Though it will be exhausting to move around, it can carry loads. 

Some bikes’ design comes with a basket in the front or rear so you can carry things on the go. 

 

   Though there are numerous benefits of having an electric bike when compared with traditional bicycles, there are drawbacks too;

• Heavier than a conventional bike.
• It can be costly.
• It takes time for the battery to recharge.
• Maintenance and repair are expensive.
• Battery disposal is not environmentally friendly.
• Recycling batteries can be energy-consuming.
• Due to electric bike parts and the whole machine itself being pricey, the chances of theft are high.
• Replacing a battery is expensive.
• It can be heavy when the battery is down, and the motor stops working.
• Confusing legal laws in different regions.

 

   Designers use various types of elements to build electric bikes. They assemble in such a way you have to protect them from extreme weather as they would not be able to resist them. One should know what and how these extreme weathers affect the electric bike. 

 

Reasons you should not leave your ebike left in the sun

   Sunlight has numerous benefits, but electrical devices left in the sun for an extended period can damage the device. It goes for electric bikes too. We’ll see the disadvantages of leaving an electric bike in the sun:

• Dropping the battery capacity 

When you keep the electric bikes under the sun for too long, the chemicals in the battery react to the heat and damage the battery’s health. It might lead to losing the battery’s capacity.

If a battery’s capacity has dropped, you would not be able to travel the distance you used to travel using the electric mode of the bike.

 

• Drains battery 

If you leave the battery in the sun for too long and its heat, the battery may react and drain all its energy out. If you store your battery or bike in the sun, remember to charge the battery fully, as it will discharge itself. If the battery is empty due to heat, it might release its liquid components.

 

• Flare up the battery

Components and cells inside the battery are not fire resistant, and it has high chances of burning due to extreme heat. Batteries, like lithium-ion batteries, are not fire resistant, and they have covers that comprise heat-protecting materials, but still, they can flare up.

Try to find a shade and park your bike there. And if you are not going to use your electric bike for the day, it is advisable to keep its battery in a safe and cool place.

 

• Overheating the motor 

The motor heats up when it’s working and cooling off; it contains a cooling system. And when the engine heats up, it will automatically cool down or stop working. But when the sun’s heat reaches its extreme, the motor will heat up. And as the bike is not at the start, the engine would not be able cool itself. It will lead to the malfunctioning of the motor.

• Malfunctions of the electronics 

Electric devices contain cells and elements containing a liquid that may not bear extreme heat. When you keep them in direct sunlight, liquids might heat up, exceeding the level of heat they can resist. It means they lose their property, resulting in the device malfunctioning. It can also happen to the electric bike if kept under the sun for too long. 

• Leakage of battery

The charger’s controller controls the electric energy flow into the battery. The cells get enough energy to heat up and store the power to supply to the motor. But when it stays in sunlight for too long, it will receive more heat that would boil the liquid. And it would push the fluids out, causing leakage in the battery.

 

   Try parking elsewhere if you leave your electric bike in direct sunlight for too long. Or cover the ebike using sheets to protect it from harmful sun rays.

 

Conclusion

   Manufacturers make electric devices using water and heatproof materials. It would have many flaws that your electric devices find a way to let them in. Even if your electric bike or the battery is water and heat protection, do not store it in these extreme weathers.

   Leaving your electric bike can damage your battery, motor, and sometimes the whole system of the ebike. So if you happen to park your electric bike in a place where rays fall, try using covers. Or try to park someplace where there is shade.

   If the question, ‘can you leave your electric bikes in the sun?’, it can if it is for a short period, as it won’t affect the bike or its parts. But if you have to park there for too long, it is advised against it. Or at least cover the bike mostly where the motor is. Disconnect the battery from the bike and store the battery in a cool and dry place.