When choosing your BZEN e-bike, you can configure its features, such as the model, the colour or the capacity of the bike battery. The latter is an important aspect of the bike, as the capacity of the bike battery significantly determines the everyday comfort and range of the e-bike. What factors should be taken into account when choosing a battery so that your new bike meets your expectations 100%?
Why did we choose a battery that is built into the frame?
As you can see or rather not see at first glance is the battery. This is because in our e-bikes it is installed inside the frame – in contrast to the popular e-bikes where it is usually placed outside the frame. This solution offers many advantages: The bike looks much nicer and the battery is protected from theft or damage. Furthermore an electric bike with a centrally mounted battery is well balanced – which makes it easier for you to keep your balance (the centre of gravity is in the lower, central part). These are the advantages of electric bike with a built-in battery.
This also means that you won’t lose or forget it anywhere. It is stably and securely mounted in a frame with an easily accessible charging port.
Read also: Lightweight e-bikes – finally an electric bike that is easy to ride. Keep your balance while riding
What do the symbols Ah, V and Wh stand for? Specification for lithium-ion battery in e-bikes.
When you read about the batteries in electric bicycles, you always see the units mentioned in the headline. What do they actually mean?
Ah – is the number of Ampere-hours; 1 Ah is the current of 1 Ampere that flows for 1 hour. To put it even more simple: it is the capacity of the battery. The more Ampere-hours, the longer the battery will last.
V – is the voltage, expressed in volts; it is the same for all our batteries and is 36 V.
Wh – the Watt-hour or capacity of the battery. This is a similar unit to Ah, but gives more information – it is the number of Amp-hours × the voltage of 36 V, as you can easily see from the capacities of our batteries: 7Ah/252Wh (so 7 × 36 = 252) and 10Ah/360Wh (10 × 36 = 360). So you can also say of the Watt-hours: the more of them, the longer you ride.
When referring to battery types, we indicate their capacity in Ampere-hours and Watt-hours. Knowing what these units mean will definitely help you choose the right battery for you. However, if physics has never been your passion or you just don’t want to deal with the technical details, you can simply assume that more Ah = more battery capacity = longer riding time.
7Ah or 10Ah – which battery is best?
With this knowledge, it will be much easier for you to choose a bike and battery that suits your needs. As in BZEN bikes there are two battery types to choose from, it is better to think about this choice because a larger battery is not necessarily better for you – for example, because it is slightly heavier and takes a bit longer to charge.
The choice of battery is determined by several factors:
- How often do you cycle?
- How long does usually your ride take?
- What distances do you ride (short or long)?
- What type of terrain (e.g. flat or hilly)?
- Do you often carry heavy luggage (e.g. large shopping or a child in a baby seat)?
- Do you always have the possibility to charge your battery?
You should assume that the higher your demands on the battery and the bike – i.e. the more often and longer you ride in difficult terrain or with a child seat or shopping – the better a battery with a larger capacity will be. And if you often ride your e-bike outside the city, a larger battery is especially recommended.
Our experience shows that for a typical daily ride in the city (to and from work, 1 to 2 times a week to go shopping or to take the child to kindergarten, trips to friends) a BZEN battery with 7Ah/252Wh is sufficient. You can go 35-75 kilometres on a single charge, depending on the factors mentioned above. It is important to note that our battery is equipped with a BMS (battery management system) that allows the energy of the battery to be used more efficiently.
The 10Ah/360Wh battery has twice the capacity and allows you to ride up to 110 kilometres on a single charge. It is suitable for longer rides outside the city or for very intensive use of the bike (e.g. 20-30 km per day).
If you are not sure which battery is better for you, you can test the bike for 30 days – if you find that the chosen battery has too little or too much capacity, you can also exchange it for another one.
Read also: BZEN – E-bike for your needs. Check which e-bike model suits you best
Charging the battery in the BZEN e-bike
It is important to know that the comfort of using your e-bike also depends on the charging time of the battery: a smaller battery takes about 3 hours to charge, a large battery 4.5 hours. So you can easily leave the bike to charge while you go to work or shopping – as soon as the battery is full, the charger switches off to avoid using more energy, so there is no risk of overcharging. All you need to charge is a standard 220/230 volt socket (available throughout the European Union) and the charger supplied with the bike.
If you forget to recharge, you can also easily ride your BZEN e-bike with a fully discharged battery thanks to ist light weight (approx. 16kg) – but it only takes 1.5 hours to recharge the battery to 50 % capacity and have much more fun.
The only situation in which you should avoid charging the battery is when the temperature is below 0°C.
E-bikes battery vs. weather – why you should choose an e-bike with integrated battery?
Weather conditions are a very important factor to consider when using an e-bike.
Even though our batteries are made from the most technologically advanced components, they are still electronic devices that – like laptops, cars or smartphones – can function less efficiently in very cold or very hot temperatures. However, in case of BZEN bikes, we have integrated the battery into the frame so that the weather and temperature don’t affect it as much as they do in bikes that don’t have a built-in battery. You can ride it safely in both winter and summer, but remember to take care of the battery and not leave the bike outside in extreme heat or cold. In fact, there’s nothing new about leaving your bike out in the rain, in the blazing sun or in the snow – the same goes for e-bikes. Take minimal care of your BZEN bike and it will serve you effectively for a long time.
Check the offer: London e-bike model