scooterfactory
Electric scooter battery-everything you need to know
Taking care of your electric scooter battery is essential, because more than half of the cost of a scooter usually depends on the battery-so replacing it is expensive, and no one wants to lose mileage over time.
Due to significant improvements in battery technology, electric scooters have developed rapidly in the past 10 years. Therefore, taking care of your battery is the most important thing-because neglect means you have fewer charging cycles, and the mileage per charge will drop faster, which means less fun and more headaches.
In the 1990s and early mid-2000s, most electric scooters were designed for children because the batteries on them were not overly powerful, and to make something viable for adults, the batteries had to be much larger- Any electric scooter gets bigger, too heavy and too slow for any real-world use. In 2021, most electric scooters use lithium ion or lithium phosphate batteries, and the battery technology of scooters has changed.
Historically, most electric scooters have either used NiCAD (nickel cadmium) batteries, NiMH (nickel metal hydride) or SLA (sealed lead acid) batteries, which are much less efficient in terms of power output and power-to-weight ratio. Sealed lead-acid batteries can weigh up to 10 kilograms per battery, and for some scooters, more than 2-3 batteries are needed-making the scooter heavier and ultimately slower.
The transition from sealed lead-acid batteries to lithium-ion batteries began around 2010, but it took several years for battery technology to develop to the point where the battery can output a higher voltage while being smaller and lighter. Fast forward to 2021, and the batteries of electric scooters have never been so powerful-most electric scooters now use lithium-ion batteries or LiFePO4 (lithium-ion phosphate) batteries, which have better energy storage capabilities than other battery types.
Take care of your electric scooter battery-first charge
Most people ignore the importance of the first charge when they get their first electric scooter. When most electric scooters are delivered, they will come up with a low or half-charged battery, making the ride box a big NO NO. When you receive an electric scooter for the first time, the first thing you should do is to consult the manual to understand what kind of charging method is needed. Then, you should charge the scooter to 100% before use.
Why do I need to use it out of the box?
Well, the reason behind recharging is the way the lithium battery works. When manufacturing electric scooters, they usually contain 18650 lithium batteries or 21700 lithium batteries, and they don’t like to store them when they are fully charged for a medium/long time. Lithium batteries have a high energy density, but storing them when fully charged will put pressure on the anode and cathode, which will cause the current collector to degrade, thereby reducing the efficiency of the battery and unable to store as much energy as possible.
Since scooter manufacturers have to ship scooters to distributors, they can usually be stored for several months at a time, if they are stored as inventory in a store or warehouse, sometimes more than a year-this means storing the battery after it is fully charged. Long time will have a negative impact on battery life. Therefore, scooter manufacturers usually charge the battery to about 70%. This prevents the battery from being stressed, but it can also offset the problem of storing the battery at a low charge.
When you bring the scooter and receive it, you will see if you turn it on and the charge will not be fully charged (depending on the voltage indicator you may have).
Fully charging it before the first use helps prevent the battery from discharging in an unbalanced manner. It also helps to increase the battery’s lifespan, as recharging after it may be stored for several months will help optimize the battery. If you ride before charging, the chemicals in the battery may not be as stable as when charging, which will eventually affect the cycle efficiency of the battery (memory effect) over time.
Some websites still claim that lithium-ion batteries have almost no memory effect, but thousands of scooter owners who have charged the batteries from the first day they received them have found that over time, their batteries tend to be better than direct People who ride from the box perform better.
Battery charging and discharging-how to protect your scooter battery
In order to maximize the life of the scooter battery, here are some important battery charging and discharging rules.
