Battery charge cycle

[Mike Moore]

Can someone explain what causes the battery charge cycle counter to increment for a Vado/Como battery? Does the battery need to be charged for a minimum length of time or does any amount of charging cause the counter to increment?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Can someone explain what causes the battery charge cycle counter to increment for a Vado/Como battery? Does the battery need to be charged for a minimum length of time or does any amount of charging cause the counter to increment?

It's a mystery. I have ridden my new Vado SL for 1178 km now. It were 24 rides, many of them leading to significant battery discharge (but never below 20%). Mission Control registered 13 charge cycles. We might guess that a charge cycle means providing fresh 320 Wh into the battery.

Now, let us think. 1178 km and 13 charge cycles. If the warranty expires at 300 charge cycles, that would (optimistically) be 1178 * 300 / 13 = 27185 km before the battery goes into worse state of health. As Vado SL is not my single e-bike, I could think of more than five years riding it, 5000 km a year.

P.S. I know you are asking about Vado/Como. Cannot check it right now with my Vado 5.0. I can only guess a charging cycle is pumping fresh 600 Wh into the largest of Vado/Como batteries. So if the battery is only slightly discharged and recharged, that is not the full charge cycle.

 

[Nxkharra]

Is the charge cycle ceiling after which the health of battery reduces 300 or 500 for turbo Vado 5? (possible replacement indicator).
I think you are correct @Stefan Mikes as I remember reading that the counter is equivalent of a full charge so fraction of a charge dos not count toward it but accumulates to calculate a full charge and then counts as 1.
Not sure if I am explaining my understanding clearly.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

As I said, it is a mystery... II have no hard data to confirm any theory.

 

[Nxkharra]

As I said, it is a mystery... II have no hard data to confirm any theory.

300 or 500 max??

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I cannot say anything, which might be strange but is true. I can only use my big Vado on weekends, and my access to that e-bike is limited. For instance, two years of riding with two batteries is reported as less than 100 full charging cycles for both batteries but the battery health dropped down to 95% for the old battery, and it is 90% for the newer one! I cannot make heads or tails of it!

On the other hand, the charging cycles seem to be growing very fast on my Vado SL internal and extender batteries, with 1% health drop after 6 months of riding...

 

[davidceder]

I asked Specialized that exact question about my Creo and here is the answer I received. I have no idea of applies to other bikes:

From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Taylor <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2021 9:35:45 AM
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject:EBike - Maintenance # 04656548

Hi,

Thank you for reaching out! A cycle is considered every time there is a cumulation of charges that equal 100%. So two charges from 50% up to full would be a full cycle. Or four charges from 75% to full would be a full cycle. I hope this helps!

Ride on!

Taylor | Specialized USA Rider Care