Yes, electric bikes do need to be charged. As their name suggests, they are powered by electricity. This electricity powers the bike through a battery.
As a battery only has a limited amount of electricity life before it drains completely, this battery does need to be charged.
However, what is great about electric bikes is that they can be ridden without charge. This is particularly useful if your bike has run out of battery halfway through your journey, or if you are planning a journey that is longer than the miles the battery will last for.
The purpose of an electric bike is to assist with your pedaling.
So, if you are looking for the bike to assist you during every journey then it will need to be charged. But, if you are not planning to use the electric boost on a particular day, the bike can be used without being charged.
As electric bikes are typically purchased with the view of being used to assist with the pedaling, it is likely that you will want to charge the bike once the battery has run flat.
In terms of how long the battery lasts, they do have a fairly good life. While it will vary from bike to bike, on average the charge will last for around 25 miles at the most.
However, some bikes do have a battery life that will last for up to 75 miles.
It really does depend on the make and model of the electric bike you own.
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Should I charge my ebike after every ride?
When charging your ebike, you may assume that you can place it on charge at any point. However, it will benefit more from being charged at specific times.
There will be times when you have used your bike until the battery has run completely flat. This is something that is fine to do.
However, when the battery runs flat completely, where possible, you will want to charge it as quickly as you can. This will help to sustain the overall battery life and essentially ensure that it will last longer.
The battery that is used for ebikes is a lithium battery. While these batteries have a long life, they are not great if they are left for too long without being charged.
Given this, if you are using your ebike to the point of the battery running out each time you use it, yes, you should ensure you are charging it after every ride.
Ideally, you should try to maintain the ebike battery and not let it run out of charge often as this will prolong the life of the battery.
A lithium battery performs best when it remains between 80% to 20% charged. Given this, ideally if your battery is running on the low side after a walk you will want to charge it.
However, if you have only used a small amount of the battery, you do not need to charge it back up fully after that ride. It really will depend on the charge that is left at the end of your bike ride.
How often should you charge an electric bike?
There is not a set amount of time that you should charge the lithium battery of your ebike.
As we have mentioned, the lithium battery preferably should not be run until it is completely empty for a long period of time.
Whenever the bike’s charge is completely empty, you will want to charge it as soon as possible.
However, if the battery still has a reasonable amount of charge and is not below 20%, the bike does not necessarily need to be charged.
The battery will need to be charged in accordance to how often you use the bike.
If you are using it daily, it will need to be charged more often than a bike that is only used a few times a week.
A mistake that a lot of people will make is to overcharge the battery.
This is something you will want to avoid as it can actually have a negative impact on the battery life, and it will not last for as long as it should before it decreases.
While it is not wise to allow the battery to run completely flat for long periods, if you are doing this every, so often it will not overly affect the battery. The same stands for over changing the battery.
Ultimately, you should charge the battery as and when it needs to be charged.
There is not a set amount of time that is recommended, and it will vary depending on how much you are using the bike.
How do you charge an electric bike at home?
Charging an electric bike at home is such a simple task to complete. It only takes a short amount of time, and it is not too complicated in its process.
To charge the bike, first you will need to use the key to remove the battery.
It is worth noting that each make and model will have slightly different ways of doing this.
Once the battery has been safely removed from the bike you will want to plug the power cable into a power outlet in your home.
After you have done this, you will want to connect the charger to the battery.
While all the designs will be slightly different, the battery should indicate when it is charging. Typically, it will use a small LED light that will be red or orange when it is charging.
You will want to allow the battery to charge until the light turns green.
With lithium batteries it is important to not overcharge them. Given this, you will want to take the battery off charge as soon as you spot that it has turned green.
Once the battery has been disconnected from the power and is fully charged you will want to reattach it to the bike, and lock it back into place.
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