Discharge the battery while riding
When riding an electric scooter, you will actively discharge the battery. The battery SOC (state of charge) is measured in volts (v)-as the battery discharges, the voltage decreases. On an electric scooter, the BMS (Battery Management System) will monitor the voltage output while you are riding-when the voltage reaches the so-called cut-off voltage, the BMS will cut off the power of the scooter to prevent over-discharge of the battery. Each scooter has its own battery voltage/battery rating-it’s important to understand what the cut-off voltage is so that you don’t run out of power before reaching your intended destination. Some scooters will report their charge through the LCD/display panel, using a voltage indicator or gauge/dial or a series of LEDs to indicate the battery charge. Cheaper scooters such as Mi M365s, Gotrax GXL V2, Kugoo ES2 use a basic battery indicator, which is a series of LEDs that go out as the battery discharges. Higher performance scooters are usually equipped with an LCD panel and a separate voltage indicator panel.
Some scooters may not have a battery management system-they can easily over-discharge and eventually damage the battery. This means that before turning off the scooter, you should observe the voltage until the minimum allowable voltage is reached.
A scooter with a battery management system will automatically protect the battery to prevent over-discharge.
However, having said that, some scooters can still be turned back on and ride farther before being cut off again-this will result in an over-discharged state, which may damage the battery in the battery.
key point:
Optimize your battery by not riding the scooter until the battery is completely empty-turning off the scooter at 10% charge will improve the battery life cycle
If you have been riding until the scooter is powered off, please do not turn it on again or try to use it
If you are riding in cold conditions (below 5 degrees Celsius / 40 degrees Fahrenheit)-the efficiency of your lithium-ion battery will decrease by 30%, which means the discharge rate will increase
Try to avoid a lot of cycling when the battery power is low-that is, the battery power is more than 50% when riding and going home, and regular charging will also affect the battery life
After riding for a long time, your scooter battery may become hot/hot. It is recommended that you do not charge the scooter immediately, but let the battery cool down for a while before charging-some battery management systems on the scooter will be based on the battery Adjust the charging temperature-provide thermal shutdown
When riding a scooter, try not to let the battery power drop to 0%, turning it off at about 10% can extend battery life.
In order to maximize the life of the scooter battery, here are some important battery charging and discharging rules.
Charge the battery after riding
When you are out for a ride-whether it is endurance running (soft driving) or high-speed running, the first thing you do after putting down the scooter is undoubtedly plugging in the power and getting ready for the next ride.
Most modern electric scooters have a battery management system that can control the charging and discharging methods of the battery-to provide battery protection. When you impose a load (burst) or continuous load on the battery, it will naturally heat up.
When you come to charge the scooter, the battery is likely to be very hot-which makes the charging a fire hazard, because the accumulation of heat can cause heat to run out of control-causing the lithium to catch fire. Therefore, in order to solve this problem, most BMS systems will also monitor the thermal temperature of the battery. When you plug in the scooter to charge after riding, the BMS will determine whether the battery is ready for charging based on the voltage and temperature. If the BMS detects that the temperature of your battery is too high, it will wait until the temperature drops before starting charging.
Most people will simply plug their scooters in and leave-most people will leave their scooters in a garage or shed, and some people may charge their scooters at home. Since most of the charging phase is left unattended, the scooter battery will be charged to 100% capacity before the charger stops the charging process.
However, always charging the battery to 100% will reduce the number of cycles the battery can withstand during its entire life cycle. There are some professional battery chargers for scooters that provide a cut-off charge point below 100%, allowing the rider to get more from the battery over time. Charging to 90% can increase life cycle performance by up to 20%.
key point:
Optimize your battery by getting a charger that provides a lower charging point-it is critical that the charger you choose has the same power rating as the original charger-this is measured in the voltage + AMP output
When charging the scooter, try charging at room temperature (18 degrees Celsius or 64 degrees Fahrenheit). When the battery is at a stable room temperature, the charging efficiency is highest. Charging at temperatures below zero puts pressure on the battery-charging at higher temperatures will also do the same
Only use the specified charger on your scooter-this means that the charger has the CE mark, is genuine, and provides the same voltage/ah output. Charging with a charger not designed for your scooter may cause fire or irreversible battery damage
Do not charge the scooter in damp/humid conditions, this may cause a short circuit/battery fire
The general rule is-the less pressure you put on the battery, the longer the life of your scooter battery.
