Battery manufacture date and effect on it's lifespan.

[Steve Holland]

Hello, I'm new here having just bought a sirocco 2 from Woosh bikes. I've used the bike twice now to commute to work and am still adjusting to the pleasant pushing effect that the motor gives when pulling away from a
standstill and when cycling up hill, makes for big smiles all round.
The bike looks to be good value for money especially with the 15ah battery which brings me to my question. My bike looks to have been made in late 2012 with the battery possibly made august 2012 estimated by the age of the bike and the fact that the battery has 1208 (a guess) at the start of the serial number. As batteries deteriorate from manufacture how does age factor against the charge and discharge cycling in terms of the possible lifespan of the battery?

Thanks

Steve

 

[trex]

storage may affect your battery in two ways: reduce its capacity a little and damage your battery a little. However, if the battery is maintained correctly, the risk is small.
For storage, the battery needs to be kept at room temperature (18-21 C) in a state of charge between 20% and 80% charge capacity with a wake-up and excercise cycle (discharge 25% and recharge 25%) every two-three months.
You can check the state of health of your battery by simply keep riding and not charging your battery until it becomes nearly flat.
For a 36V 15AH battery, the range should be about 45-50 mile from a full charge. So keep riding as near that 45 miles as you dare.
The only way to measure the battery capacity is to discharge the battery into a known load until LVC (low voltage cutout) which is about 32V and measure the power consumption used to charge the battery back to full.
The best thing you can do for your battery is to use it a lot. Ride often, even in winter months.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I have a battery tester. I've tested some 3 year old unused batteries, and they had the same performance as new ones, so I don't think you have anything to worry about.

 

[Steve Holland]

Thanks for the replys I may try totaling the mileage just once to satisfy my curiosity.
I am the first person at work to get one of these bikes and one of the most often asked questions is how far will it go on a charge so a longer run without charging will give me an approximate idea.

 

[RobF]

Thanks for the replys I may try totaling the mileage just once to satisfy my curiosity.
I am the first person at work to get one of these bikes and one of the most often asked questions is how far will it go on a charge so a longer run without charging will give me an approximate idea.

Range is heavily dependent on hills, headwinds and how much grunt you dial up from the throttle/controller.

However, a good rule of thumb is between three and four miles per ah.

You have a 15ah battery which gives a range of between 45 and 60 miles.

Which I happen to know is correct because I had a Sirocco 2 on test.