Question about temperature and operation

[tdiggs]

The cold months are coming soon and I wanted to know what role temperature played on the motor and battery. I have a yescomusa 48V 1000W kit with a sun-thing48 (eBay seller) 48V 15ah LiFePO4 battery. I will be storing this thing in a shed that is not temperature controlled and possibly riding it in 40 or 30 degree F weather. Will this affect the life of the battery, motor, etc?
Second question is: I run this baby pretty much as full throttle all the time (it's hard not to), although I help it up hills by pedaling hard. Am I putting the lifespan or integrity of the motor, battery, etc at risk?

 

[dogman dan]

Full throttle riding should not be harming anything. But on hills, you gotta pedal enough to keep moving 15 mph or more. If not, then you will heat up a motor, and the amps being drawn won't be kind to the battery. When that motor goes UHHHgghh, so does the battery. But blasting along on the flat, the motor actually works less than on a hill by quite a bit.

Keeping the battery warmer will help. If the battery is cold but still above freezing, it's going to lose capacity, you'll run out soon and be slower the whole ride. But no permanent damage is happening.

Charging it cold is another thing. Try to have it in a warmish place to charge it. Right after you finish riding, it will be slightly warm, so charge it then rather than let it freeze and then charge.

Put something insulating around the battery once it gets really cold, but don't cover the bms.

 

[tdiggs]

Thanks dogman!

I have the battery inside a heavy cloth bag in the front triangle of the frame. The BMS is located inside the bag and taped to the battery. Should I pull that out of the bag and place it elsewhere? It may get below freezing in the shed, but it mostly floats around the cold temperatures that are above freezing where I live. I always charge it right after riding too.

 

[Bor_Ed]

Battery starts to loose its grunt at ~-20C (-4F) but even then you can run the setup if you take consideration to the limited output current and heavier voltage sack even at 'normal' riding.
I've ridden lifepo4 battery taken from charger inside and having 20km (15mile)+ routes at letting the battery do a bit less in -32C (-26F) temps, cycle life reduces in such environment somewhat but still is way more than just pedaling.