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ELECTRIC BIKE BATTERIES EXPLAINED

A good Lithium battery pack can cost as much, and often even more than the rest of your electric bike kit. Picking the right pack for the job is very important. Below, you will find information to get you on the right path to ebike happiness!.. Read-on!To get more news about ebike battery charging, you can visit magicyclebike.com official website.

Back in the late 90's when I first started learning about ebikes and related electric bicycle conversion kits, I found myself looking at a website offering a Lead Acid 150$ battery pack and then scrolling downwards, a NIMH pack, the holy grail option at 1200$ ! .. say what ? … nearly 10x the price for only double the range? That can't be right ?. can it ?

The Big Question: How do you get the most battery for your hard earned money?

Well, the first step is to learn about and get an understanding of the basics regarding battery packs, then determine what you need and what you can afford. The last thing you ever want to deal with, is being far from home and suddenly losing power! Going out for a ride with confidence, knowing that you will have a great time, enjoying the ride, the sights and sounds and then getting home without any stress is the ultimate goal and will result in you wanting to do it over and over again.. Every day.. "Ebiking" is a way of life for some of us, equipment failures and getting stranded far from home, not on my list, at any price!

Range, how far can you go on a full charge? Well, ladies and gentlemen, my personal number one pet peeve, Range Estimates! Every company, website and sales person struggles with this, on one side you have the desire to claim the best case scenario as it makes the best sales pitch, but on the flip side, if it looks too good to be true, It usually is. Fact is this, expect typically 20 miles / 32 Km from an average 6 to 8 Lb Lithium battery, that is the universal truth and pretty much the most honest statement a company can make.
More range and less weight are not possible in real life, until battery tech improves significantly, those are the realities, for everyone. 6 to 8 lbs for 20 miles of no-pedal range at 20 mph. No matter what battery pack and who sells it, get the real weight and base your range on that information.

Those who claim " 100 miles on a single charge " either have a 40 Lb ($$$$$) battery, or they intend you to pedal for 80 miles, then turn on the power for another 20... If any battery pack could deliver 100 miles of no-pedal range on a single charge and weigh less than 10 lbs, gasoline would cost much less. On some ebikes equipped with pedal sensors and no throttle at the handlebars, that require you to pedal for power to flow, range estimates can be true at very low power settings. However, given the rider is pedaling and providing human power, this is not no-pedal range and makes a significant difference.

If your ebike has a handlebar throttle, that allows the motor to run without pedaling, power consumption is much greater. It's important to understand how your ebike works, a 500w kit does not use exactly 500w, all of the time. If you pedal without using power, your battery remains fully charged until you use it, It is entirely possible to ride a whole day on a charge by using it sparingly. That being said, most people ride with the throttle firmly pinned to " max " and in this fashion, expect 20 miles from a 6 to 8 lb battery in one hour before you run out of power on most bikes. (*insert fine print here)

What is a Battery Pack? .. well.. It's a pack of batteries! A pack is made of a number of smaller battery cells all stacked in a specific way to deliver the required power that your ebike system needs to function. You must pick the right pack, for your application!

Volts and Amps: Without going into too much confusing detail, Voltage is what pushes ( speed ) the flow of electric energy, while Amps is a measure of Force. Typically, higher Voltage electric bikes go faster, while higher Amps require thicker gauge wires and/or more powerful and larger battery packs. Combination of Volts and Amps equal Watts.

Ok, time to crunch some numbers and get down to the nitty gritty of it. All batteries and battery packs will have fine print, listing various things of high importance, put on the bifocals and squint, expect to find things like :