E-Bike and Battery Care: Expert Tips
How to Keep Your Electric Bike Feeling and Performing Like New for as Long as Possible.

E-bikes are an amazing way to ride faster, longer, and more often. In this guide, we’ll go over a few things you can do to make sure you’re getting the most enjoyment and longevity out of your electric bike. Find out some of the best ways to keep your battery in great health, limit wear on your drivetrain, and keep your bike clean and looking like new!

How to Maintain E-Bike Battery Health and Performance

What is a Battery Management System and Why Should I Care?

E-bike batteries are made up of multiple connected cells which are constantly monitored by a battery management system (BMS). Lithium-ion batteries, like the ones in your e-bike, are able to pack a ton of energy into a small space but if that energy isn’t properly managed it can become a safety risk. The BMS in your e-bike monitors and keeps the voltage, temperature, and other factors in check so that the battery can work safely and efficiently.

On your e-bike, the BMS is always on – even if your bike is not – and while it doesn't use a lot of energy, it is one of the reasons you might notice a drop in charge after not riding your bike for a few months. It’s important to note that if your e-bike battery ever completely discharges and there’s not enough voltage left to keep the BMS running, your e-bike battery will effectively lock itself and restrict both charging and usage because it can no longer verify the safety of the system. In most cases the only fix for a fully discharged battery is replacement. 

Luckily, 0% charge on your battery indicator is not the same thing as full discharge since manufacturers leave a bit of extra capacity to keep the BMS running for a while after. Just make sure to regularly monitor and charge your e-bike and never leave it stored with no charge – this way you won’t have to replace your battery before its time.

E-Bike Battery Charging Tips

1. Unless you need to use the complete capacity of the battery, try not to run it to below 20% or charge it above 80% to limit long-term wear on the cells.

2.  To limit safety risks involved, don’t charge your e-bike batteries unattended or overnight.

3. Charge your battery as close to room temperature as possible to limit wear and increase charge efficiency. It’s often easier to do this with the battery removed from the bike if it allows.

4. Use only manufacturer approved chargers to avoid safety risks and damage to your battery.

E-Bike Battery Storage Tips

1. If removed from your e-bike, store your battery away from direct sunlight and in a dry environment.

2. Store your E-bike battery as close to room temperature as possible, doing your best to avoid temperatures below freezing and above 30°C (especially during charging). This is sometimes easier to do if your battery is removed from your bike for storage.

3. For long-term storage, keep battery levels between 30-60% and check the battery levels monthly to avoid complete discharge.

4. If you notice any leaking, corrosion, swelling, or burning then immediately move the battery outdoors away from flammable objects and dispose of at a dedicated battery recycling facility as soon as possible.

How to Clean Your E-Bike Battery

1. When out of the bike, clean your battery with a damp cloth only if needed.

2. Avoid contaminating any exposed contact points with moisture to prevent corrosion.

3. If your battery or charging contacts do get wet, do not install the battery or plug in the charger until the moisture has completely evaporated.

4. If needed, apply a very thin layer of dielectric grease or petroleum jelly to the battery contact points to prevent corrosion.

E-Bike Riding Tips and Best Practices

Overall, the latest and greatest e-bikes ride just like traditional bikes – just with a few hundred extra watts of power at your disposal. But balancing all that extra power with things like component wear and battery life can be a tricky act, so we’ve put together a few of our favourite tips to make sure you’re spending more time out riding and less time fixing and replacing parts. 

Tips to Limit Drivetrain Wear and Increase Efficiency

1. Most importantly, try and use all your gears and shift as often as you would on a normal bike. While you might be tempted to stick it in the hardest gear and let the motor do the heavy lifting, using your whole gear range will help to evenly distribute the wear as well as vastly improve your range, efficiency, and battery life.

2. Like all chain and derailleur drivetrains, you want to avoid shifting under load as much as possible to limit unnecessary wear and broken parts. On a traditional bike, you can modulate the power to the pedals while you shift, but on an e-bike it’s sometimes easier to stop pedaling briefly to ensure the motor has cut assistance before making a shift. 

3. Try and shift only a single gear at a time, letting the chain fully engage before choosing another gear. This will help keep the mis-shifts to a minimum and avoid broken chains.

4. If you’re having trouble getting enough power during slow, steep climbs – increase your pedal cadence! Most e-bike motors are optimized for pedaling cadences of 60-90 rotations per minute and will struggle to reach their peak power output if the cranks aren’t spinning fast enough. High cadence can also help reduce drivetrain wear and increase battery efficiency.

5. If you have a newer e-bike optimized drivetrain like Shimano LinkGlide or Sram Transmission, they were designed to handle the extra power and torque of e-bikes so not all these tips are relevant – but we still think they’re good habits to get into as the benefits are only positive.

Power and Assistance Levels

We know how fun it is to put your e-bike on turbo and ride like there’s no tomorrow. Unfortunately, that smile can get wiped off your face pretty quickly when you realize you’re quickly draining your battery reserves or can’t seem to find any traction on those loose, technical sections of trail. Like anything, moderation is key – use turbo to get up the steepest part of your climbs while switching down to more moderate assist levels for flat or downhill terrain. 

Some bikes even have an automatic power mode that will switch assist levels for you, or you can also connect to your e-bikes paired app as many can automatically adjust your power levels based on a set riding plan or route navigation.

General E-Bike Care and Maintenance

E-Bike Cleaning Tips

1. While most e-bikes are designed to handle rain and wet conditions, making sure your battery is securely installed and all contact points (like the charge port) are covered will make sure you limit damage to any of those crucial electronic components when you ride or clean your bike.

2. For day-to-day cleaning, a waterless wash is a great way to keep dirt and grime from building up. 

3. For bigger jobs with caked-on mud and dirt, avoid directly spraying the bike with pressurized water, especially around the battery and motor junctions, electric contacts, and bearing surfaces. Instead, use either a garden hose with no attachment or go the good old-fashioned bucket wash route.

4. One of our favourite ways to clean any bike (including electric bikes) is a bucket of warm water, a big sponge, and some soft-bristled brushes. For soap, use a gentle dish detergent or a dedicated bike wash. This gentle, hands-on cleaning method helps you get into all the nooks and crannies while limiting wear to your frame paint and bike components.

5. Once everything is clean and dry, make sure to re-lubricate your chain and derailleur pivots with appropriate product for the conditions and weather you plan on riding in.

Firmware Updates (Yes, Your Bike Needs Periodic Updating)