This is how the summer heat damages your e-bike

The summer damages your e-bike and shortens its lifespan. With a few very simple measures, however, you can ensure that your pedelec gets through the season well.

Two things are not good for the e-bike at all: extreme heat and extreme cold. Extreme temperatures shorten the service life of pedelec batteries, which usually last for 500 to 1,000 charging cycles. And a replacement costs 500 euros or more.

So it’s worth taking precautions. After a longer tour – the battery range is an average of 70 kilometers – you should park the e-bike in the shade if possible and not let it sizzle in the sun.

In a car, the removable battery is not in good hands in the summer, as it heats up a lot in the sun. If you keep it there anyway, you protect it as best as possible from direct sunlight and excessive heat. Wrap it up in a blanket and stow it as low as possible in the trunk. Still, that’s better than nothing at all.

Before charging a hot battery, allow it to cool down as the heat puts a heavy strain on the battery cells.

E-Bike, Pedelec and S-Pedelec – the differences

Any bicycle with an electric motor is called an e-bike. And then a distinction is made: Can the motor drive the bicycle alone? Or does it only support the driver’s pedaling movement? In the latter case, the term pedelec is also used. The abbreviation stands for “Pedal Electric Cycle”.

Another special form is the S-Pedelec. Here, the motor supports the driver up to a speed of 45. An insurance license plate and a helmet are therefore mandatory. The S-Pedelec does not belong on the bike path, but on the street. It also has no place on forest paths and in pedestrian zones that are open to bicycles. With a normal pedelec, the motor only supports the driver up to a speed of 25.