Battery types in electric bikes and electric scooters
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Electric bikes and electric scooters traditionally have used one of three types of batteries:
- Lead Acid (SLA)
- Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH)
- Lithium Ion (Li Ion)
The current generation of electric bikes use mainly NiMH and Lithium batteries, with the heavier SLA batteries having been largely phased out (the exception would be electric scooters, which still predominantly use SLA batteries.)
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There is a lot of information on the types of batteries and it is constantly changing, but here is a brief overview:
Lead Acid (SLA) batteries
They're the heaviest of the three with the shortest overall lifetime. A Lead Acid battery will last about 300 full charge cycles before it needs to be replaced. Their only advantage is the fact that they're relatively commonplace and the least expensive to replace.
Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries
A big jump up from SLA batteries, they're much lighter and have a better overall lifetime. A NiMH battery will last about 500 full charge cycles before it needs to be replaced.
Lithium Ion (Li Ion) batteries
The newest technology in batteries. They're pretty comparable to NiMH batteries, with the exception of these two differences: Lithium Ion batteries are a little bit lighter, and a Lithium Ion battery will last about 800 full charge cycles before it needs to be replaced. Lithium Ion batteries are the most expensive of the three.
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