One of the most important things to know about having an electric scooter is that they need minor maintenance. Unlike regular bikes, regular trips to the mechanic and routine replacement parts are required.
Scooter motors can last up to 3 to 5 years or 5,000-10,000 miles. Most e-scooters use lithium-ion batteries that require less maintenance and provide more durability, and last as long as the motor. Factors that affect how long the motor and battery last are how you ride and how you charge.
Nevertheless, you can constantly improve the performance of your scooter by taking care of your battery and using other safety measures to ensure your scooter’s motor can last longer. Developing riding technique that is easier on the motor, like avoiding sudden stops, crashes, and uneven pavement are just some quick ways you can make sure you’re helping your motor last.
What Factors Contribute to the Life of Electric Scooter Motors?
Electric scooters that are kept well do not need to be tuned up, greased, or topped with oil before a ride. However, improper use and bad charging habits can notably shorten the life of a scooter’s battery. In contrast, good habits can prolong their life and keep them on the road for years.
Almost all high-quality electric scooters run on lithium-ion batteries, which power the scooter’s motor, lights, electric brakes, digital displays, controller, and other accessories. Lithium-ion batteries are robust and durable; they can be recharged and discharged several times without losing their storage capacity.
Before diminishing capacity, a lithium battery can handle 300 to 500 charging and discharge cycles. This means the average rider with an average battery can travel 5,000 to 10,000 miles. Following a set of instructions can help your scooter’s battery live up to its full potential.
How You Charge Your Scooter
Rather than using up the battery and then charging it up again, as you may be used to doing with other devices, it’s better to charge your scooter battery at every opportunity. Keep the battery above 10% consistently and ideally above a 35 to 40% charge. If you can, fully charge the battery before a ride. These practices will enhance the performance of your scooter.
You should be aware of how long your scooter can travel with a fully charged battery and plan your trips accordingly so it does not fully deplete. Charging ranges can vary considering the model, size of the battery, and the scooter’s motor.
A valuable electric scooter like the Unagi Model (on Amazon) can travel 15.5 miles on a single charge, but this can be reduced by other factors, such as hilly terrain, hard braking, fast acceleration, high speeds, use of lights, and other electrical accessories.
Disconnecting Your Battery After A Charge
It would help if you disconnected once the battery charged fully. You should be aware of the total charging time for your battery and should not surpass the maximum charging time instructed by your scooter manufacturer.
If you discover that it takes much longer to charge your battery than specified, your battery may be damaged or near the end of its life. At this point, it is likely to be the replacement.
Unagi offers a one-year warranty on all-electric scooters, which may cover any battery failure if it is not caused by poor maintenance or negligence.
When You Charge Your Scooter
If you had a short ride, you could charge your scooter immediately, but if you’ve taken a long ride, then dissipate before plugging the battery in. It’s important to let the motor rest and cool down for 25 minutes or more before charging the scooter.
Lithium-ion batteries last longer overall when they have a constant stored charge. If you need to leave your scooter alone and won’t be using it for a while, it is best to charge it to at least 45%.
Try to charge the battery every 25 to 30 days if the scooter is not regularly used.
Using Approved Chargers
Using chargers that are not approved for use with the battery can result in a big loss since it shortens the battery lifespan. Even if a spare parts charger appears to work, it can extra charge the battery and cause irreversible damage.
Manufacturers and scooter retailers will generally sell replacement charging cables. It’s advisable to approach your scooter manufacturer if you need a spare charger, rather than buying a generic option that can run your battery down.
What Factors Make Electric Scooter Motors Last Longer?
Most people don’t know what factors make an electric scooter’s motor last longer. You may think that it all depends on how often you ride or what kind of terrain you’re riding on, but those only matter to a certain degree.
An average electric Scooter may last up to 3 to 5 years. In many cases, the durability and strength depend on the making of the model. The electric scooters which provide better quality in their components are expensive ones and that results in long-lasting abilities.
