Is it Possible.........

[stemil]

For lead acid batteries to fail suddenly? By that I mean that they have good charge and range one minute then all of a sudden nothing.
The batteries are about 2 years old and have given very good service up to now, I'm still getting 38v, but the moment any load is put on them the voltage drops down to under 4 volts.

*Edit*

Doggone it, just realised I have posted in the wrong section, can this be removed?

 

[flecc]

Only admin can remove it, but don't worry stemil, we can answer here just as well. It is possible yes, the lead plates as they thin with age can buckle and short. With a weak and buckled plate almost touching an adjacent one, applying a load results in a further small movement and resulting shorting of the voltage.

Two years is quite a good life in e-bike usage.