Battery questions
 

What is that lifespan of the average e-Bike battery? Are they recyclable?

I think Shimano claims that their battery will still retain 60% of its original charge capacity after two years or 500 charge cycles. Based on my experience so far, I have to say that's pretty close to correct. I don't know if or where they can be recycled.

Call2Recycle would be a great resource towards recycling and EOL for batteries. In terms of battery life I generally tell people anywhere around 2-10 years or more depending on how you charge it and use it and store it, etc... I have known people who have had batteries for 5 years and still going just fine and some people who have fried their batteries in a year (Rosenberger plug with a piece of metal in between it and the charge port).

Apparently, Bosch claims that their batteries are good for 10 years or 1500 full charge cycles.

It really depends on how you treat it.

If you charge and discharge it fully every day, it would have one lifespan.

If you charge it to 80% and only discharge it to 20% every day, it would last 2-3X as long.

If you're storing it for several months at ~ 50% state of charge, that will change things too.

If you charge it fully, then leave it sitting around like that, you'll easily cut battery life in half.

How hot the pack is will also have an impact on lifespan.

Sorry, but there's no clear answer.

I agree, and add:
1) Don't charge the battery when its temp is below 50 F.
2) Don't let the battery remain at < 20% SOC (state of charge) ---if I deplete a battery below that when riding, i charge immediately when I get home.
3) If you're using it in a very cold environment, keep it as warm as possible (I start out with mine at room temp if heading for the snow - rare in socal, but it's happened).
The battery on my seven year old, lightly used Haibike doesn't show signs of deteriorating yet. I'll try it out today, but the last time I rode on some pretty steep trails, it used only 10 wh per mile.

It's OK to charge it as long as it's above freezing.

It's OK to discharge the battery when it's below freezing; just not charge it. Also, capacity will be reduced when it's cold due to voltage drop.

Yes they can be recycled!

I'll agree to disagree with you (and suggest you look up articles on prolonging the life of Li as it relates to charging and using). Forgot to add that charging at a slower rate is advisable.

Yes it depends on how you use the battery. Most of the time, my rides are short enough that I don't go below half charge. Then I will recharge til the battery is full, unless I know I won't be riding the bike for a while. I have six ebikes between my wife and me, so some bikes won't get recharged. I've got two lightly used batteries from 2015 and two more from 2017-2018 that also have light use, probably less than 300 charge cycles each, and they are still in use, I am sure they've lost some capacity, but since I usually do less than 20 miles, I don't notice.

The above implies batteries with decent cells. There are cheap batteries with low quality cells. You really can't predict what will happen with these. Now you're looking at a higher failure and wear out rate.




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Also for those with a Bosch bike using their battery tool which probably not a lot of shops will have you can set the batteries into storage mode so it basically freezes them in time til you unfreeze and it is like normal again. It is something you do for multi month storage not normal I am gone for a couple weeks on vacation or I cannot ride for a month because of something. For that you want to keep the battery probably 40-60% just enough to keep the cells fed but not so they overeat and puke their guts out.

I would generally also not recommend charging at lower temps. I would say bring the batteries inside let them warm up and then charge. I don't think you will do any major damage if you charge above freezing once and while because you have to but if you can charge at a nice comfortable 60-75˚ that would be more ideal.

The battery on my seven year old, lightly used Haibike doesn't show signs of deteriorating yet. I'll try it out today, but the last time I rode on some pretty steep trails, it used only 10 wh per mile.[/QUOTE]

Today I rode my Haibike hardtail 15.5 miles (road, bike trail and off road; some hills which are hard to quantify; speed 10 mph - 32 mph; no wind; 230 pounds between me and the bike); used 36% of a 396 wh battery, so 143 wh or 9+ wh/mile; not too bad since that means about 40 miles on a charge.

so far one battery on my bosch has way over 14,000 miles on it the other has over 10,000 miles and two others I dont know. but I was riding 230 miles a week fro awhile now i am lucky to do 150

https://batteryuniversity.com/articl...w-temperatures

In the table toward the top, it says charge above freezing. Further down it says:
So charging AT freezing is fine, at a low charge rate and charging them faster will raise the temperature.

Your earlier advice to not charge them below 50°F was maybe rounded up from 41? And certainly it is fine and more ideal for fast charging, but slow charging at 32°F is fine too.

I'm an engineer for a company that makes cordless Li-Ion power tools, and our battery suppliers all have similar recommendations as what I quoted above.

As stated, I'll agree to disagree, but am done arguing. I just reported what I've read in the past. Charge above 50F, keep the battery warm in cold temps (if for no other reason than it'll have more capacity) and don't charge too fast (I use a 2 amp charger, but that's because I'm never in a situation where I need to charge faster). Additionally, I'm here to help and learn. You seem to be here to argue and belittle. Goodbye!

The chemistry that produces electricity from a battery is pretty clearly understood. However, trying to understand the efficiency (or longevity) of batteries under differing temperatures and discharging cycles is terribly complex.
An additional life expectancy factor in multi-cell battery packages is the native voltage of the cells used as well their specific banking or wiring configuration. In other words - various battery packs will supply better or worse aspects of life expectancy depending on their usage and environment.

In addition, there are specific aspects of how the anodes and cathodes of battery cells are manufactured. It is my understanding that some batteries are designed to supply higher current values while other configurations produces a longer "shelf-life" or a greater number of discharge cycles. The specific formula of the "salt bridge" that restores the charge also plays a role in the life of a battery. These are factors considered and compromised on by manufacturers' experience.

In any case - as others have already so perfectly stated - avoid temperature changes and discharge/charge extremes. Your mileage may vary.

Not belittling, for sure, I just want to make sure the correct information is being provided to those who ask.

At some point, we sometimes go from "the manufacturer/expert recommends xxx" to "...but I feel more comfortable doing yyy". That's an individual decision. Let everyone make their own interpretation of the facts, don't distort them on the way like a game of Telephone. ;-)

No hard feelings, I hope.