The life of an electric scooter can depend on various elements. There are numerous models available in the market from a vast number of manufacturers, and not all of them are well-produced, nor do they contain quality components. It’s proven that this predominantly impacts the lifespan of the electric scooter.
Generally, a cheap electric scooter can show issues after a year or two. However, scooters manufactured from top-notch brands can give you a long-term performance of up to 2 or 4 years.
The battery has more effects on the lifespan of an electric scooter than any other component. The scooter is mainly equipped with lithium-ion batteries or lead-acid batteries. Few of them also include a nickel-metal hybrid battery.
Lithium-ion batteries are the most used as they are compact in size and lightweight compared to the other types of batteries. They also provide long-lasting performance when compared with the other models.
How Can I Tell if I Need a New Motor for My Electric Scooter?
Before purchasing the new motor for your electric scooter, you can go through the below steps.
Check the Fuse Or Circuit Breaker
If your scooters use a fuse, look inside it to see if it is burned. The fuse may need to be abolished from the scooter. For scooters that use a circuit breaker, push on or turn over the circuit breaker to see if it will reset.
Determine The Battery Pack’s History
Determine how long the battery pack stays without being recharged on standby. If left uncharged for under 5 months, you may recharge the battery pack successfully.
If you know that the scooter has been on standby for a long time without being recharged, you can presume that the battery has gone wrong.
Try to Charge The Battery Pack for 7 Hours
Electric scooters that have not been recharged for more than 5 months will have partially discharged battery packs which may not generate enough power to run the scooter.
Try charging the battery pack for 7 hours, and see if that helps.
Test the Battery Charger Port
Plug the charger into the charger port on your vehicle and look for a light indicator on the battery charger. If a light indicator on the battery charger is lit, then the wiring going towards the charger port is fine, and the charger port itself is fine too.
Not all battery chargers have a light indicator. For that, connect a multi-meter to test the voltage.
Test the Battery Charger
After examining the charger port and confirming that it receives the expected voltage, test the battery charger. For testing the battery charger, confirm that your battery is below 100%. You can plug the charger into the vehicle’s charger port and switch on the power button.
The next step is to examine the voltage of the battery pack with a digital multi-meter to see if the battery receives the correct voltage. Attempt to charge the battery to full, and if you can’t, you know it must be the charger that’s faulty.
Test the Voltage of the Battery Pack
If you have a multi-meter device, you can test the battery pack’s voltage to determine its condition. A good battery pack’s voltage will be above its rated voltage level. If a battery pack’s voltage does not reach its rated voltage level within a few minutes after being discharged, this will prove that the battery pack is defective or worn out.
When you successfully charge the battery pack and its voltage is below its rated voltage level, that also indicates a defective or worn-out battery pack. Good scooter battery packs reach above their rated voltage level within a few minutes after the scooter has been driven.
Inspect by Sight, Touch, and Smell
First, remove the footplate or wiring cover and look for burned or melted wires, wire connectors, or electrical components. Also, look for loose, destructive wires and wire connectors.
You can drag the wire in and out to confirm if all the individual wires and wire connectors are tightly formed. Get close to the speed controller and motor, and then smell it. Any components that seem burned or melted or smell like burned plastic are always defective.
Inspect the Motor
Look for any burned wires, melted wires, or wire connectors attached to the motor. These indicate overheating of the motor, which may cause the plastic insulation to melt off the motor’s copper wire windings.
Inspect the motor for any burning plastic smells – its coils have been overheated if the motor smells. The motor will shut down if the insulation of copper winding melts. Short circuited motor windings can also burn out the speed controller.
What is the Best Type of Battery for My Electric Scooter?
Like the majority of electronic products, the battery is a crucial factor affecting the life of a scooter. You can find many batteries available on the market for your electric scooter. Among them, lithium-ion batteries are the most reliable.
Almost all high-quality electric scooters equip lithium-ion batteries, which power the scooter’s motors, lights, digital display, controllers, and other accessories. Lithium-ion batteries require less maintenance and are more durable than lead-acid batteries or nickel-metal hybrid batteries.
