Winter? Survival tips for your bike battery!
Slick roads, harsh winds, or simply not feeling up to it? In the winter months, we generally hop on our bike saddles with a little less enthusiasm. Choosing to leave your electric bike in the shed for a few months? Then these tips will help your bike battery smoothly wake from its winter slumber.
Just draining it: what does that do to my battery?
Completely draining the battery and then storing it away for a few months negatively affects the lifespan of your battery. Almost every type of battery dislikes being fully discharged. Each time you deeply discharge a battery, its lifespan decreases. With full discharge, NiMh batteries (the older generation of bike batteries) and lithium-ion batteries (the current generation of bike batteries) will even suffer irreparable damage.
If you are going to store your battery this winter, it's best to do so while it is partially charged, at about 80%.
Does a security feature in a bike battery exist?
Indeed, modern batteries have a built-in self-protection mechanism against complete discharge. This mechanism will shut off the battery with a large safety margin before the so-called 'deep discharge limit' is reached. However, due to self-discharge, the battery can still continue to lose charge.
In this phenomenon, your battery slowly discharges by itself, even though you are not using it. In this way, over a week, a month, or sometimes even longer, the voltage may still drop past that deep discharge limit, causing damage to the battery or even rendering it permanently unusable.
What exactly can I do to prevent issues with my bike battery?
- Read the manual of your electric bike or bike battery for specific storage advice tailored to your battery.
- A battery needs to be regularly charged and discharged. Some chargers do this process automatically. In that case, it is okay to keep the battery in the charger if you are not using the bike. If the charger does not do this, it is advisable not to leave the battery in the charger all the time.
- Store your e-bike's battery at room temperature and in a dry environment. Make sure the battery is charged at least halfway, ideally up to 80%. This reduces the risk of deep discharge.
- A bike battery needs to be regularly discharged and recharged to stay healthy. If you do not use your bike during the winter months, charge your battery at least once a month.
- It is better to charge your bike battery inside at room temperature. Always stay nearby when charging a battery, and therefore it is best not to charge the battery overnight (or next to your bed).
- The range of a battery can greatly decrease at low temperatures. To keep the battery of your bike in good condition as long as possible, the best advice is to keep using it. Between the harsh winter days, there are always sunny winter days when - warmly bundled up - it is delightful to ride. However, make sure the battery is at room temperature when you go cycling.
- After a bike ride in the winter, let the battery warm up for at least half an hour at room temperature before charging it.
- Is your bike outside all day? Then take your removable battery with you and store it indoors in a safe, warm, and dry place. There are also special, thermal carrying cases available in which you can store the battery of your e-bike.
- Extra tip: remove the display of your electric bike. It can freeze and break.
Your bike battery is now in good hands.
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