Fast charging and slow charging your battery
Should you charge the battery slowly or fast, what are the advantages and disadvantages?
Battery charging slowly
When you buy a scooter, you receive a standard charger designed to charge your scooter at the appropriate voltage/amp. Some scooters come standard with a slow charger-mainly because it is cheaper to provide a slow charger, and a slow charger is better for battery health and maintaining battery health over time.
Slow chargers will be called chargers-however, fast chargers are given this meaning to separate them.
The slow charging process means that the battery is exposed to a smaller current, and as the ions are transferred back to the battery, less pressure is eventually applied to the anode and cathode.
Slow chargers usually run between 1 and 2 amps on average, while fast chargers usually run between 4 and 8 amps.
It depends on the battery’s AH (ampere hour) capacity and subsequent charger output-this will determine how long the battery needs to be charged. For example, it takes about 6 hours to fully charge a 10-amp-hour battery (available in most cheap scooters) with a 2-amp charger. Larger, higher-performance scooters such as Dualtron X, Bronco 11 Xtreme or ZERO 11X have larger batteries, ranging from 30ah to 50ah-these are usually equipped with 2-3 amp chargers, which means slow charging times can vary from It varies from 12 to 18 hours.
Slow charging will only become a problem for those who like to ride multiple times a day, or those who do endurance running and want to be able to charge quickly at the charging point-slow charging is not appropriate at this time.
The only real benefit of slow charging is that it can extend battery life and reduce the amount of heat generated-reducing the risk of fire.
key point:
Slowly charging the battery has a much better overall life cycle performance
Slow charging generates less heat and reduces the risk of fire
The slow charger itself is less stressed and may last longer than the high-performance fast charger
Most slow chargers use passive cooling-meaning they are sealed and do not have any cooling fans-this also extends the life of the charger compared to fast chargers that use fans
Slow charging can extend battery life and reduce fire risk
Fast charging provides some benefits for endurance riders-but for most people, fast charging is not worth it.
Quickly charge the battery
Fast charging is for convenience. For riders who like to ride more than once a day or for longer distances, they want to quickly charge the battery to minimize the pauses/intervals between rides.
The principle of fast charging is simple-increase the amplifier output to drive more current into the battery-shorten the time required for a full charge.
Fast charging can shorten the charging time by up to 50%-which is profitable for those who wish to ride further. However, the disadvantage of fast charging is that it will put more pressure on the battery-thereby shortening the battery’s service life.
As part of good battery maintenance and battery protection-you should not always use a fast charger to charge your scooter-instead, you should only use a fast charger on a regular basis, and use a slow charger whenever possible.
Fast charging is often reserved for higher performance scooters. Scooters with a battery capacity of more than 30ah or 2000wh (watt hour) are most suitable for fast charging. The nominal charging time for anything below 30ah should be 6-8 hours-this is equivalent to a 30-battery charged by a fast charger Charging time is 50 ah.
key point:
Optimize battery life by limiting the use of fast chargers to “only when needed” rather than always
Fast charging will reduce the number of charge cycles your battery can perform-some batteries/fast chargers are more capable than others, so the degree of impact is difficult to measure
Most fast chargers will increase ventilation, making it unsuitable for charging in dusty/sandy climates. Quick chargers are also not suitable for staying on the floor where dust/dirt may be inhaled
When buying a fast charger, please make sure it has the CE mark and the charger is genuine. Due to the nature of the battery current rise and heat generation during the charging phase, fast chargers have a greater fire hazard-therefore, it is very important to purchase a quality charger with the correct scooter connector and the correct voltage/amplifier output
Do not use a fast charger with an output voltage/amp value higher than the rated charging capacity of the scooter battery
For most people, the prospect of understanding the ins and outs of electric scooter batteries seems daunting-not much value for many people, but any true scooter enthusiast wants to understand the features of scooters-including battery performance And capacity.
Battery rating: what you need to know
Buying an electric scooter is usually a huge investment for many people-so buying a scooter that suits your needs is crucial. For most people, they want to know how fast and how far their scooter can go-it depends on the battery.
