How Often Do You Replace Your E-Bike Battery?

[Julianaa]

Hey everyone!
I was thinking about battery lifespans today and got curious — how often do most riders here end up replacing their e-bike batteries?
From what I’ve read, a typical lithium-ion battery can last around 500–1000 full charge cycles, depending on usage, charging habits, and overall care. Some people seem to get 3–5 years pretty easily, while others notice significant performance drops much sooner.
Personally, I’m pretty careful — I avoid fully draining my battery and try not to leave it at 100% for too long. Still, after about 3.5 years, I can tell it's not holding charge like it used to, especially on longer rides or uphill.
Curious —

• How long has your current battery lasted?
• Any tips you swear by to extend battery life?
• Has anyone here tried a full rebuild instead of buying new?

 

[fooferdoggie]

it depends on quality thats the biggest factor. I have 4 batteries between three bosch powered bikes. The first battery went 14 thousand miles in a little over two years till the motor rusted then got a trek bike Now that battery has 15 thousand miles on it in about 2.5 years Then they one our tandem came with the tandem has about 18 thousand miles on it. we swap the three smaller batteries on it so I would say the oldest has way over 18,000 miles on it. its getting weaker but still usable for short rides. so in about 6 years of daily riding the 4 batteries have about 45 thousand miles on them.

 

[PHXRDR]

Hi,
Bosch PowerTube 500 in a Gazelle Ultimate here.
The bike is currently at 16,300 miles (32 months old) and all calculated, I figure the full charge equivalence at just over 400. At about 28 months I purchased a second battery and now alternate their use every other day.
Both batteries show the same capacity at full charge and the only difference is that the older one discharges slightly quicker than the new (12 mi versus 17 dropping one bar on the meter on a typical outing).
A comment about the environment they enjoy: Desert, in-apartment garaging, best practice maintenance (self performed).
The riding style is 14 mph avg with an average cadence of 65 with frequent shifting in varied terrain including 150 avg elevation gain each ride. Being the desert, about 30% of the riding is in excess of 90°F (night time during summer).
Buy good stuff if you can. Use it or lose it.

 

[fooferdoggie]

a couple of mine may show 98% when I start but not every time.

 

[fexixav]

Hey everyone!
I was thinking about battery lifespans today and got curious — how often do most riders here end up replacing their e-bike batteries?
From what I’ve read, a typical lithium-ion battery can last around 500–1000 full charge cycles, depending on usage, charging habits, and overall care. Some people seem to get 3–5 years pretty easily, while others notice significant performance drops much sooner.
Personally, I’m pretty careful — I avoid fully draining my battery and try not to leave it at 100% for too long. Still, after about 3.5 years, I can tell it's not holding charge like it used to, especially on longer rides or uphill.
Curious —

• How long has your current battery lasted?
• Any tips you swear by to extend battery life?
• Has anyone here tried a full rebuild instead of buying new with the help of notes ai?

Most lithium-ion batteries have between 500 and 800 charge cycles, depending on the make and model of the battery. Remember that a charge cycle is from fully charged to fully depleted, and when you receive your order for an e-bike, the first thing to do is to fully charge it. Naturally, we want our bike batteries to last as long as possible. After all, e-bike batteries aren't cheap. For example, my OKAI STRIDE bike, it uses LG 13s2p, which has the characteristics of high energy, long cycle life, good safety, excellent high and low-temperature performance, light and portable battery, and good consistency, and environmental protection. Also, if you haven't used your e-bike for a few months, be sure to partially charge the battery before riding. This is because it will self-discharge a bit and will not be at the same charge level as the last time you rode the bike

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Hey everyone!
I was thinking about battery lifespans today and got curious — how often do most riders here end up replacing their e-bike batteries?
From what I’ve read, a typical lithium-ion battery can last around 500–1000 full charge cycles, depending on usage, charging habits, and overall care. Some people seem to get 3–5 years pretty easily, while others notice significant performance drops much sooner.
Personally, I’m pretty careful — I avoid fully draining my battery and try not to leave it at 100% for too long. Still, after about 3.5 years, I can tell it's not holding charge like it used to, especially on longer rides or uphill.
Curious —

• How long has your current battery lasted?
• Any tips you swear by to extend battery life?
• Has anyone here tried a full rebuild instead of buying new?

I have owned three batteries for my Vado 5.0/6.0, the main battery and four Range Extenders for my Vado SL, and I ride from 8,000 to 11,000 km a year all year long, so I think I could share some insight.

The original Vado 5.0 battery was built in 2017 and was activated in 2019. It got shot after 4.5 years of use. The protection system refused to re-charge the battery, and there was a very warm spot in some place. I left that battery at an e-bike battery rebuilding centre for disposal (the company refused rebuilding my battery on the grounds it was "proprietary"). The two other batteries have lost 25% of their "health" or usable charge over some 4 years since the purchase.

The Vado SL main and range extender batteries now keep 90% of their original capacity after 4 years. The SL system offers approximately half the assistance of the other e-bike, so the degradation is less pronounced.

I always charge the batteries to 100% post each ride because I don't know what might happen on the next day (now, e-bikes are my only means of daily and recreational transportation).

Can a battery be rebuilt? If this is a proprietary battery from a big brand, the chance to rebuild the battery are slim. Battery rebuilding services usually cannot handle the proprietary electronics.

An important remark: You will almost never be able to learn about the real state of your batteries; the decreasing range is often the only way to determine how degraded the battery is. If a rider with a great mileage says his battery is "98% healthy" then I can only laugh. I am in the unique position to be able to read the internal information on my batteries.

 

[indianajo]

My luna battery has 7 years and ~12000 miles. Still fine. Maybe 840 charges. I fully charge twice a year, rest of time 85-90% max. I use a timer to shut off charger early.

 

[DDBB]

Same, use a timer to shut off the charge no higher than 90% . A couple times each year I do a full 100% balance charge My one ebike battery is 4 years old now with no signs of degradation, at least that I can tell. about 4,000mi.

 

[DaveMatthews]

I've never replaced a battery because of failure or too much loss of capacity. My original 500wh Giant battery from 2018 is still going strong with a new owner.

 

[mschwett]

I've never replaced a battery because of failure or too much loss of capacity. My original 500wh Giant battery from 2018 is still going strong with a new owner.

same, many quality lithium ion batteries go way more cycles than promised.