# How long would you expect a new ebike to last?



## Alongo (31 Oct 2019)

How good are the motors , a lot of them are on to third and fourth generations now , so technology is proven. I know it’s a bit of a “ how long is a piece of string “ question , but , if you were spending £2500 on a new ebike, how long would you expect/hope it would last.


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## fossyant (31 Oct 2019)

Don't know, but I know a few E-MTB riders that have had motor issues, fortunately whilst still under warranty.


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## CXRAndy (31 Oct 2019)

Id expect many years of use, especially from the big motor mamanufacturers bosch, Yamaha, etc.

Even the retrofit motor makes like Tongscheng and Bafang have good reputations with spares a plenty.

If you look after the battery, dont fully charge too often, or drain to zero then 5+yrs should be easily achieved.

I went with retrofit route, partly because I was keen to see how well they performed.


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## ColinJ (31 Oct 2019)

I think the motors should last a lot longer than the batteries! The batteries are expensive, so they are _potentially _(forgive pun!) an issue...


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## ebikeerwidnes (31 Oct 2019)

I have just sold my first ebike - I got it in 2010 and it was, I was told, 14 months old when I got it

so basically it was 10 years old and still going strong

When I sold it it had 2 batteries - the original, which had recovered a bit after having 'rested' after I bought a new battery about 5 years ago - the new one did a lot more miles and then was recelled

The ebike itself was just fine - some scratches and some surface rust on the front forks - the guy who bought it should get a lot more life out of it if he looks after it


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## Pale Rider (31 Oct 2019)

For £2,500 you would get an ebike with bike bits worth about £1,000.

Those components could be kept functional indefinitely with some maintenance and replacement.

I have a near 10-year-old Bosch ebike on which the motor is still running sweetly.

The original battery still holds a good charge, although I've not done a range test recently.

Batteries are like people, they will last well if looked after, but the passage of time will kill them eventually.

It appears the better quality ebike batteries are lasting at least as long as the makers say they should, and in a lot of cases longer.

Availability of spares is a consideration in keeping any ebike going.

There is currently two Chinese ebikes in the basement of local bike shop awaiting repair.

No spares are available, so it's a question of whether the owners want to spend about £700 for the shop to effectively replace the system.

I've had fair, but not faultless, service from my Bosch bits.

One thing in their favour is they promise to provide spares for at least seven years from the date the component drops out of their catalogue.

Spare parts should be available for a long time - at a price.


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## Smudge (1 Nov 2019)

I've just removed the ekit that i fitted to a bike 6 yrs ago. But as it was a kit, the bike was able to be turned back into a normal bike easily.
I removed it mainly because the battery wasn't getting good range anymore, but i consider 6 yrs not a bad life for the batt, considering how much use it had given and tbf it still had life left in it. It was also only a 9pmp/hr, the smaller the batt the more charge cycles it will get over time. The 8fun hub motor was still working as good as when it was new, but it was always pretty underpowered at only 35nm, so that was another consideration in removing the whole system. Never had any mechanical or electrical faults in the six years. The only real wear i noticed was on the rims of the font wheel the hub motor was laced into, obviously wear from brakes. But it was never a good quality wheel that the motor came laced with. 
My current ebike, a ready built Raleigh Pioneer E, is two years old and everything still works as good as the day i bought it. 11amp/hr batt and TranzX front hub motor. Obviously yet to see how long this lasts, but i've no reason so far not to expect many years of service from this bike and the motor has decent torque, so i would be happy to buy a new batt for this bike when the time comes. Again front rim wear from the brakes could be an issue in the future. I think disc brakes are the way to go for ebikes.
Just ordered a Boardman HYB 8.9 E, a much higher quality bike this time, but yet to see how this German Fazua crank drive E system pans out for reliability and durability. 

I still think ebikes are overpriced for what they are. As a rule of thumb, i always imagine what the bike would cost as an unassisted bike and add 400 to 500 £ for a hub drive system and 600 to 700 £ for a crank drive system. From this i try to ascertain if an ebike is worth buying for me. Using this equation, it usually means an ebike has to be discounted for me to consider buying it.
For value for money, you cant beat fitting an ekit to a bike of your choice. Its easy to change parts of the e system and the ebike can easily be changed back into a normal unassisted bike. But an ekit rarely looks as good, or is as integrated as a ready built complete ebike. 

From being into ebikes myself and knowing people with ebikes that have lasted around 10 years, i've come to the conclusion that ebikes are generally pretty reliable if you steer clear of the cheap & nasty stuff, with only battery replacement as the main ongoing cost of a significant amount.


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## Alongo (1 Nov 2019)

How about if they are not used regularly, is there an ideal way to care for the battery if use is not too regular .


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## Drzdave58 (1 Nov 2019)

If I wasn’t using my Battery much I would try and keep it in a area where the temperature is consistently at average room temperature...I’m on my third year using a bafang BBSO2 kit with almost 4000km on it...the battery still charges fully with good range...I have however put a new controller on the mid drive motor which works great..


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## Pale Rider (1 Nov 2019)

Alongo said:


> How about if they are not used regularly, is there an ideal way to care for the battery if use is not too regular .



Batteries are best stored part-charged indoors.

To complicate things, some have a 'sleep' mode that kicks in automatically.

This means the user might have to do something to wake up the battery after storage, such as press the on/off button for 30 seconds.

No battery likes to be stored unused for a protracted length of time.


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## Nebulous (24 Nov 2019)

My Wife got a cheap e-bike (an Ebco ucl-20) in early summer 2016. It is still going well and gets fairly steady use. The battery works fine, but we had a trip on a very cold day where it ran out before we got back. A second slightly bigger battery cost over £400 - from memory the bike was only about £650. Having a spare in the pannier has greatly increased our range, and reduced her anxiety.


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