How long can you expect an e-bike to last?
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Mr. Coffee
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- A Demented Corner of the North Cascades
I've never snapped a chain on any e-bike. So I do not know if you are referring to something that you think happens frequently or not.
Invoking Mr. Coffee's law on this thread.
I bought a Giant twist ebike in March 2009. i still ride it every day with the original batteries. They are getting a little low after 25k miles but I’m still getting about 9 miles out of each of the two batteries that came with the bike. That right, they made a duel battery ebike in 2009. I broke the rear rim in a pot hole and the plastic battery holders and locks were also replaced. I figured I’d spent about $300 on the bike in the 11 years I’ve had it. That bike cost $2100 when I bought it. That was a lot back in 2009. I think you get what you pay for. Ed
Bicyclista
Well-Known Member
Anectodal evidence is not good science. You would have to collect evidence from hundreds of thousands of users to draw firm conclusions. Not that anectodal evidence is not useful. It's better than nothing. With these words of caution I offer my own experience: I have nearly 9,000 miles and 3 ½ years on my Haibike full-suspension mid-drive mountain bike. Nothing has ever gone wrong with the Yamaha motor, the battery, or the electronics. I have probably lost about 5 to 10% of the original battery capacity. I had to replace a tire due to a large puncture and the dropper seat post due to intermittent failure to rebound. I replace the chain due to elongation (it has never snapped) every 2 to 3,000 miles, which I consider normal maintenance. I replace the brake pads when they wear out. That's it.
I would be happy if I got 20,000 km out of the battery on my Vado. I will be buying a second one so we can do some longer tours. My first bike was a BionX that I put about 8,000 km commuting on and it is still running for second owner, but he rides in in the winter too so battery is probably ready for replacement. And my second bike was a Shimano mid-drive which had about 3000km on it when I sold it. That owner babies his bikes. Shimano motor was good but I found the Nexus auto shift rear hub cumbersome on hills, which I have plenty of around here.
Yamahonian
Active Member
I figure if I get 3 years of solid use out of my bike (BH Rebel Lynx fully) I will be happy. However, as a new e-bike owner, I have found that all the accessories/add-ones quickly add up in price! These should outlast my current eBike, and then paying for a shiny new one in a few years won't be so bad.
Readytoride
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- USA
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- Virginia
This is the main topic of discussion on all the electric car forums. The SOH (state of health) is the biggest concern for electric cars, and I've probably learned more there (in the forums) on the construction , chemical makeup, and life expectancy (based on external temperature conditions and time itself) of lithium batteries than I'd learn anywhere else.
The rise of the electric cars has also taught us that disruptive technology sets us down a path that often is hard to predict. That said, I fully expect in 5 years time that electric bikes will have become so mainstream that there will be plenty of sources available that would easily replace (or repack) an ebike battery with a failing SOH, and have readily available parts and replacements for the ebikes, much in the same vein that we can procure parts right now for our old non-electric bikes.
Unlike my electric car, I don't have the means to determine the accurancy of the SOH of my bike battery. I guess "seat of pants" guessology will have to suffice until a tool becomes available - which I hope will happen soon.
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Stefan Mikes
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- Mazovia, Poland
You are riding e-bikes far more than an average person David. I also hope your e-bikes still are under the warranty? I still think of @Marcparis who rode 45,000 km on his Riese & Muller e-bike and his biggest issue was the motor that had to be replaced once on Marc's journey (that greatly exceeded the exploits of Alexander the Great)
The future is uncertain. I gladly hope my e-bikes could survive 5 years.
Beardystarstuff
Member
When I was an active cyclist 20 years ago I regularly rode 4,000 to 6,000 miles a year. Then a knee injury and no bike at all until recently. But a lot of active (non E-bike) cyclists ride those kinds of miles. I guess the deal we make when we ride e-bikes is dependency on the assist. Of course, that’s fine as many of us are happy to be riding a bike at all and due to health/age might not be able to were it not for e-bikes. My knees have been feeling really good in the past couple months of riding and I rode about a mile unassisted, flat road and then a slight incline the other day. It was easier than I thought though I’m sure a real hill would be difficult to impossible with a 70lb bike! But I’m also not sure my knees could go back to a regular bike, certainly not likely at the miles I’m riding.
