I have a 2009 Kalkhoff Tasman with a Panasonic mid-drive. The battery is original to the bike, and has never been replaced. I recently went out for a fifteen mile ride, and only used about half of the total battery capacity. It was my first ride of the season, and it seemed as if the motor was not as strong as I remember. Is it possible that the aging motor and/or aging battery is actually less powerful? Or am I just imagining things because I am out of shape?
Does an old battery make the motor weaker?
- Thread starter drmorison
- Start date
rich c
Well-Known Member
It's the battery. A motor can only perform as well as the amount of current sent to it. Of course a motor can fail by bearing failure, bad solder joints, and magnet failure. But all those failure modes present themselves with noise or complete failure. Battery storage through the winter is critical to it's life. Storing at 100% capacity is not good for long life. Letting the battery level go below 20% is also not good for long life. You just can't ignore batteries in storage for them to last.
rich c
Well-Known Member
If you are measuring power by the seat of your pants, it's a difficult measuring tool. If you can watch battery performance by measuring current, then we have a mark to evaluate. Have you tuned up the bike? Air pressure in the tires, tuned the brakes so they don't rub, greased the wheel and pedal bearings if they are loose, etc. All those relate to the feel of the bike. Remember there is also a controller in the system. This is the control on current from the battery to the motor. I've never heard of them having a slight issue. They either work or they don't. Here is some reading on ebike batteries. https://electricbikereport.com/electric-bike-battery-basics-what-are-these-volts-amp-hours/
