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Battery in the garage

Old 08-26-20, 05:50 PM
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kshapero
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Battery in the garage

Getting a Specialized Vado SL 5.0. The battery, for all practical purposes, is not coming off the bike.(In the down tube). So I will be charging the battery from the bike itself. That means when I am not riding it will reside in my garage (the bike in the living room days are long over) Here I am reading that batteries should come in at night for climate control. I live in South Hot Hot Florida. Garage stays in the 80's most of the time. Am I ok or do I have to ask the Mrs. if the bike can sleep inside the air conditioned house?
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Old 08-26-20, 09:47 PM
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I don't think 80 degrees is a problem; probably it's hotter outside when you ride at times. However, if it's going to be above 90 degrees, you might bring your wife some flowers (or diamonds). I should point out that this is a guess on my part based on my experiences, not any testing that I've read about or performed.
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Old 08-27-20, 05:39 AM
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What do people do when the temperature drops below freezing. Is keeping the bike plugged in sufficient to maintain the battery or does the battery need to go in the house?
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Old 08-27-20, 10:08 AM
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From what I've read, severe cold (probably below 35F, but one needs to research what that should be) is worse for batteries than heat, and doesn't just reduce their range. I live in socal, and although have ridden in the cold, charge and store my batteries in mild conditions. You need to protect them from the cold by insulation or a more temperate environment.

Last edited by 2old; 08-27-20 at 02:41 PM.
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Old 08-27-20, 12:21 PM
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LION batteries have three vulnerabilities:

Extreme heat, Extreme cold, Deep discharge

This is why my electric car has a temperature management system to protect the battery. A typical ebike battery will have a low-voltage cutoff circuit incorporated in the BMS, but no temperature controls. Extreme heat will damage the battery, cold will kill it.

LION packs are best if kept at "room temperature" so if ambient temp is above 85 or below 50 I will bring it inside. Since WI summers are more moderate than the southwest my garage seldom gets above 80, so I normally leave the battery in the garage, but will definitely bring it inside during the winter.

If the battery is kept inside before riding during cold weather, it is likely that it will not cold-soak enough during the ride to be an issue, however some riders recommend wrapping the battery in some sort of insulation as an added precaution. If you are carrying the bike for some distance before or after riding, keep the battery inside the warm car. For long-term winter storage the battery should be stored with about 50-60% state-of-charge.

Unfortunately, many ebike designs make it difficult to remove the battery pack. It should be one of the considerations when selecting a bike.

Last edited by MNebiker; 08-27-20 at 12:25 PM.
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Old 08-31-20, 12:23 PM
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Originally Posted by MNebiker
LION batteries have three vulnerabilities:

Extreme heat, Extreme cold, Deep discharge

LION packs are best if kept at "room temperature" so if ambient temp is above 85 or below 50 I will bring it inside. Since WI summers are more moderate than the southwest my garage seldom gets above 80, so I normally leave the battery in the garage, but will definitely bring it inside during the winter.
Huh, that may be my problem. I only get a couple of years out of my batteries - they are probably getting too cold in the garage in the winter. I try not to let them discharge too much, but still I'm doing good to get 3 years...

I've never had a problem with them getting cold when riding - they generate a fair amount of heat - although I expect they probably have a 30% range drop in the winter.
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Old 08-31-20, 01:03 PM
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C58; you're probably correct about battery life. I just sold a five year old 52V, 10 ah battery that was used on a 1000w DD errand bike and a BBS02 off road bike (probably 500 charges at least), but I'm in socal where the ambient temperature probably is >40F - <100F all the time. I never tested the battery quantitatively, but it was very functional (15 miles ride with 3,000' of elevation gain at the five year mark).
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Old 09-01-20, 02:43 PM
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I've not experienced a range drop in cold, but I'm a fair-weather biker. My low temp cutoff is about 40 degrees!

After 4000+ miles I am starting to see some slight degradation in my bike's 36V 12ah pack. Not sure how many charge cycles on it. It still charges to between 41.8 - 42V but voltage drops quick on some tough hills and doesn't rebound like it did before. I'll ride it the rest of the season but will probably pull it apart during the winter and see if I have a couple weak cells - or maybe just make up a new pack if there are too many.
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Old 09-09-20, 09:19 PM
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My understanding, from living in a cold country, is don't let the battery freeze solid, and don't charge it if the temperature is around freezing. Bring it somewhere warmer to charge.
A lithium battery should give you about 500 charge/ discharge cycles, if you are charging to the max. If you keep your charge between 30% and 80% you will get double the number of cycles.
Or so they say.

Last edited by skookum; 09-09-20 at 09:19 PM. Reason: spolling
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Old 09-10-20, 04:40 AM
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There is the famous story about the guy who parked his new Tesla at the airport with a depleted battery in cold weather. When he came back to a battery that needed replacement Tesla refused his warranty claim telling him the owners manual clearly stated to not park the battery in the cold in a depleted state

Good place to start,

https://electricbike.com/forum/forum...-ion-batteries

The article above has this link as well

https://electricbike.com/forum/forum...li-ion-battery
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