Electric bikes just like electric scooters and cars use batteries in order to work. However, batteries have their own lifespan (number of cycles) and typically they last two to three years, depending on their type and battery maintenance. Therefore, after a certain time, it is necessary to change and buy a new battery for an electric bicycle. But how much do batteries actually cost, and what affects their price? In this article, we will give you the answer to those questions. So, let’s start!
How Much Does An Electric Bike Battery Cost?
So How Much Does An Electric Bike Battery Cost? A typical battery for electric bike costs between $400 – $800. What affects the price of a battery is its capacity, number of cycles, and quality. The lithium-ion battery is the most used type of battery for electric bikes, and its price is around $140 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
The brand and the type of battery are what determines the cost of electric bike batteries. In most cases, the cost of a battery is shown in the ratio cost/Wh. A large number of electric bikes are equipped with lithium batteries. These batteries have more advantages over other types like lead-acid and nickel-metal hydride batteries.
Electric Bike Battery Cost Range:
| Battery Model: | Energy: | Capacity: | Price: |
| Yamaha X0W107 Bicycle Battery | 504 Wh | 36V 14Ah | $620 |
| Li-ion PowerPack 500 Bosch | 500 Wh | 13.4 Ah | $560 |
| Li-ion Downtube E-Bike Battery | 672 Wh | 48v 14Ah | $700 |
| Green Cell E-Bike Battery | 864 Wh | 48V 18Ah | $380 |
| Yamaha E-Bike Battery | 400 Wh | 36V 11.6Ah | $450 |
| Wallen Power Panasonic Electric Bike Battery | 720 Wh | 36V 20AH | Check Price |
| Prophete Samsung Lithium-ion Battery | 374 Wh | 36V 10.4AH | Check Price |
If you want to know How Much Does An Electric Scooter Battery Costs, read this article.
How To Choose The Right Battery For Your Electric Bike?
Every electric bike is designed differently and has a built-in battery that matches its characteristics. Therefore, you cannot select any battery to use it on your electric bike, but you have to choose it according to its capacity, input voltage, and nominal capacity. Therefore, when choosing a new battery, you must check the previous model of your battery, and see its capacity, and input voltage, and use these parameters to look for a new battery.
Electric Bike Battery Parameters:
- Rated Capacity (Wh)
- Rated Power (W)
- Input voltage (V)
- Nominal Capacity (Ah)
Where You Can Buy Electric Bike Battery?
Electric bike batteries can be purchased in the nearest bike repair shop or online true Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and others. If you have a more popular electric bike model like Pedego, X-treme, Izip, or Rad Power Bikes, you will easily find a replacement battery. Most of the popular electric bike batterie manufactures are LG, Samsung, and OptimumNano. For other brands, it’s a little bit harder to find a replacement battery.
Best places to find a new electric scooter battery:
- Bike or moped repair shops
- Online true Amazon, Walmart, eBay
- Order from your electric bike manufacturer
Electric Bike Battery Replacement
When you buy an electric bike, you will find out that each model is different, and the way the battery is replaced is not always the same on every bike. Some models have a battery mounted on the frame under the seat, and you simply need to be disconnected it in order to replace the new one, while some batteries are located inside the electric bike and need to be disassembled to do so (which can be a problem).
In most cases, bikes that have a battery that is placed on the frame just need a key in order to replace them with a new one. If the battery is inside the bike, then it would be best to take your electric bike to the store where you bought it or to some other bike shop to have the battery replaced.
What Determines The Electric Bike Battery Cost?
The main things that determine the price of any battery for an electric bike are its power, the type of battery (brand), and a rated capacity. Electric bikes most often run on a lithium-ion (Li-ion) and lithium-polymer (Li-Po) battery pack. The main reason why these batteries are used is that they have great stability, the ability to store a large capacity of energy per unit, and because they have the largest lifespan. On the market, the current price of a Li-ion battery pack is somewhere around $140 per kilowatt-hour (kW).
Avoid Cheap And Used Batteries
When replacing the battery, never use used or low-quality battery models. These types of batteries can be dangerous. The battery is the most important component of an electric bicycle and original batteries that meet the right specifications should be used. Cheap models are usually made of low-quality materials and will have a much shorter lifespan than anticipated. You can easily spot low-quality batteries by their price range.
How Long Does An Electric Bike Battery Last?
A typical lithium-ion battery can last about two to three years which is equal to around 300 to 500 charge cycles. After the battery exceeds more than 500 cycles, battery capacity starts to decline, which leads to a reduced range. But there are always exceptions, so there are cases where the driver can go 10,000 miles (16,000 km) and the battery is still in full capacity. When you frequently charge the battery, after a certain time the range goes down.
Factors that also depend on how long the battery on an electric bike lasts are how the battery is stored, how often it is charged, and the number of deep discharges. Too cold temperatures may destroy the battery cells, so it is advisable during the winter to store them in the house and to charge it to least 40%.