But back to the point of the thread, I’d guess that lots of folks get an e-bike for short trips and occasional rides. In other words, light usage. As Stefan suggests, the average is probably far less mileage per year. That said, I’d hope that, in general, the motors would be dependable and I’m curious now what the average lifespan is. There are those of us that want or need to ride 6,000+ miles a year. I’d assumed 3 to 5 years could be expected. I certainly don’t mind replacing parts as needed, including the battery and the motor. For those using e-bikes as replacements for cars, even a yearly cost of ownership of $1,000 isn’t too bad when compared to car payments, taxes, insurance and maintenance.
Stefan Mikes
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- Europe
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- Mazovia, Poland
This is certainly not that simple. When you say about your own past experiences, you mean very active cyclists (4000-6000 mi per year. I believe the majority of traditional cyclists (average Joe or Joan) take relatively short rides. Let me use kilometres as I am more familiar with these units.
My friend Jerzy (73) is an active "analog" cyclist. He feels ashamed he stayed home through the whole winter while I was riding. On March 1st (yesterday), he went on his first 2020 ride. He did 41 km in 2 h 40 minutes, with average speed of 15.5 km/h. I must add he has the stamina, is healthy as for his age, and as a retired person has nothing else to do. So he rides more frequently than an average person and covers longer distances than the most.
Now, I'm younger than my friend but I suffer from several illnesses. My 43 km e-bike ride took me about 1h 46 min with the average speed of almost 24 km. Another trip of mine was 61 km with the net riding time of 2 h 47 min and average speed of 21.8 km/h. It means I can cover one-and-a-half distance more on an e-bike than my friend can on a traditional bike during the same time; and I don't depend on the headwind so much as he does.
David Berry rode almost 17,000 km on his e-bikes in 2019. Jerzy did about 7,000 km on his Class 0 bike. My point was David rode a huge distance on his e-bikes and most probably manufacturers of e-bikes haven't realized that e-bikes will break soon because of their excessive use...
Captain Slow
Well-Known Member
Regarding car replacement, I think here in Canada CAA has estimated that the average car costs around $9k a year after you factor in insurance, gas, R&M, depreciation, parking, etc …… So certainly $1k a year for an ebike including the maintenance is pretty cheap.
In terms of how long an ebike will last and cost maybe it's useful to compare to something like golf which is a popular activity in retirement (which I believe is the age many on this forum are). With golf you're probably paying about $100 in green fees every time you golf or you're paying for a golf membership which annually is probably the cost of a mid-end ebike.
In terms of how long an ebike will last and cost maybe it's useful to compare to something like golf which is a popular activity in retirement (which I believe is the age many on this forum are). With golf you're probably paying about $100 in green fees every time you golf or you're paying for a golf membership which annually is probably the cost of a mid-end ebike.
Beardystarstuff
Member
Agreed Stefan! Yes, very active cyclists are riding that. And you’re right, it’s not simple. I’m sure we could go to great lengths coming up with all sorts of scenarios. Also very much agreed that it’s easier to cover far more ground with an e-bike in a shorter span of time. That’s what I’m finding as well. Agreed with your last point too and that’s sort of what I’m curious about, are some of us riding more miles than intended by the manufacturers? Surely as time goes on and more people ride e-bikes that designs will improve as will durability. It’s still a new market with a wide variety of uses and users. But all in all, I think the e-bike is a fantastic evolution of the bicycle and I’m super happy to have mine!
LimboJim
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- Region
- USA
You left out my personal favorite "mainstream" motor line, Shimano STePS. Their 504Wh batteries go for about $600, 416Wh for under $500. I expect they'll be supporting their "older" (still OEM on many new models) systems for years, if not decades.
STePS systems have only been around since 2016, I believe, but I've ridden THOUSANDS of trail miles on Shimano, Yamaha, Bosch, and Brose powered pedelecs in the past 5 years, and I've never had a failure. The one Bafang mid-drive ebike I had for about 6 months in 2016, a Biktirx Juggernaut, did have some motor issues, but I'd gotten it cheap from CL's and it sold for what I paid pretty easily on Craigslist. Last I heard the buyer basically "lives with" the motor's intermittent problems - he doesn't ride much...
