E-bike & battery life span?

[E Moses]

I've been riding electric bikes for less than a year now and I always wondered about the average life span of an electric bike, and of the battery especially.

I had my first e-bike for 2 weeks before the bike failed (frankly, out of the box it looked like a returned item). Was replaced with a new bike and it served me well for 7 months before I sold it. It was Cyclamatic Step-through 24v 9Ah. Now I've upgraded to A2B Hybrid 24, with a 36v 10Ah battery. Significantly a more comfortable ride. I'm just curious what to expect in terms of bike life span. BTW, I'm a 'careful' user and cycle about 4 miles everyday.

Sorry for my newbie questions!

 

[D8ve]

Barring accidents your 1000 miles a year is nothing significant. The bike will need basic maintenance oiling and brake adjustment, perhaps replacing the odd part and you should expect 3 to 10 years of fairly trouble free riding.

 

[soundwave]

if it has decent cells and taken care off it should last for years but over time it will give less.

my bosch 400w is over 2 years old now and id say ive lost about 15% from new

 

[E Moses]

Barring accidents your 1000 miles a year is nothing significant. The bike will need basic maintenance oiling and brake adjustment, perhaps replacing the odd part and you should expect 3 to 10 years of fairly trouble free riding.

If I get 3 years free of trouble, I'll consider myself lucky.

 

[D8ve]

My current bike is about 15 years old. The three before we're all over 3 years old and it was upgrade and 4*4 damage that made me move on not the bikes failing.
But in over 3,000 miles I have replaced the chain twice, brake pads once, changed to rear gear hub and tyres once After a few punctures.

 

[E Moses]

My current bike is about 15 years old. The three before we're all over 3 years old and it was upgrade and 4*4 damage that made me move on not the bikes failing.

I don't worry really about normal bikes - I can fix the odd problems every now and then. It is the electric bike, which is my primary transport, that I don't know what to expect of it as far as life span is concerned. But, WOW! 15 years...that's like a century in human life!

 

[soundwave]

tesla use the same cell tech in there cars

 

[D8ve]

Ah the bike is 15 the BBS kit is six months and 1070 miles then I got a controller/display problem pedalling without power until I fix it.
The Panasonic crank drives easily did 5 years.

 

[E Moses]

Ah the bike is 15 the BBS kit is six months and 1070 miles then I got a controller/display problem pedalling without power until I fix it.
The Panasonic crank drives easily did 5 years.

When my first e-bike failed, I was pedalling without power for nearly two weeks. It was slightly heavier than a normal bike, but that increased my the muscle mass on my skinny legs

 

[D8ve]

I ain't skinny
And I do ride the bickerton and that's over 40 years old. It did need a strip down and clean of the SA 3spd gear hub.

 

[Ruadh495]

A bike should last indefinitely, surely? You just replace wearing parts as they fail. I'm hoping the electric system is the same, some bits are consumable and will need occasional replacement (battery cells, motor gears), other bits should just last. You replace only the bits which have worn out.

My base bike is about 30, but most of the bearings have been replaced at least once. Just under a year and 4000miles on the electric kit so far.

 

[flecc]

The A2B is strong and should easily last ten years. Transmission wear should be low given its moped like power, so at 1000 miles a year the chain and sprockets could easily exceed 5 years if you give them the occasional drop of oil.

Tyres, three or four years at that annual mileage, but brake pads depends on your brake usage and terrain of course.

The battery should cover three years of use and at your low daily need of 4 miles might still be usable at 5 years plus.

Other than that the occasional puncture.
.

 

[anotherkiwi]

You will use brake pads/liners/whatever because of the extra weight. I ride up and down steepish hills, there isn't much flat terrain here and my battery is starting to show wear after 18 months and +4000 km.

 

[Izzyekerslike]

tesla use the same cell tech in there cars

My friend has a Hybrid Porche Panamera which has been diagnosed with a faulty battery pack... Good job it's under warranty. Porche have told him the replacement cost is £22000!!

 

[Crockers]

if it has decent cells and taken care off it should last for years but over time it will give less.

my bosch 400w is over 2 years old now and id say ive lost about 15% from new

Is that the battery life or parts off the bike.

 

[soundwave]

i have only lost 1 bolt off my bike, the only one i cant put a cable tie through

 

[E Moses]

My friend has a Hybrid Porche Panamera which has been diagnosed with a faulty battery pack... Good job it's under warranty. Porche have told him the replacement cost is £22000!!

And I thought a £500 replacement battery for the A2B was a disaster.

 

[flecc]

And I thought a £500 replacement battery for the A2B was a disaster.

Not just Porsche with scary battery prices, the BionX ebike kits 36 volt 9.6 Ah downtube battery was listed at £1050 last time I looked some while ago.

They seem to have replaced it since with different voltage and capacities between $975 and $1,250 in the USA, not listed here but would probably be the same in pounds.
.

 

[E Moses]

Not just Porsche with scary battery prices, the BionX ebike kits 36 volt 9.6 Ah downtube battery was listed at £1050 last time I looked some while ago.

They seem to have replaced it since with different voltage and capacities between $975 and $1,250 in the USA, not listed here but would probably be the same in pounds.
.

Gee whiz!!