eTrike battery care

5th January 2021

Hopefully, the battery on your eTrike/ePush won't cause you any issues, but if for some reason you do experience any issues we'd be more than happy to chat through what the problem could be and if necessary send a replacement battery.

In order to help with the care of your battery we have detailed below some recommendations and tips to ensure the life of your eTrike battery remains in tip top condition so you can continue clocking up your outdoor mileage!

We find that most eTrike riders use the power assist as an aid ie: combine riding manually and use the power assist as and when required, we haven't heard of an incident that the battery has gone completely flat when out and about. Fortunately, though if this does happen you still have the manual lever drive option to continue your return journey. As stated previously the range of the eTrike does vary depending on terrain and unless using in extreme conditions the battery should last all day.

During the cold/winter months we have found that the majority of eTrike customers remove their battery from the Trike and keep it indoors in the warm. They also tend to charge the battery indoors - please see our blog on ekit battery charging safety advice.

When extremely cold, the battery will go into cold protection mode. This doesn't prevent it being used and will still provide power, but won't allow the battery to be charged at that temperature. So the battery would need to be brought inside to charge.

View and download the battery light codes instruction sheet which helps explain the various charging modes:

eTrike Battery Light Code Instructions PDF

There are some obvious occasions when the battery usage will go up, for example, wet, muddy tracks which are harder to push through so using the power assist on this sort of terrain will affect the range. The same applies for hills if the surface is slippy, the rear wheel can spin and will again use more power - particularly when it is cold (icy) and wet. Using the power assist as an assist, rather than just using power all the time will further extend the range.

Using the eTrike power on 5 all the time will encourage the rear wheel to slip, from experience riders tend to leave it set on 2 and have found this to be the best option to gain the traction needed without draining the battery.

When charging your battery let it charge until all three green lights turn on (see downloadable battery light code instruction sheet above), and also the light on the charger should go green, this can make a difference to the run time.

Another technique to help the battery life, at any time of year, to help reduce the load on the motor, try not to start with the power on and have the eTrike moving manually before using the power - maintain momentum and help the system by pushing the drive levers. It makes sense that this then has the effect of prolonging battery life.