Hello all, 'tis been awhile since I've logged on! Not since I bought my eBike a couple years ago.
(I can hear you all grumbling now)...of course there are far too many factors to answer such an open-ended question like "how long will a battery last". But I must admit I am a bit embarassed to have missed such an important element in my pre-purchasing research. I purchased my Ezee Torq in the spring of 2008 after much info gathering. I guess I didn't give nearly enough thought to battery life since after only 582 miles (riding approx. twice per week and almost exclusively in the warmer months), my battery seems to be at only about half it's original capacity/power. Of course knowing that the batteries were expensive, I have been treating my battery well (according to the owner's manual). But had I done my homework better, I would have known to expect a battery life of about 2 to 3 years eh? How sad that the X factor for such a cool product would be an expensive part, equalling about 1/4 the cost of the product, that would need to be replaced every couple of years.
As it is, I contacted the place where I purchased my bike (Electric Vehicles NW in Seattle) and found that the owner will sell me a new battery at a reduced rate (I won't complain about that), but still at the steep price of $395 plus shipping. He suggests that the battery technology of the Li-Ion should deliver improved performance over past versions, but who can say for sure? Long story short, I guess I do have some general questions for the forum; Is it true that the newest Li-Ion batteries are better? And what can I do to maximize the life of my battery?
thanks!
-s
(I can hear you all grumbling now)...of course there are far too many factors to answer such an open-ended question like "how long will a battery last". But I must admit I am a bit embarassed to have missed such an important element in my pre-purchasing research. I purchased my Ezee Torq in the spring of 2008 after much info gathering. I guess I didn't give nearly enough thought to battery life since after only 582 miles (riding approx. twice per week and almost exclusively in the warmer months), my battery seems to be at only about half it's original capacity/power. Of course knowing that the batteries were expensive, I have been treating my battery well (according to the owner's manual). But had I done my homework better, I would have known to expect a battery life of about 2 to 3 years eh? How sad that the X factor for such a cool product would be an expensive part, equalling about 1/4 the cost of the product, that would need to be replaced every couple of years.
As it is, I contacted the place where I purchased my bike (Electric Vehicles NW in Seattle) and found that the owner will sell me a new battery at a reduced rate (I won't complain about that), but still at the steep price of $395 plus shipping. He suggests that the battery technology of the Li-Ion should deliver improved performance over past versions, but who can say for sure? Long story short, I guess I do have some general questions for the forum; Is it true that the newest Li-Ion batteries are better? And what can I do to maximize the life of my battery?
thanks!
-s