How long do Giant batteries live?

[gizmoboy]

I'm thinking about getting a used e-bike for my wife (maybe a Giant Lafree E+1), but I'm not sure how to think about the lifespan of the batteries on one of these bikes.

When I do some basic googling, I seem to find "they live 3-5 years" and the E+1 (for example) is a 3-4 year old bike.

Would I be staring down the barrel of buying a new battery for it right after purchase -- and does Momentum even support the old Giant Lafrees?

I've reached out to Momentum, but no response yet...

 

[6zfshdb]

The effective lifespan of any ebike battery depends on many factors. The quality of the cells used and how well it has been maintained are key. Unfortunately, this information is often difficult to obtain for a used bike.

Batteries can last significantly longer than 3 - 5 years. FWIW, I have several 4 year old ebike batteries that bench tests indicate have lost 8 - 10% of their original capacity. All have over 100 charge cycles. When not in use, they have been stored at temps between 55 and 80 degrees with a 40 - 60% charge level. I charge them to 100% just before using and rarely discharge below 20%. I expect I'll get another 3 years out of them.

Unfortunately, you have no way of knowing how the Giant battery was treated. If the price of the bike plus the cost of a new or rebuilt battery is less than purchasing a new bike, it may be worth it. A lot however, depends on the overall condition of the bike itself. If you buy from a dealer, there may be a warranty but if it's a private sale, you're on your own.

Keep in mind, aftermarket batteries should be available for a bike as common as the Giant Lafree. There are also places that rebuild batteries with new cells.

Welcome to the forum and good luck!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Buying an e-bike with an old battery is not the smartest decision as:

• You never know how the e-bike was used and how the battery was used
• It is difficult to determine the battery status for most of e-bikes.

I am the first owner of a specific e-bike. The first battery was activated on Nov 1st 2019.

I am in the position to be able to measure the exact status of my batteries. Each of these batteries shall be 604 Wh freshly after the activation. Neither of them was with the "black" battery being the most hopeless, and the "blue" battery coming next.

How comes a 604 Wh battery (nominal) with health of 99% can only hold 533 Wh remains a mystery to me.

 

[gizmoboy]

Thanks for the feedback -- it does make purchasing a used bike more daunting unless I assume that I will need to replace the battery and factor that into the price.

 

[pmcdonald]

Could be fine but 4 years is getting on to middle age for an ebike.

I purchased a used 4 year old ebike a few years back. Battery was at 80% health. It degraded quickly after that. What did that bike in was the lack of dealer support with a motor issue that cropped up 12 months into ownership. I wish I just bought a lower spec new bike - I'd likely still be riding it 4 years on.

Might be worth contacting your nearest Giant dealer and asking if they still support the electronics if something goes bad. Won't be cheap if you have to replace the battery or motor (think $1k each, if they can even be sourced these days) but beats having a bulky doorstop lying around.

The La Free should connect to the Giant RideControl app. When inspecting the bike you could connect and view the stats. It reports the odometer, number of charge cycles and (most important) battery health. This is expressed as a percentage. Mid to high 90's is good, 70's or 80's is a bit worrying. My 3 year old Giant Explore battery health fluctuates from 96 - 93%.

 

[416dude]

I have a 400Wh and 500Wh batteries for my 2019 Explore E3

I believe the 400Wh was manufacture at 201809, that's what the hardware version indicate. It has 67 cycles and health hoover around 91% to 93%
The 500Wh has a hardware version 201803, so I suspect it's manufactured in 2018 March. It has 7 cycles and health is at 94%.

From what I heard, Giant uses Panasonic cell, and it supposed to be good for years if you take good care of it. I usually just charge it to 90% instead of 100%. I don't think I have ever drained the battery to 0% since I purchased the bike back in 2019 Sep. However, I bought the 500Wh battery from a guy who has his bike stolen (who showed me the receipt to prove the battery and the charger aren't not stolen), so the battery might have been sitting at 0% for awhile before me.

If you search for battery in the Giant thread, I believe someone who's uses his bike for ubereat claim his Giant Quick E has over 40,000KM (can't recall the exact amt) and the battery is still usable.

I think most people either sold their Giant eBike for a newer & sexier model long before the battery started to deteriorate or other components of the bike broke before the battery or just let the bike sitting idling in the garage.

 

[416dude]

Check it out, this battery prob manufactured 5 years ago, but still have 94% health as of this morning.

 

[mschwett]

Check it out, this battery prob manufactured 5 years ago, but still have 94% health as of this morning.

View attachment 147056

... but you only have 16 charge cycles on it. that's as much or more of an issue than calendar time. if you are constantly charging to 100%, waiting a few days to ride, and then discharging fully, you'll go through a hundred charge cycles in a year and both the deep discharge and fully charged storage time will be a major hit to life.

on the other hand, if you charge to 80% and then ride it in a month, repeat 12 times, the battery will likely last many, many years!