Edit: I also have a 2015 TranzX motor equipped iZip Sumo fat ebike (still going like the Energizer bunny), which has pretty much exclusively been my snow-riding bike for the past dew years. In its first couple years, however, it was one of my main, year-round trail bikes, and its motor didn't "fail" but had a weird surging issue. iZip sent me a replacement motor, which I plug-n-played myself in like a half hour, and it's been great since. The only other issues I've had with that 5 year old bike have been tiddlywink bike hardware stuff like hubs etc. Some cheap choices were made there...
Regarding the comment about aluminum frames having a 5 year lifespan, my 2002 aluminum alloy Stumpjumper FSR lasted 10+ years with no issues - it's still in my garage but hasn't seen trails for several years. I'm didn't jump many stumps with it (casual/recreational riding only), but I'd be confident taking it out today - 18 years later!
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Browneye
Well-Known Member
rich c
Well-Known Member
Not everyone snaps chains on Bosch mid drives. I had 2,500 miles on my original chains, and almost 3,500 now on the original cassette on one and 3,200 on the other original cassette. Both Haibikes are speed versions. Still on original brake pads on both.
Asher
Well-Known Member
E-bike battery prices are still insane. Car batteries now cost ~$0.16 per watt hour (link below), e-bikes cost anywhere from $0.50 (Frey) to $1 (Juiced) to $2 (Bosch), roughly. I understand due to lower volume, fewer cells per battery and such a higher price, but a 6-10x markup is pretty high.
@Browneye, are there battery packing services available? I looked into it two years ago and found at best a place in Vegas, and ground shipping of batteries sans vehicle is kinda dicey legally to begin with.
insideevs.com
@Browneye, are there battery packing services available? I looked into it two years ago and found at best a place in Vegas, and ground shipping of batteries sans vehicle is kinda dicey legally to begin with.
BloombergNEF: Average Battery Prices Fell To $156 Per kWh In 2019
According to BloombergNEF, this year the average EV battery pack prices decreased to around $156/kWh, which is some 87% less than in 2010.
insideevs.com
Browneye
Well-Known Member
E-bike battery prices are still insane. Car batteries now cost ~$0.16 per watt hour (link below), e-bikes cost anywhere from $0.50 (Frey) to $1 (Juiced) to $2 (Bosch), roughly. I understand due to lower volume, fewer cells per battery and such a higher price, but a 6-10x markup is pretty high.
@Browneye, are there battery packing services available? I looked into it two years ago and found at best a place in Vegas, and ground shipping of batteries sans vehicle is kinda dicey legally to begin with.
BloombergNEF: Average Battery Prices Fell To $156 Per kWh In 2019
According to BloombergNEF, this year the average EV battery pack prices decreased to around $156/kWh, which is some 87% less than in 2010.
Try here...Court even did a show and tell there: https://www.fthpower.com/
Good reputation AFAIK.
MechaNut
Active Member
Like all vehicles it depends on how well you maintain it and how many miles/km you put on the bike per year. I mostly ride my e-bikes for commuting. I put around 500 miles on one bike and 100 miles on the other in the short time I rode last year. Assuming I keep the drive train clean and lubricated and regularly check my wheels, tires, and brakes for wear I should reasonably expect my e-bikes to last 8-10 years at my current riding pace before any major issues arise.
Also, please keep in mind that David did about 15,000km (over 9000 miles) of riding last year. He is going to put a lot of wear and tear on his e-bikes in a short time.
indianajo
Well-Known Member
I paid $221 for a 1200 w geared hub motor+controller+throttle+display+brake disks&calipers in 26" wheel from ebikeling.com. About 4000 miles later, 2 years, the wheel bearing is thumping. Considering the price, I'd say that reliability is okay. Maybe equivalent quality to a motor from juiced or magnum. Going to disassemble and see if bearings can be bought by dimension. I really expected the gears to go out first. However, 80% or more of my riding is unpowered, so bearing gets a lot more wear than the gears. Have a mac12t geared hub motor in garage if I can't buy bearings, but making mounts for the controller & throttle, changing the wire ends, changing the torque arms, would take longer than disassembly of the old motor, possibly. The bike left is a power wheel conversion of a pedal yubabike. Had a direct drive hub motor apart once, it used 6801 bearings which are a common auto part. The auto supply 6801s would be from a different country that uses real steel instead of recycled lead/brass/aluminum/ferrous mystery metal to make parts. I've used evercool 6802's from the auto supply for riding lawnmower deck quills, very heavy use over 24 acres, last about 3 years.
Battery is still fine.
Battery is still fine.
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