MAK

I'm seriously looking at a Trek Allant+ 7 or Verve+ 3 bike. Each comes with the Bosch Power Tube 500WH battery. A question regarding charging the battery.

Does the charger stop charging when the battery reaches 100%?

I'm thinking (perhaps overthinking) that I may have times where I don't have time to attend to the battery after the 3-5 hour charge time and will need to charge overnight.

I've asked two Trek dealers and one said yes and the other said no. I've written to Bosch customer service over a month ago and haven't received an answer.

I know that Bosch is a top quality product and is UL 2849 Certified so they are as safe as possible, but does anyone definitively know the answer?

Thank you.

Doc_Wui

Yes, if the safety circuits are working properly, a battery at 100% will shut off the charger.

I have a high respect for Bosch gear, but It's still been my habit to never leave my ebike batteries charging overnight. I doubt I would change for Bosch.




,

Leisesturm

A good charger will have settable charge limits because a 100% charge is not ideal for a battery. My charger can 'stop' charging at 90% and 80%. Stop is in quotes because no charger fully shuts off at the 'stop' point but they go into a 'trickle' charge state that can be maintained indefinitely. Some batteries are better than others at liking to sit around fully topped up. Optimal battery life is achieved when charge is never taken past 80% and never discharged below 20%. Not something most of us can easily achieve

2old

My Haibike (Yamaha) battery resides in the house, but I'm always awake when it's being charged. AFAIK, battery "incidents" are more probable when it's being charged.

jon c. 

A database of "incidents" by manufacturer would be interesting. I suspect the major brands have few if any.

late

My wife's ebike is a Bosch. You unplug both ends, at the wall, and from the battery, when it's charged.

During the winter I keep the batteries in an army surplus ammo case, just in case.

There is a device that will stop charging at 80%, but it ain't cheap.

mpetry912 

one of the advantages of a "name brand" ebike is that you get a fairly good battery management system.

Unlike the $5 wall wart charger on cheep ebikes.

that said, you get the best battery life if you normally stop charging at about 80. Ditto on an e-car.

Running the charging range between 80 and about 40 will give you the best battery life over time.

By all means charge to 100% if you are taking a long ride (for me, going into the Big City) but I'd caution against having every charge cycle go to 100%

/markp

Lambkin55

I have had a Verve+ 3 for almost 3 years now. I can answer some of your questions...

mpetry912 

That unit is called the Grin Satiator and it is cool. I have been thinking about getting one.

Satiator, Standard Model (8A max) (ebikes.ca)

there is at least one person on the forum that has one of these. I think what it does is flatten out the charging rate when the battery is 80% charged so the last 20% of the charge is done at trickle rate.

/markp

wesmamyke

I'm not 100% sure, but I think the Bosch stuff even has temperature sensors for safety. When you open the diagnostic software it has all sorts of information about the unit, including max temperature the various components have reached.

I think it's more of an Apple style warranty denial device, but I imagine it's used to shut things off it it gets too hot. I remember something about them bricking themselves if left in a hot car. Not sure if you can reset the system at that point, you could for some errors though. The dealer can reset some things anyway, customers can't do anything without the usb software dongle.

fooferdoggie 

with the bosch system once changed the battery turns off and the charger too. so unless you unplug the power to the charger or the battery it will not keep trickle charging, so it wont matter if you leave it on the charger. its really good safety system.

Doc_Wui

The battery management circuits inside ebike batteries all shut off charge eventually. Some will maintain a low current for a while to balance the internal cells, but a continual trickle charge is never done because it will damage lithium cells. I think a lot of the battery fires come from faulty battery circuits that let the battery overcharge. I am sure that Bosch chooses its components carefully so this is unlikely.








,

TowpathTraveler

Bosch and Yamaha ebike drives are top-tier drive and battery systems. The best. I've a Yamaha PW drive and battery system on my 2016 model year Haibike Full FatSix. Along with that original 400wh battery, I have 3 other 500wh batteries for those extra-long mileage trips I do on occasion.

Like the Bosch, the Yamaha battery charger charges the battery to 100% then shuts down via the built-in BMS circuitry in the battery. "Set it and forget it" as Mr Popiel used to say of his products! Do note, the Yamaha and Bosch batteries use exclusively their own in-house chargers. No "Grin Satiators" needed nor do I believe they will work on a Bosch or Yamaha.

In near some 17 thousand collective miles ridden on my Haibike, there has not been one problem with either the charger or the 4 batteries. Your Bosch will deliver the same trouble free performance I enjoy with the Yamaha. Now, get out there and have fun with that Bosch!

fooferdoggie 

They got the grin to work with bosch but it's not straight forward and kind of pointless.

mpetry912 

I have this concern with the Specialized battery system as well

/markp

kayakindude

That Stanley charger is a great idea! Thanks for sharing.

MAK

Thank you to all who responded. I feel much better after your info.

iFozz

Yes it stop, it's very good system from bosch