Top 10 ebike battery charging tips for safety and battery life. Prevent lithium battery fires, ebike, scooter, emoto battery fires.
BN-Link AC countdown timer – https://www.amazon.com/BN-LINK-Outdoor-Waterproof-Countdown-Grounded/dp/B07FPWK4YM/
Switchbot Smart Plug – https://www.amazon.com/SwitchBot-Bluetooth-Compatible-Function-Automation/dp/B09QFLJH8T/
DC Inverter – https://www.amazon.com/s?k=DC@UCJFb_QlCbywh1C7dkBbp8Zwinverter
Ecoflow power stations – https://www.ecoflow.com/us
Class D fire extinguisher for Lithium battery fires – https://fire-end.com/products/class-d-fire-extinguishers
15 Comments
As far as I know Specialized bikes aren’t UL certified, I’m not sure about the Brose components.
Two additional tips one for batterylife and one for safety. For batterylife if your bike came with a so called rapid charger, but your battery and motor manufacturer makes a non rapid charger get the slower charger and it will prolong your battery life (shimano makes a 2A and a 4A charger). For safety if you happen to have a garage charge your bike in your garage or car port. Most building codes require fire safety provisions for garage and carports to be built into the structure to stand engine fires so if you charge in your garage especially unsupervised it is the safest place to do so.
I usually ride only 5-10 miles at a time. So I only charge @ every 3 or 4 days of riding. Lithium batteries like to be charged fully when they are used down to 25-30% left in them.
We have 3 Specialized ebikes and always time them , always charge them to full and haven't ever had any problems
I live in the rocky mountains of Colorado. My storage shed gets way below freezing at night. I way too many e-bikes to store inside my small house. So I came up with a solution that work's pretty good. I wrap the downtube with powered dog beds (never fold the dog bed when heated) and put Thinsulate insulation over that. Worked flawlessly last year.
I would say do this at your own risk, as doing it incorrectly could start a fire. But it keeps the battery warm and ready to use in the morning and protects against critical charging problems if the battery gets below freezing.
As Francis says, keeping the bike inside is best. Never charge your bike if the battery gets well below freezing. That could destroy the battery for good.
Ultimately I think there is so much variability in lithium batteries, BMSs, chargers, and e-bike parts and brands, that I don't think buying a brand-name really buys a whole lot of safety. Safer, yes. "Safe" ? I dunno. So many UL listings are fake these days, having a UL symbol doesn't mean a thing any more.
Even your comment "the charger must shutdown" should not make a difference… the BMS built into the battery is supposed to protect the battery, is it not doing its job? Sure, the charger must shut-down, but the BMS should also disconnect the battery when it hits its charge target. Also, these lithium polymer chemistries (NMC, NCA) don't seem to have the robustness to deal with the constant physical abuse that bikes take. Just road vibration alone, for example.
IMHO, the only thing that really, really improves safety is going with LiFePO4 rather than NMC or NCA lithium chemistries. That means taking a range hit, LiFePO4 batteries aren't as energy dense. But man oh man they are a hundred times safer. You can charge them up to 100% every time, and you don't have to worry about leaving the bike unused with the battery charged to 100% causing any damage (LiFePO4 doesn't, not really). And as an added bonus, the LiFePO4 battery packs can handle thousands of charge cycles.
It seems the industry is focused on marketing range, though, and I don't see anywhere near as many LiFePO4 solutions as I do standard lithium solutions. With enough people demanding it, the industry would catch up, just like it did for power stations.
Very helpful information. Thank you, E-MTBR.
Nice work sir ,I'm getting my first ebike soon
Put the left crank arm down when charging because it can fall down and hit the charger port of the bike and the cable of the charger and make a bad connection between bike and charger and could provoke a short circuit
One tip that is implicit in your routine is to give the battery chemistry time to settle before charging – even 30 minutes makes a difference. I also charge just under 100% wherever I can (it’s a game now 😊). My rides use 25-35% and I often nearly top them off just to avoid range anxiety or to be setup for a bonus ride💪 After 2.5yrs I’m at 120 full cycle charges on 700w Specialized turbo Levo and battery continues to read 100% health with Ride app (potentially less as apparently bike/app rounds up, shop app might report exact health %).
I keep my ebike in my living room, and never leave it charging overnight, or unattended. A timer in my phone reminds me to unplug the charger at about 80-90%, since I've never come close to using the whole charge in a simple ride.
I have to drive 6 hours to do any good riding. I've got an overland rig that have 320 watts of solar and 600 amps of batteries. I can charge 3 batteries and keep the fridge running.
Is there a battery tester we can get to show what % is left in our battery . Like the one for my RC trucks .
It would be nice if manufacturers build smarter chargers with a bluetooth connection that would allow us to set a countdown timer or max. % of charge for automatic cutoff. Great video by the way. Loved tip no. 1 😉
Good tips. I’d also suggest being very sure that any extension cords or timers you use are rated for the amount of power your charger draws. Also keep in mind that typical $1.50 household outlets aren’t meant for multiple hours of use at peak current, and they can really heat up. Consider replacing your outlet with an industrial/commercial grade unit.