by: Justin G.
It seems to happen more often these days, someone asking us what options we offer to charge their eBike (utility, commuter, cruiser, road, cargo, eMTB) away from home. We offer a few different options to get it done, take a look at them below!
First things First
Let's take a look at your eBike's charger to figure out what is best for your needs - go ahead and grab it. Somewhere on it will be the electrical requirements for it to operate.
Charger:
On the "Output" listing, you'll see the "voltage (V)" and either "amperage (A)" or "wattage (W)" listed; this will tell you what your eBike's battery needs to charge; an example would be "48V----2A".
To get wattage (if it isn't listed), take the voltage (V) and multiply it by the amperage (A) - the formula is (V x A = W). In this case it would be 48V x 2A = 96W, which means the charger is capable of supplying 96 watts to your bike's battery.
Battery:
If you have a 48V battery that's 17Ah (Amp-hours) rated, it would be 816Wh (Watt-hours). To get the Watt-hours, multiply the battery voltage by the Amp-hours. The formula is (V x Ah = Wh). In this case it would be (48V x 17Ah = 816Wh). The charger in our above example is supplying 96W and would take approximately 8.5 hours to charge a depleted or "dead" battery (816Wh/96W=8.5 hours).
Best Option: Lithium Cube
The best and easiest way to get it done is with our Lithium Cube. The Cube will charge your eBike battery and your phone, tablet, GoPro, and anything else you need. It can be recharged from a Solar panel, from your car as you drive (12V DC Socket), or from the wall outlet (AC) when you get home.
To use, simply plug in your bike's AC plug into the front of the Cube, turn on, and your eBike will begin to charge.
Second Option: Power Inverter
A power inverter converts 12V DC power (from your car's battery) into 110V AC power (like the wall outlet in your house). There are two different options when connecting a power inverter:
- Plug into your car's cigarette lighter/accessory socket. This option is only available to eBike chargers that require less than 1.5A (as you calculated earlier)
- Connect directly to the car's battery. Simply take the spring-loaded red clamp and connect it to the red (+) battery terminal, then take the black clamp and connect it to the negative (-) battery terminal.
Once the Inverter is connected and powered on, it is ready to be used.
Which one is right for me?
This question has many factors including what size your eBike's battery is, how many recharges you'll need, how many bikes you need to charge, and more.
The Lithium Cube is by far the simplest and most portable option there is and can be recharged on the fly. One of the best features of the Lithium Cube is that you can take the it with you and place it where you need it.
A Power Inverter is great for those of you who have larger vehicles with bigger batteries (or even dual-battery systems). With an inverter, you are able to charge multiple eBikes at once with the added benefit of supplying AC power to your rig; RV's, Trailers, and Trucks would all benefit from having a power inverter installed inside!
How many eBike battery charges can I get from the Lithium Cube?
This is a common question that we get in regards to eBike batteries. To figure this out, take your eBike's battery Wh (Watt-hour) number and divide that by the Lithium Cube's battery.
For instance, if your eBike battery is 48V and 10Ah, it would be 480Wh (48V x 10Ah=480Wh). The Lithium Cube 1200 has a 1166Wh battery, so you'd get around 2.4 charges (1166Wh/480W=2.4 charges)
Still can't decide?
Send an email over to our Customer Service team and we'll get it sorted out for you!