 

[Saratoga Dave]

Here’s mine, rode hard and put away wet since 2018 with 6955 miles on it so far… 2018 Toughroad. Had to replace the display recently to resolve many power interruptions, but it is firing on all cylinders again now and as of today has brand new 700 x 50 Crosscut tires, set up tubeless. Ready for a few more years, hopefully!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Here’s mine, rode hard and put away wet since 2018 with 6955 miles on it so far… 2018 Toughroad.

That makes sense with the given number of recharges. Giant does not specify the effective battery charge though. I would say that would be more closer to 400 Wh than to 500, how do you think Dave?

 

[416dude]

... but you only have 16 charge cycles on it. that's as much or more of an issue than calendar time. if you are constantly charging to 100%, waiting a few days to ride, and then discharging fully, you'll go through a hundred charge cycles in a year and both the deep discharge and fully charged storage time will be a major hit to life.

on the other hand, if you charge to 80% and then ride it in a month, repeat 12 times, the battery will likely last many, many years!

yes, I tend to charge it up to 85-92% the night before riding, and it's perfect with the enegypak 500 battery compared to the enegypak 400.

since the battery is prob the most expensive part of the bike, so I will try to preserve its lifespan for as long as possible.

 

[Saratoga Dave]

Mine is the 500 Wh. It’s been a great bike, if a bit of a tank. But I’ve also got a Creo and have had a bunch of others. Overall, the Toughroad remains my all around favorite, even though the Creo just feels like absolute quality every time I take it out. However, this whole getting older thing is starting to push me into a little different mode, maybe back to straight bars and more power. We’ll see. The Toughroad will remain, regardless of whatever else I might do, though.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Reported Battery Health and Number of Recharges for batteries used on Giant Trance E+ 2 Pro for approximately 16,000 km or 10,000 miles since May 2020.

 

[416dude]

that's impressive with the battery count and health, looks like you take good care of your eBike.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

that's impressive with the battery count and health, looks like you take good care of your eBike.

If you are talking about my last post, it is my brother who currently rides the Trance E+. Many of his rides are unpowered or ridden just at 50% of Giant assistance.

 

[416dude]

If you are talking about my last post, it is my brother who currently rides the Trance E+. Many of his rides are unpowered or ridden just at 50% of Giant assistance.

I usually use between eco and eco+ and find it to be efficient in Toronto

 

[Mark Clouse]

It's important to know if the individual cells are a L (lithium) F(iron) P(phosphate) type chemistry or the the more energy dense N (nickel) C (cobalt) M (manganese) chemistry. The LFP is very suitable to the way we use bikes (ride them and then plug in and forget) as this chemistry is fine with a 100% state of charge for storage, but are as much as 1/3 heavier (by watt capacity). The NCM chemistry (1/3 more capacity by watts) is much more temperamental and is best stored at 2/3rds charge capacity and then topped up (if needed) before your ride. Storage of NCM at high rates of charge degrades the individual cells which leads to premature loss of potential capacity. From the review of Giant e-bikes and the comment that their battery assembly's are heavier might indicate they use LFP batteries, that I would think, have more longevity, because of the way we plug in after a ride and then keep stored at a high state of charge.

 

[Dan GP]

Giant Quick-E 2019. 500Wh battery.
My most recent 36 km commute after a bit of a break used a lot more battery than I was expecting seeing as I had a tail wind and was on about 50% assist.
This is the my latest battery info. Bike is almost 4 years old and has racked up approximately 12,000 km (or 7500 miles). I think I know the answer to this question but is it time for a new battery?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Giant Quick-E 2019. 500Wh battery.
My most recent 36 km commute after a bit of a break used a lot more battery than I was expecting seeing as I had a tail wind and was on about 50% assist.
This is the my latest battery info. Bike is almost 4 years old and has racked up approximately 12,000 km (or 7500 miles). I think I know the answer to this question but is it time for a new battery?

View attachment 159068

Not necessarily. It depends how far you want to ride on a single battery. A second battery with a cover and rotating the batteries between the rides has always been a good idea.

 

[PDoz]

Giant do good batteries, I think the lafree has the same battery pack my 2018 full e came with. That pack has been treated badly - charged to full after each ride, frequently drained below 10%, stored in an Australian shed at terrifying temperatures - and it still works relatively well. I'm not about to download the giant CRapp to get a " battery health" , but it registers as 95-97% power each time I turn it on, and still manages 50 k rides. The bike has probably only done 10,000 km , but the first 6000 were agressive mtb riding - including towing kids up 1000 m elevation on 30+ c days.

You need to take a close look at the terminals - giants waterproofing was poor back then, and if the owner hasn't used eg dialectric grease, there could be corrosion.

I'd be more worried about the rest of the bike - they were a pretty basic build, so check the hubs - especially the rear pawl because giant hubs of that era only had 3 pawls and were prone to chewing out the hubs