How to charge your electric scooter properly?

1. Connecting the charger to the mains

Connect your charger to the mains first and only then to the scooter (disregard the fact that operating manuals sometimes incorrectly claim otherwise). It is the safest way to protect the charger and its output capacitors. The charger heats up while charging, which is normal. Place the uncovered charger on a non-flammable surface providing sufficient airflow.

2. Connecting the charger to electric scooter

After connecting the charger to the mains, connect the charger's plug to the charging port of your scooter. The scooter must be switched off and the charging port's protective cover must be removed. Make sure that both the port and the connector are free of dust and other debris. Blow off any dirt, if necessary. Make sure of the charger's correct polarity. Most chargers feature an arresting tab, which means they can only be inserted in one way. Use only original chargers. Third-party chargers may have phases connected differently in the charging connector, which may lead to short circuit.

3. Disconnecting the charger

Wait unit the scooter charges. Charge the scooter until the indicator on the charger turns green. After that, disconnect the charger as soon as possible. Disconnect the charger from the scooter first and only then from the mains! Charge as often as necessary. With most chargers, the indicator turns green before the scooter gets fully charged. If your scooter has a built-in voltmeter or a battery charge indicator is shown on the display, you will find out that you are not 100% charged. If you need maximum range, you may continue charging until reaching 100%. However, if you wish to significantly extend your battery life, operate the battery between 20% and 80% of its capacity. This is an ideal charging zone that significantly extend the battery's life.

4. Storing the battery

With longer storage periods, such as during winter months, store the battery charged ideally at 40-60% of its capacity in a dry place and at room temperature. Storing fully charged or fully discharged lithium-ion batteries accelerates their degradation (shortens their life span). Due to self-discharging of the battery, check it regularly every 4-8 weeks and partially recharge it, if necessary. Storing a fully charged battery at extreme temperatures is particularly detrimental.

5. Correct temperature

Charge the battery when its temperature is between 0°C and 45°C. The battery should definitely not be charged when its temperature might be below freezing point or immediately after riding when it is overheated. Before charging, wait until the temperature stabilizes within the above temperature range.

6. After finishing charging

Do not leave the charger connected to the mains and the scooter after charging. Once the scooter is fully charged (or charged to 80%, as recommended), disconnect the charger in accordance with the instructions in point 3. Leaving the scooter connected to the charger and to the mains after charging leads to cathode corrosion and gradual battery degradation.

7. Fast discharging

Do not fully discharge the battery in less than an hour. If you have a powerful scooter and you wish to ride fast, you will probably not be able to avoid discharging the battery quickly. When riding continuously at high speeds or when heavy torque is required, such as when accelerating up a steep hill, you can easily exceed the ideal discharge rate.

8. Fast charging

Do not fully charge the scooter in less than an hour. Lithium-ion batteries last more cycles if you charge them slowly. For optimal battery life, it is best to charge the battery for longer than 1 hour. With most standard scooter configurations, you will not be able to exceed the recommended charging rate, and this not even when using two fast chargers connected in series.

9. Battery life

How long do electric scooter batteries last? Before losing a significant portion of their capacity, the batteries in electric scooters typically last about 300 to 500 charging cycles, between 5 000 and 40 000 km of range or 3 to 8 years in terms of time. The aforementioned values vary significantly depending on the quality of cells, battery size, how the battery is being treated, charging method and the overall care of the battery (see above points).

A few questions and answers.

Why is it important to store batteries charged partially?

Because due to self-discharging, the battery cells continue losing their charge when in storage. A cell with voltage below 2.7V severely degrades and may in fact become unstable and, as a result, potentially dangerous.

Why is it best to connect the charger to the mains first and only then to the scooter?

The charger has an output capacitor that has a 0V potential, unless it is connected to the mains. If you connect a non-powered charger to the scooter's battery that is usually charged at 36V to 84V (depending on the scooter), a huge amount of current gets discharged into the capacitor which is at 0V. This may cause sparks and damage to the scooter's charging port and, in reality, to the entire charger. If you connect your charger to the mains first, you bring the capacitor voltage much closer to the battery voltage and the above phenomenon does not take place.

Why shouldn't you keep the scooter plugged in to the mains after charging?

When fully charged, any additional charging causes metal lithium build-up on the battery's anode. This metal lithium gradually accumulates there and lowers the battery's capacity by blocking the flow of lithium ions and, consequently, electrons.