Best Charging Practice Townie Go/Bosch 400 Battery

[Inca32]

I just purchased a new Townie Go 8 step through electric bike. The owners manual does not have any information about when and how often and how much to charge the Bosch 400 battery other then plug it on in when it’s low and then shows 1bar at 20% and 5 at 100%. I want to make sure that I don’t shorten the life of the battery because Of the way I maintained it. I ride on average of 10 to 12 miles a day from March-November in the economy or touring mode.

I would appreciate any suggestions on the proper charging practices for these battery types. Previous bike was an IZIP with SLA batteries that I charged after every ride.

 

[ilanarama]

This battery guide posted in the 'resources' part of the forums has a lot of very useful information!

I also have the Bosch 400. I charge it when I'm down to 1 bar, or if I expect that I don't have enough juice to make my next ride. (I typically ride 7-10 miles when I use it, mostly in eco or tour but I use sport and turbo to get up the steep hill I live on.) When I charge it I check after 2 hours and usually it's flashing the 5th bar, and I unplug it then.

 

[FlatSix911]

I just purchased a new Townie Go 8 step through electric bike. The owners manual does not have any information about when and how often and how much to charge the Bosch 400 battery other then plug it on in when it’s low and then shows 1bar at 20% and 5 at 100%. I want to make sure that I don’t shorten the life of the battery because Of the way I maintained it. I ride on average of 10 to 12 miles a day from March-November in the economy or touring mode.

I would appreciate any suggestions on the proper charging practices for these battery types. Previous bike was an IZIP with SLA batteries that I charged after every ride.

The Li-on Batteries are identical to EV car cells and should be charged from 20-80% for maximum range and longevity.

 

[DouglasB]

I didn't want to make a big thing out of maintaining my battery but didn't want to abuse it either, so I did a lot of reading. From what I gather, the two worst things you can do are, to drain it completely, and store it fully charged. With that in mind I never let the battery drop below one bar, only charge it prior to a ride and store it with a partial charge. I do fully charge it when I ride, even though it's frowned upon by some. My reasoning is that it will only be at a full charge for a very short period of time and my understanding is that it's more the time left at full charge that does the damage than simply bringing it to a full charge. Easy Peasy. Less worry, more fun!

 

[Waterboy]

Bosch advise that you let it get down to 1 or 2 bars, and then charge fully. This is because their battery management system acts to equalise cell levels of charge once the battery is fully charged, and the advatages of having an evenly balanced battery outweigh the minimal disadvantages of fully charging. Their one absolute is never to leave battery with less than one bar uncharged. I have read the stuff on only charging to 80%, and i wouldn't want to comment on what might apply to other batteries/charging systems; but when the engineers who developed the Bosch system I ride tell me to fully charge, I'm happy to take their advice.

 

[Waterboy]

The only caveat to my above answer is if you are planning to store your battery for in excess of six months, in which case charging to 60% is recommended, monitoring its condition, and bringing charge level back to 60% if needed. Day to day, or weekend to weekend, though just go for fully charging. Btw my Raleigh Motus came with a separate instruction book for the power pack and charger, I wouldn't be susprised if you could download it from their site.

 

[FlatSix911]

Bosch advise that you let it get down to 1 or 2 bars, and then charge fully. This is because their battery management system acts to equalise cell levels of charge once the battery is fully charged, and the advatages of having an evenly balanced battery outweigh the minimal disadvantages of fully charging. Their one absolute is never to leave battery with less than one bar uncharged. I have read the stuff on only charging to 80%, and i wouldn't want to comment on what might apply to other batteries/charging systems; but when the engineers who developed the Bosch system I ride tell me to fully charge, I'm happy to take their advice.

Good advice to never let your battery remain at a very low 0-20% state of charge without recharging.

It is also very hard on a battery and will reduce the lifespan if you leave the battery at 100% full charge... you want to start a ride right away.

This question has been studied extensively with respect to the same 18650 batteries used in many electric vehicles. Best to stay between 20-80%.

BU-808: How to Prolong Lithium-based Batteries

BU meta description needed...

batteryuniversity.com

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

This is because their battery management system acts to equalise cell levels of charge once the battery is fully charged,

Do you have any source for this?
Bosch uses advanced BMS that balances cells even at 80%.
It is some of the cheaper BMS' that need full charge for balancing to kick in.

The last 20% of the charge takes a while because the current is gradually brought down.