How long does the battery's capacity begin to decline after use

The core reason why electric bikes have different endurance is that they use different batteries. The common 48V20AH and 48V32AH batteries have a capacity of only 0.96 kWh and a storage capacity of over 1.5 kWh respectively. The latter can definitely travel farther.

In addition to different battery capacities, electric bikes use different types of batteries. Even with the same capacity, the battery life will be different after using it for a period of time.

This is because the time it takes for capacity to decay varies for different types of electric bikes. Therefore, if you want your electric vehicle battery to be durable, it is necessary to choose a battery type with a slower capacity decay.

Comparison Table

First of all, the owners should understand how long it takes for the capacity of lead-acid, graphene, and lithium batteries installed in mainstream electric bikes to begin to decline. Let’s take a look at a timeline.

1. Ordinary lead-acid battery;

The number of cycles is 300~500 times, and the durability is relatively low. A brand new lead-acid battery will begin to show obvious degradation after 6~12 months.

2. Graphene lead-acid battery;

The number of cycles is 600~100 times. Due to the addition of durable graphene elements, it will take 12~18 months for the capacity to fade significantly.

3. Lithium iron phosphate battery;

The number of cycles can reach 2000~3000 times, the stability is higher, the risk of spontaneous combustion is lower than that of ternary lithium batteries, and the life is longer. Its theoretical life can reach 5~10 years, and it usually begins to decay significantly after 3~5 years.

4. Ternary lithium battery;

The number of cycles is 800~1500 times. Common electric two-wheeled bikes prefer to be equipped with ternary lithium batteries. Although many people complain about its safety, in reality, it will only show obvious attenuation after 2~3 years, which still shows its advantages.

The above-mentioned mainstream electric vehicle batteries are based on a timetable calculated based on their number of cycles (life span). Under normal use, it is highly referenceable. However, there are three exceptions.

The first case: high-intensity use of electric bikes

For those who use electric bikes for long-distance driving, food delivery and other purposes, their electric bikes need to be charged every day, or even more than once a day. This situation will inevitably cause the battery capacity to decay prematurely.

For example, a battery with 360 cycles can be used for about 3 years if it is used once every 3 days. The battery's capacity should begin to decay after 1 year. However, if it is charged once a day, the battery's theoretical life is only 1 year, so its decay will be advanced to 3 to 6 months.

The second case: poor battery quality and capacity will decay prematurely

The battery market has a mixed quality situation. Poor-quality batteries will have reduced chemical stability and a more fragile physical structure, resulting in reduced charging and discharging efficiency and rapid battery capacity decay. In addition, low-quality lead-acid batteries also have insufficient content of active substances (such as lead dioxide) and are prone to sulfidation (forming lead sulfate crystals), resulting in a rapid decrease in capacity.

Poor quality batteries are generally divided into the following categories: 1. Refurbished batteries, 2. Batteries with rough workmanship, and 3. Batteries with shoddy workmanship.

Generally, choosing batteries from big brands or original batteries from electric vehicle brands can avoid choosing batteries of poor quality.

The third case: Using electric bikes without considering battery maintenance

Batteries are very important, but at the same time they are relatively "weak". If you use an electric bike or overcharge it without considering the battery's feelings, the battery capacity will decay prematurely.

Excessively high temperatures can cause electrolyte evaporation. For lead-acid batteries, if the evaporation exceeds 30%, the battery capacity will significantly decrease. Lithium batteries cannot be charged at low temperatures, as these temperatures promote the growth of lithium dendrites, rapidly damaging the battery structure.

In addition, charging electric bikes for too long and over-discharging are factors that cause battery capacity to decay prematurely.

Summary:

In terms of battery capacity decay, lead-acid batteries > graphene batteries > lithium batteries. Furthermore, intensive use of electric bikes, low-quality batteries, and lack of maintenance can accelerate premature battery capacity decay, which bike owners should avoid. What are your thoughts on this? We welcome your comments and discussions.