Taking Care of Your Ebike Battery: The Ultimate Guide

Maybe you've just purchased your very first electric bike and are looking for tips and tricks to keep it in tip-top shape. Maybe you're a seasoned rider needing a refresher on ebike battery care best practices. Or, maybe you're finding yourself somewhere in between the novice and seasoned rider and want to read more about ebike battery maintenance. However you're showing up to this article, we're here to explain our top tips on taking care of your Aventon ebike battery. Consider it, if you will, your ultimate guide to ebike batteries!

Storage and Charging

Arguably the first topic that every rider wants to know more about: ‘How do I store and charge my ebike battery?’ The following are some ebike battery charging and storage tips to preserve the life and performance of your Aventon battery. By understanding these key ebike battery care principles, you can get your Aventon bicycle battery to work longer, extending its lifetime by years after purchase.

Charging Your Battery

It’s best to charge your Aventon battery in a temperature-controlled environment, preferably indoors, between 32 °F – 104 °F (0 °C – 40 °C). If charging indoors, it may mean removing the battery from your ebike.

Always charge your battery on a hard, flat surface (think: concrete or metal). It’s best to avoid charging your battery on wood floors or carpets.

Overcharging your battery can weaken its cells, leading to a loss in capacity to hold charge and thus lowering range. As part of the best electric bike battery maintenance practices, stay within the manufacturer's recommended charging time and unplug your battery as soon as your charging indicator light shows completed. This will help prevent damage and maintain a better battery charge level.

Storing Your Battery

Follow these steps when storing your Aventon battery for short or prolonged periods of time:

1. Always ensure your battery is off and the bike is not on.

2. Store your battery in a dry, climate-controlled, indoor location between 32 °F – 104 °F (0 °C – 40 °C). Water, humidity, and damp conditions are not good for any electrical device.

3. Lithium-ion batteries should never be stored on an empty charge. Before you store your ebike for the long term, charge the battery to a 75%-80% range. Check on it every month to make sure the percentage of the battery's energy doesn't drop under 75%. This will help you to extend the battery's life.

4. Do not leave the battery attached to the bike frame for a prolonged period of time; Remove it from your ebike when storing long-term.

Charging Your Second Battery

If you have a second battery as a backup, whether you’re getting ready to store it or make sure it’s ready for your on-the-go needs, combine the best ebike battery care practices from the above two sections:

1. Charge the extra battery in a temperature-controlled, indoor, environment (also keeping the charging surface recommendations in mind!)

2. If storing, charge your extra battery to a 75%-80% range and check in on it monthly to ensure it doesn’t drop under 75%.

3. If using regularly, simply repeat the charging best practices on an as-needed basis while ensuring you store your extra battery in a dry, climate-controlled, indoor location when not in use.

General Ebike Battery Best Practices

The following is a list of general best practices one should always follow when looking after and caring for their ebike battery.

- Inspect and maintain the electrical contacts between the battery and the controller (the connection where you plug the battery into the bike) on a regular basis. Make sure the prongs aren't bent. If the interface becomes contaminated with grit, mud, or snow, clean it before connecting your battery.

- Never charge your battery overnight. This is the quickest way to deplete its cells!

Temperature Impacts On Batteries

Like any other device that uses a lithium-ion battery, the range and performance of your e-bike can be dramatically affected by temperature changes. Have you noticed that your iPhone or Android battery life goes down while skiing or hiking on cold days, but returns to normal when you go back inside? Temperature plays a big role in the effectiveness of the battery.

Since ebikes can be ridden in very hot, and very cold temps, it's important to keep your battery in mind when riding, charging, or storing in extreme conditions. A couple of things to be aware of:

- Don't leave your Aventon ebike in the trunk of a hot car (think Phoenix in July) with the battery attached. Remove the battery and carry it with you instead.

- Riding your Aventon ebike in cold temperatures will have an impact on range reduction. If you park your ebike outside overnight, bring your battery inside with you. Only take the battery back outside when you are ready to ride. This helps minimize the impact of temperature on the range.

Batteries and Water

Aventon ebikes are built to the IPX4 water-resistant standard, meaning that your ebike, and the battery attached therein, are resistant to water splashes from any direction. Riding in light rain or leaving your ebike in rainfall is acceptable; Raindrops or spray from a wet road will not harm your bike or battery.

Although it's fine to ride most e-bikes, including Aventon ebikes, in the rain, you should always dry the contacts on the battery to prevent corrosion and oxidation. An electrical contact cleaner can be used to keep that connection clean if needed. In extreme weather (for example, in a community where roads are salted in winter), you can apply battery terminal grease as a preventative. But, if you live in an area with extreme weather, it’s equally important to know that your Aventon ebike and battery are not intended to be submerged or subjected to harsh rainfall or pressurized washers.

What Do I Do If My Battery Is Submerged?

Aventon ebikes nor batteries are not rated for water submersion. While they are made of superior quality and are certified to the UL standard through TUV (more information on this below), they’ll lose potency if submerged in water, not to mention could pose a significant hazard when the electric components are exposed to water.

If your Aventon ebike was in flood, you dropped your battery in water, or experienced any event in which your ebike or battery was met with at least 1 meter of water, do not attempt usage; Water may have entered the electrical systems.

Keep your ebike and the battery off. You’ll want to inspect your battery’s casing for burn marks, fried areas, and such if you can. The likelihood of your ebike running successfully post-submergence is very low, and while it is ultimately up to you to determine if your battery is safe under the conditions you know it was exposed to, you can seek expert advice for confirmation. In the likely event that your ebike is determined to be unsafe for continued use, you can recycle your Aventon ebike’s battery through our program here.

Safety Certification

The discussion on caring for your ebike battery and bike battery safety would be incomplete without a brief conversation on safety certifications for your electric bike. For example, an ebike being tested to the UL 2849 Standard assures consumers that said ebike has been certified to meet critical electrical and fire safety standards. UL 2849, among others, requires an electric bike’s drive train, battery, and charger system to undergo rigorous testing. Within the UL 2849 standard, electric bikes can also meet the UL 2271* standard for battery safety and UL 62368-1* standard for battery charger safety, among other component standardizations.

*Visit PeopleforBikes for more detailed information on UL 2849 Safety and to learn more about the various certifications that are standardizing ebike components within UL 2849 standard.

Aventon electric bikes and their batteries are TUV certified in compliance with the UL 2849 standard. This means Aventon's ebikes, their batteries, and various other electrical components have been put through rigorous testing to ensure the highest quality of safety for riders. Aventon riders can confirm certification here.

Final Thoughts

If you can't remember all of the specific ebike battery care suggestions we covered above, keep in mind this rule of thumb: "if it's too hot or too cold for YOU, it's also too hot or too cold for your battery." Your battery is comfortable at the same temperatures you are!

If you’d like more information on storing your ebike and battery or additional ebike battery charging tips, check out our E-Bike Storage and Use article. Or, if you’re looking for some additional information on safety when actually riding your ebike, check out our guide on how to ride an ebike.  

With these tips in mind, your e-bike and battery will live a long, healthy life. Happy riding!