Something that seems so simple but is often overlooked is how electric scooters are charged. You may be under the impression that it's as simple as plugging in your scooter overnight, unplugging it in the morning, and heading off on your daily commute.
To a certain extent, yes - charging your electric scooter is pretty simple. You just plug your charger into the charging port, give the battery the time it needs to get juiced up, and get back out on the road. But there are a few intricate details you need to keep in mind to effectively and efficiently charge your scooter.
Learning how to charge an electric scooter correctly should be something you dedicate a bit of time to before taking your new scooter out on its first whirl. If you don't take this seriously, you'll run the risk of damaging your battery and causing premature failure. With the rising cost of lithium-ion batteries, this is not something you should take lightly.
We've got you covered, though. Today, we're going to teach you the correct way to charge your electric scooter. We'll tell you what the manuals fail to mention so that you can enjoy long battery life, quick charge times, and fewer instances of battery replacement. Let's start by discussing what's at stake.
The last thing you want is to charge your electric scooter incorrectly and end up compromising on the battery range and battery life. If you don't use the right charger, or you don't charge the battery long enough, both of these issues will eventually come to fruition.
You'll find that your battery doesn't last as long as it used to. While your first charge got you a range of 40 miles, you may notice that this figure is starting to drop. Maybe you only get 30 miles now. Or, maybe it's even less. This is caused by improper charging practices.
And eventually, the battery will fail altogether if not properly cared for. You'll end up having to replace it - which is not cheap. Sure, over the course of 5-10 years using your electric scooter you might need to replace your battery. Battery replacement isn't unique to e-scooters. All batteries eventually burn out and need to be replaced - the same goes for an actual car battery, a wireless speaker battery, a laptop battery, etc. But getting the most useful life out of your battery possible is still a worthy endeavor.
That's why we are here today to share a few tips and tricks that will extend the life of your e-scooter battery. Let's start by addressing how long your battery lasts.
This will obviously vary from model to model, and brand to brand. For example, our Cycleboard Rover has a battery range of 40+ miles. But, our Elite Pro scooter only has a 25-mile range. Other manufacturers' scooters will have their own ranges they're rated for. It's important that you know your scooter's battery range. This will help you identify when it's time to charge the scooter.
There are other factors that will affect how long your electric scooter battery lasts. Your riding conditions play a part in this. If you're riding your electric scooter on grass or uphill, the battery will have to work harder than it would on smooth pavement. As such, you can expect to lose a bit of battery life. And if you have your scooter pinned to the max speed for 20 straight miles, you'll drain the battery faster than if you were to ride at a more moderate speed.
The weather matters, too. You can safely ride Cycleboard electric scooters in both extremely hot and extremely cold temperatures. But, both ends of the spectrum will compromise battery life compared to moderate riding temperatures. And keep in mind - temperatures over 130 degrees Fahrenheit or under 30 degrees Fahrenheit will potentially damage the battery. Here are a few other factors that can affect the range of your scooter:
When in doubt, you can typically rely on the instruments on your electric scooter. Some electric scooters have an indicator light that will display low battery levels. Better yet, some electric scooters have a "battery gauge" showing you exactly how much range is left at a given time.
In general, we highly encourage riders to top off their electric scooter after each use. Charging electric scooters regularly keeps a full battery. It also eliminates the stress that fully draining a battery can have on the battery itself.
This practice will also prevent you from ever having to deal with the stressful situation of a dead battery while you're miles away from home. If this does happen to you, don't stress too much - you can manually kick-push your scooter home. With that said, here are a few recommendations and best practices for charging the most modern electric scooters.
First and foremost - only use the manufacturer's specific charger when charging your electric scooter. You may find that you actually have a compatible charger at home already that fits your electric scooter's charging port! Even still, we encourage you to keep things brand-specific. Why?
Because using the right scooter charger ensures you won't provide too much power to your battery - which could damage it. For example - say your electric scooter has a 40v battery and you try using a charger rated at 60v. This could lead to overcharging of your battery - resulting in damage.
What if you lose your charger, though? Still - you must use the correct charger. Don't just head to the store and find any charge that will fit the charging port on your scooter. Instead, head over to your manufacturer's website and buy the correct charger there.
So you just got home from a long commute at the end of the day. You should probably get your scooter plugged into your charger immediately, right? Wrong! Trying to charge an electric scooter while it is still hot is not advisable. You need to give your e-scooter a chance to cool off. Charging your battery is going to cause it to heat up as it is - and doing this on an already hot battery can pose problems.
Because of this, we recommend you give your scooter at least 15 minutes to cool off after riding it before charging it. And, we recommend waiting at least 15 minutes after charging an electric scooter before turning it on and riding it.
This is something that a lot of people don't even think about. They just pull their scooter into the garage, park it, and (after reading the section above) give it a chance to cool off. Then, they come back out and get the charger plugged into the charging port. But did you double-check that your scooter is actually turned off? Attempting to charge an electric scooter while it's still on won't just potentially damage the battery - it can cause electric shocks in the circuit.
You should always strive for a full charge on your electric scooter - no more, no less. Both overcharging and undercharging the scooter can be problematic and compromise the life of your battery. So, how can you tell when your scooter is done charging?
Most scooters have a charger light that will aid you in this. For example, the Cycleboard charger light will be red while the board is accepting a charge. When the charger light turns green, the device is fully charged and ready to be unplugged.
If your scooter has gone through a period of inactivity, it may still have some battery charge left. Nevertheless, we recommend that you top off your battery every month during periods of non-use. This keeps the battery full and healthy.
If you are the proud owner of a Cycleboard all-terrain electric scooter, we encourage you to review our battery care page.
You'll learn about the types of batteries we use in these scooters, and the types of chargers you should use for each. We provide visual demonstrations of how to charge your electric scooter - including how to remove the protective cover to gain access to the battery if necessary. This is a great resource for every rider - don't risk improperly caring for your battery!
While it seems so simple, you now realize that there are a few intricate details when it comes to the charging process. But, you're now equipped with the expertise to correctly charge your electric scooter. By following the advice we've laid out above, you'll be able to prolong the life of your scooter battery. Just remember the following advice:
