Electric bicycle batteries are consumables. If you've ridden an electric bicycle for three years, "EasyBuy" editors believe you've probably replaced the batteries at least two or three times. So how do you tell the quality of an electric bicycle battery? Let's look at the advice from an industry insider in Chengdu:
I. Several simple methods for checking the quality of electric bicycle batteries
1. We will absolutely not sell batteries below the average market wholesale price. Taking Chengdu as an example, 230 yuan is a cutoff price. Anyone selling products below this price will face a headache. There may be exceptions, but we dare not take that risk anymore. Our friends have suffered the most losses because of these kinds of products. The manufacturers didn't make any money, and when problems arose, they ran away or changed their names. A friend of mine almost went out of business because of this.
2. Never sell products that haven't undergone at least two years of market testing if they're touted as miraculous; anyone who does will be fooled.
3. We will not sell batteries that are not provided by the electric vehicle manufacturer. If you have the guts, go and try selling to a major manufacturer.
4. I will absolutely not sell expensive batteries unless they are produced by a major manufacturer. Who will I turn to if something goes wrong?
5. We will never sell batteries that have deviated from the national standard size; they definitely do not have a production license and will cause problems sooner or later.
6. Never sell a battery that discharges at 5A for 30 seconds and has a voltage higher than 12.68V. Over 90% of such batteries are short-lived. If I had that kind of luck, I would have bought it.
The simplest way to test a battery: Discharge it at 5A. If the voltage drops below 12.63 after 30 seconds, and instead rises in the first 3 minutes, the higher the voltage, the better the quality.
II. Professional Battery Testing Methods
This industry insider also introduced some more professional methods for checking the condition of batteries:
1. After fully charging the battery, connect the battery, ammeter, and resistance wire.
1) Use a multimeter to measure the voltage of each battery and record the value. Also record the discharge time. Adjust the resistance wire so that the ammeter pointer points to 5A.
2) During the discharge process, the ammeter should always be kept at 5A, and the battery voltage should be measured every 20 minutes. The measured value should be recorded. When the voltage of a single battery drops to 10.5V, the discharge time should not be less than 84 minutes.
2. Internal open circuit in the battery
Some batteries have an internal open circuit, which manifests as voltage in the battery but no current. The vehicle has power but the motor does not turn. If the vehicle works normally after replacing the battery, then the problem lies with the battery.
3. The green light on the charger does not change.
If the green light on the charger does not switch during charging, but it is on when the battery is unloaded, it is generally due to a lack of water or dilute sulfuric acid inside the battery. After opening the battery cover, unscrew the one-way valve or safety valve and inject an appropriate amount of special replenishing fluid (5ml~8ml) into the battery. It will switch after charging for 6-10 hours.
4. Electric vehicles have a short driving range
1) Check if there is a problem with the battery. If there is no problem, proceed to the next step.
2) Check if the vehicle's no-load current and running current are too high. The no-load current should not exceed 1.2 amps, and the running current should not exceed 7.5 amps when the vehicle is traveling on a flat cement or asphalt road with a load of 75 kg and a speed of 20 km/h. If the above conditions are found, replace the controller or motor and test again.
3) If none of the above issues are found, a road test is required.