It is imperative to replace any faulty battery with a new one and purchase one that suits your scooter the best. Also, if you want to improve the lifespan of your battery more than average, then you need to maintain your battery by cleaning it regularly. It is also advantageous if you have a lithium-ion battery installed in your scooter.
Do Different Types of Batteries Have Different Voltages for My Electric Scooter?
Generally, you must know what type of battery your scooter can take and how it affects it. There are different types – some are stronger or last longer than others.
Most electric scooters will have some lithium ion-based battery pack due to their excellent energy density and longevity. But electric scooters for kids and other inexpensive models provide lead-acid batteries.
The management system of battery packs comprises of individual cells and electronics aligned to operate safely. Greater battery packs have extra capacity, are measured in watt-hours, and allow an electric scooter to travel further.
However, they also raise the size and weight of the scooter, making it less portable. Also, batteries of e-scooters are the most expensive component, so it increases the overall cost.
E-scooter battery packs are produced from many individual battery cells. More precisely, they are made of 18650 cells, a size classification for lithium-ion batteries with 18 mm x 65 mm cylindrical dimensions. Battery cells are operated from 3.0 to 4.2 volts from 0 to 100% charging.
Lithium-Ion
Li-Ion batteries provide the best energy density. They also have brilliant longevity, which means they can be discharged and recharged many times and still maintain their storage capacity.
Li- only refers to many battery chemistries that involve the lithium-ion. Below is a list of few batteries:
- Lithium manganese oxide (LiMn2O4)
- Lithium manganese nickel (LiNiMnCoO2)
- Lithium nickel cobalt aluminium oxide (LiNiCoAlO2)
- Lithium nickel cobalt oxide (LiCoO2)
- Lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2)
- Lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4)
These batteries are great for safety, longevity, capacity, and current output.
Lithium Manganese
Many quality electric scooters use the INR battery chemistry, one of the safest chemistries. These batteries provide a high amount of output current.
The presence of manganese decreases the battery’s internal resistance, allowing high current output while sustaining low temperatures. It reduces the chances of thermal runaway and fire.
Some electric scooters with INR chemistry include the WePed GT 50e and Dualtron models.
Lead-Acid
Lead-acid is an old battery often found in cars and larger electric vehicles, like golf carts. Lead-acid is also found in some electric and low-priced children’s scooters from Razor.
These lead-acid batteries have the advantage of being affordable. Still, they suffer from having low energy density, which means they weigh a lot in contrast to the amount of energy they store. Li-ion batteries have about 10 times more energy density compared to lead-acid batteries.
The battery pack builds hundreds and thousands of watts capacity. Many individual 18650 Li-ion cells are assembled into a brick-like structure.
This battery pack structure is monitored and regulated by an electronic circuit called a battery management system (BMS), which controls the flow of electricity into and out of the battery.
Voltage Sag
Almost every battery is going to suffer from a phenomenon called voltage sag. Voltage sag is caused by many effects, including lithium-ion chemistry, temperature, and electrical resistance. It results in the indirect behavior of the battery voltage.
So, when you apply the load on the battery, it will drop instantly. It will lead to incorrectly estimating battery capacity. Once the load is overcome, the battery voltage will return to its actual level.
Battery Brands
Very few internationally recognized companies make lithium-ion cells. Samsung, LG makes the highest quality cells like Panasonic and Sanyo. These types of cells are primarily found in battery packs of expensive scooters.
Most budget-friendly and moderate electric scooters have battery packs made from generic cells which are manufactured in China. However, this does significantly impact the quality.
Scooter cells that have been manufactured in China differ in quality greatly as compared to other manufacturers based in different countries. The cells produced in China are relatively cheaper, but if you’re looking for an incredible quality control guarantee then opting for an established brand is a better decision.
Nevertheless, if it exceeds your budget, then make sure you buy a scooter from a manufacturer that uses quality parts and has reasonable quality control (QC) measures in place. Few manufacturers based in China are known for producing better quality products, such as QC, Xiaomi, and Segway. Along with that, research is always the key.