Batteries have two core values that you need to understand-voltage and capacity.
Higher voltage output will make the scooter faster
——Voltage is measured in V. Many scooters have a range between 24v and 72v.
When increasing the mile/km, higher battery capacity will make the scooter last longer. The battery capacity is usually measured in AH (ampere hour) or WATT hour (WH).
So how do you understand these ratings?
Well, you can apply flat logic to battery performance-higher capacity, higher voltage batteries will achieve higher speeds and longer runtimes/longer battery life.
So to summarize the battery rating-the voltage of the battery will be related to the speed-a higher voltage system allows the BLDC hub motor to run faster. Therefore, the higher the rated voltage of your scooter-the faster it may be.
For battery capacity—you can use AH or WH—they are just different units. Most scooters are rated AH (battery capacity). AH x Volt = WH.
The larger the battery-the longer it may take-you can use this battery charging time calculator to calculate how long it will take to charge your scooter.
Signs of battery wear or failure of electric scooters
Battery wear and failure are inevitable-nothing is eternal, including lithium batteries. Your battery pack will age over time-even if you take care of it. The speed of battery degradation will depend on what its life is like, that is, a large amount of hard discharge and charge, excessive short charge, over discharge will significantly shorten the battery life-while a more moderate discharge (less aggressive riding OK) Proper charging and discharging 10%-90% of the battery charging maintenance and good temperature management will significantly increase the life cycle capacity of the battery.
How many charging cycles can my electric scooter battery use?
Well, there is no fixed number for this problem, but on average, most lithium battery manufacturers expect the battery pack to last for about 500 cycles before the battery starts to deteriorate rapidly—so much so that the availability and range of the scooter are severely compromised . With a good maintenance system (battery maintenance), you can see up to 500-700 battery cycles before you need to replace the lithium battery pack.
More stringent battery usage will reduce the number of cycles to 300-400, but the degradation rate depends on many different factors.
According to Battery University-the battery discharge cycle affects the total number of rechargeable cycles, depending on the sustained and depleted voltage.
Excessive battery depletion will shorten the cycle times of a typical lithium battery-but these are general rules.
The quality of the battery and the type of battery will also determine the cycle performance.
What signs will I get that my electric scooter battery is malfunctioning?
The aging of most lithium-ion batteries is gradual-so when you own and use your scooter, you will notice-over time, the distance you can travel will decrease. As the battery ages, the efficiency of the battery to maintain charge decreases, so the nominal capacity decreases. You will get the following signs:
The main signs of battery pack failure:
The cruising range of the scooter is steadily decreasing, but it usually increases gradually
Obvious battery voltage drop-when the battery is low but the voltage drops temporarily when a heavy load is applied
When the battery power is less than 30%, the voltage drops rapidly. For batteries that fail quickly, the user of the scooter may experience strange behavior, for example, the scooter turns off at 20%-because the true power output of the battery drops significantly, and the skateboard The car LCD panel/battery indicator may indicate the voltage related to the charging status-the true battery capacity is usually depleted due to battery wear
Charging problems, such as slow charging speed-or the charger indicates a full charge too early
If the battery of my scooter is exhausted or malfunctions-what should I do?
Most electric scooters are repairable-which means that it is not difficult to replace the battery pack. If the scooter is under warranty-the battery pack may be under warranty-so it is important to check this before opening the scooter. Opening your scooter may void any warranty (if any).
In most cases, the lithium battery pack is easy to replace. If your battery pack is worn or malfunctioning, you either need to take the scooter to an electric scooter store for repair-or, if you have some technical knowledge, it shouldn’t be too difficult to replace the battery yourself. As long as you purchase an equivalent battery type, replacing the battery pack should be easy.
Most electric scooter battery packs use XT60 connectors, which should be included in the replacement battery pack. Some batteries may use other types of connectors, such as MOLEX, Bullet connectors, Deans/T, balanced connectors, etc.
If you interest in electric scooter and have any other questions, please let us know in the section below.