Battery Management System (BMS)
A battery management system (BMS) is an electronic control circuit that monitor and regulates the charging and discharging of batteries. The battery parameters to be monitored include the detection of the battery type, the battery voltage, the temperature and the voltages of the battery cells, the battery capacity, the state of charge, the current consumption, the remaining operating time, the charging cycle, and a few more parameters.
The task of battery management systems is to ensure the optimal use of the remaining energy in a battery. In order to avoid damage to the batteries, BMS systems protect the batteries from deep discharges, overvoltages, from charging too quickly, and from too high a discharge current. In the case of multi-cell batteries, the battery management system takes care of the battery balancing, which is expressed in the fact that the different battery cells have the same state of charge and state of discharge.
If you want to learn more about this, you can read my article Electric Scooter Batteries – Ultimate Guide.
How To Extend Electric Bike Battery Life?
Batteries have a limited lifespan, which can be much shorter than that of the device they power. This lifespan is counted as a charge cycle. Battery technology has continued to evolve and lithium-ion batteries have become the most commonly used batteries on the market. Having a 100% or 0% battery is far from ideal. As in everything in life, balance is the best solution, and a charge between 40% and 80% allows you to best preserve battery life.
Of course, it is not always easy to keep a constant eye on its charge, and it is therefore not uncommon to forget it, but this method is the safest in order to prolong its lifetime. By doing so, it is possible to double to triple the number of charge cycles. Besides that, here are some tips on what you can do to extend your battery life even more:
- Avoid Depp Discharges
Every battery has a so-called end-of-discharge voltage, i.e. a defined voltage at which the battery is automatically discharged. With it comes to lithium-ion batteries, usually, the end-of-discharge voltage is 2.50 volts, while with lithium-polymer batteries it is around 3.30 volts. In other words when the battery is below 5%. This condition can permanently damage the battery because it can cause copper bridges to form in the battery, which leads to a short circuit as soon as you want to recharge the battery.
- Avoid Cold Temperatures
The battery life is reduced at low temperatures. In order to keep the battery life cycle on your electric bike, you need to store your batteries at room temperature and avoid cold places. Cold temperatures can permanently damage battery cells and by that, the battery can lose its full capacity.
- Always Use The Correct Charger
Every electric bike model has its unique charger which is designed to charge the battery. While it may seem at first normal that it doesn’t matter which charger you use to charge the battery as long as it can be plugged into a bike, that’s far from the truth. Using the wrong charger can damage the battery on your bike and reduce its lifespan.
How To Choose The Right Battery For Your Electric Bike?
Choosing the right battery for your electric bike is very important because it’s the most vital component of an electric bike. When choosing a battery for your electric bike model, you need to see in the manual or on the label which battery is compatible, ie what is the input voltage and power it can support.
Basic Electric Bike Battery Terminologies
Before you decide to buy a new electric battery for your bike, you need to understand the basic terminology that is used to describe the battery. After going through the following subsections, you’ll understand how to choose the right battery for your electric bike.
The list of most important terms used when choosing an electric battery:
- Ampere (A)
- Ampere-Hour (Ah)
- Voltage (V)
- Watt-Hour (Wh)
- Watts (W)
- Ampere (A)
The ampere is a measure of the amount of electric charge (electric current). For example, 1 ampere is the current in which 1 coulomb travels across a given point in 1 second.
- Ampere-Hour (Ah)
The ampere-hour (Ah) is a unit of electric charge. The ampere-hour number tells us the amount of current (amperes) by the time (in hours) that flows true the battery. For example, a battery of 15Ah can discharge 15A for 1 hour continuously, or discharge a 1.5A for 10 hours continuously.
- Voltage (V)
Voltage is the unit that describes the pressure that pushes electricity. It’s known as the electrostatic potential difference between 2 conductors. For example, the high-powered electric bike battery voltage is around 400 volts.
- Watts (W)
Watts presents the unit of power (W). When the battery has a higher number (W), the more power output goes from your electric bike. The formula is the following: P (W) = U (V) x I (A).
- Watt-Hour (Wh)
This unit of power tells us how many watts per hour were consumed. The total power per time. If we have 100 Wh, it means that the battery discharges 100 watts per 1 hour.
Types of Battery
There are a lot of types of batteries, but the ones most commonly used in electric bikes are lithium-ion.
- Lead Acid
- Nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd)
- Nickel-metal Hydride (NiMH)
- Lithium-ion (Li-ion)
Conclusion
Sometimes choosing the best type of li-ion battery for your electric bike can be frustrating. There are a lot of different models on the market, and their price range varies. A typical electric bike battery costs around $500 and lasts on average two to three years. As we explained in this article, you can only replace the new battery with a suitable one (you can’t use any battery).
Most electric bikes don’t have problems with replacing the battery, while on some models you will need to disassemble your bike to replace it. Also, keep in mind that properly maintaining the battery extends its life. I hope this article has helped you and made your search for a new battery easier.