Electric Bikes - Battery Life.

[simongt]

As we all know, a rechargeable battery has a definite lifespan depending on how often it's recharged and the frequency of use.
Now if I buy a human powered pedal bike, I would expect, all things being equal, for it to have a 'life' of up to fifteen years or more allowing for replacing tyres, brake blocks, drivetrain components etc..
However, if I bought an electric bike, what would be the chances of there being a suitable battery pack for replacement after say, four or five years, or even two or three - ?
And electric bikes aren't exactly cheap.
Just a thought.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

As we all know, a rechargeable battery has a definite lifespan depending on how often it's recharged and the frequency of use.
Now if I buy a human powered pedal bike, I would expect, all things being equal, for it to have a 'life' of up to fifteen years or more allowing for replacing tyres, brake blocks, drivetrain components etc..
However, if I bought an electric bike, what would be the chances of there being a suitable battery pack for replacement after say, four or five years, or even two or three - ?
And electric bikes aren't exactly cheap.
Just a thought.

I bought one many year ago - it was used

several years later the battery was getting abit tired and I got a new one
some years later I got the original one recelled - some years later I sold it with both still working fine

When I sold it I bought a folder from Halfords - due to me not paying attention the battery if no longer working
I have looked online and I can easily get a new one - for over £200 - for it - even though it is for a folder and internal - hence a weird shape

I also have another one - my main bike - which uses a Bosch system and I can easily get a new one for that even though it is over 5 years old
although it costs a damn site mor ethat the Bafang one for the folder but that is Bosch for you
but then it is 5 yeras old and has just gone over 10,000 miles and still have nearly the same range as when it was new!!!!


so - in summary - yes you can get a replacement when they are years old
but it probably depends on the make

and if you can;t get one - it is possible to have the cells inside replaced professionally

personally I would get a good and well know make as this makes it more likely that you will be able to get a new battery later on
but that is a good idea anyway as a cheap system is a BAD idea with an ebike

 

[wiggydiggy]

As we all know, a rechargeable battery has a definite lifespan depending on how often it's recharged and the frequency of use.
Now if I buy a human powered pedal bike, I would expect, all things being equal, for it to have a 'life' of up to fifteen years or more allowing for replacing tyres, brake blocks, drivetrain components etc..
However, if I bought an electric bike, what would be the chances of there being a suitable battery pack for replacement after say, four or five years, or even two or three - ?
And electric bikes aren't exactly cheap.
Just a thought.

Chances are certain for my 2021 bike, it has batteries available today to buy. So thats 4 years coverered with no sign of the original needing replacement.

Its a Bosch system BTW.

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good morning,

I have a bike with a Mahle X35, the thing created by eBikeMotion.

Mahle are massive in the car parts business and know how to support products for a number of years, so that is the upside.

The downside is that the batteries alone can not be replaced, you have to replace the battery unit, £200 of Panasonic 18650 cells at high internet prices, sold in a unit for around £750 and needing authorisation software to activate. This software and data cable are not generally available to the public so the dealers don't need to discount as the customer can't go anywhere else.

Something that may be surprising is that many ebike shops will only support ebikes they sold, so even if someone local could do the job they might not be willing to do so.

Another consideration is that the replacement could involve a new Bottom Bracket, this is quite likely on a CF frame where internal batteries are added into the downtube early in the build process, so repacing the battery means removing the chainset and BB.

The final thing to worry about is as the battery starts to lose capacity is that you hit the last n% of that capacity is of limited use much more quickly. Think of an old torch with a light bulb that does glow but gives out no useful light, The X35 has a light system to indicate charge level and at around 40Wh of remain capacity it goes flashing read and limits the battery discharge to a very low level, which is pretty much no assit.

However I don't need to worry about availabilty as I am already down to 80% capacity after only 1 year! :-(

Finally I use mine as a commute bike and everything we are told about lithium ion chemistry and the cold wethear is true, so if you are anywhere near using up the full battery capcacity in the warm, expect to run out in the cold.

Bye

Ian

 

[wiggydiggy]

Something that may be surprising is that many ebike shops will only support ebikes they sold, so even if someone local could do the job they might not be willing to do so.

I have to say when I've read your updates, that was something that surprised me, though I have heard tales before of LBSs being unwilling to service bikes they didn't sell so it wasn't unheard of.

Though my LBS does fall into the "we can't" rather than "we won't" as they don't sell Bosch equipped bikes. I only found that out relatively recently, plus as a compromise they will do any none electric work I need.

But any of the Bosch approved dealers near me have been happy to help so I suppose that is the answer to me, that I'd look for a service network for any eBike I'm thinking of getting before buying it.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I can see the point about some shops only supporting ebikes that they sell

If they do something to a bike that has a Bosch system like mine - and "something weird" happens and the ebike systems stops working for some reason

then they are basically screwed
SOme of these systems are so "integrated" that the slightest interruption requires that you connect it to the official software to tell itthat it is OK to run again
e.g. the magnet detector on mine - that detects the wheel revs and hence the speed - if linked into the system
now - I know that you can get a very simple magenetic detector which just sends a pulse when the magnet goes past - and costs a few pence
But not for Bosch
When it started to fall apart I took it to the LBS and he looked at it and commented that I was lucky
he could tape it back together so it wouldn;t get much worse and still work
then order a new one and put it on
BUT I had to wait until it came it and NOT to fiddle with it becuase if the "system" realised that the detector had stopped working then it would register the fact and stop the whole thing working
In the end he was lucky and when he swapped them he knew to free up everythign needed before takeing the wire off the old one and putting it on the new one
He did it fast enough that the system didn;t register
if he has been a bit slower he would have had to connect the bike up to the laptops and run the Bosch software and re-register the detector

and only a Bosch dealer could do that

so if I had taken it to a different LBS and they were not a Bosch dealer then they could have got the detector from the WWW justf fine
but a slight delay in replacing it and the ebike would stop working
They would then have to get a Bosch ebike dealer to help them out - which would cost them



basically it is market protectionism but they will say it is to prevent people fiddling to get around the speed cutoff regulations - but we know the real reason!

 

[Andy in Germany]

Something that may be surprising is that many ebike shops will only support ebikes they sold, so even if someone local could do the job they might not be willing to do so.

We only support Bosch and Shimano motors, although we'll check and repair other components of bikes with different motors. The reason for this is that we have the software and the licence for these companies. If we try and fix a bike from another company we will be liable with no backup if it goes wrong, and with a motor capable of 25km/h and batteries that could explode, we don't want that liability.

 

[wiggydiggy]

We only support Bosch and Shimano motors, although we'll check and repair other components of bikes with different motors. The reason for this is that we have the software and the licence for these companies. If we try and fix a bike from another company we will be liable with no backup if it goes wrong, and with a motor capable of 25km/h and batteries that could explode, we don't want that liability.

My LBS is a Shimano/Specialized shop so no Bosch. My NLBS (Nearly Local Bike Shop😉) does Bosch/Bafang, but no Shimano/Specialized.

I'd imagine the licensing for the software is quite a lot, so I wouldn't expect LBSs to be able to do them all.

I did do some high sea sailing to try and get Bosch software, but decided in the end I'd stick with authorised dealers 👍