How much better is a name-brand battery?
“They are hundreds of dollars better!”
This page will provide DOCUMENTED TESTED PROOF that name brand batteries are far better than so-called “domestic no-name brands.” On top of the documented proof, I will provide a real-life example of how much money you will save if you get a bike with a name brand battery.
What do I mean by “name brand” batteries? I am referring to the lithium cells inside. Rechargeable lithium batteries are made with many smaller cells. The best cells in the world are made by LG, Samsung, Sony, and Panasonic/Sanyo. Most ebikes under $2,000 have Chinese brand batteries.
The battery is the most expensive part of an ebike…more expensive than the motor and the frame itself. Cheap batteries only save you money initially. But they don’t perform nearly as well, and you have to replace them much sooner at a cost of over $400. Since name brand batteries don’t cost nearly that much more initially, there is a huge dollar savings with name brands.
Amp Hours
Most budget ebike batteries are less than 15 amp hours…some as low as 10Ah. Our Golf Ebikes provide a minimum of 15 amp hours. Generally speaking, the higher the amp hours the longer the ride-duration. But that is hugelly dependent on the quality of the cells. So all amp hours are not created equally. You get a lot more bang-for-the-buck with name brand batteries.
Charge Duration and Charge Cycles
The charges in name-brand batteries can last 3 times longer per charge than cheaper brandless batteries, and very importantly, they will take a lot more charging cycles and therefore last more years. This is not just theory. We know it from practical experience.
Real Battery Experience
As a practical example, the ebike I ride on the golf course 2 or 3 times a week has an LG battery. I have been riding it for 3 full seasons. In the beginning, I got 3 rounds per charge out of it with a little reserve. Now my battery goes into the preserve-mode on the 16th hole of the 3rd round. That means it is tries to “preserve” some energy so it starts to put out less power. So I now charge it up after 2 rounds. Therefore, it has lost some life after 3 years and many charge cycles, but still performs at about 80% of new.
I golf with a friend who has a budget ebike with a no-name battery. He got 3 rounds out of it when it was new, but by the end of the 1st season, it was barely lasting 1 round. He had to get a $430 replacement. Unfortunately, it was the same battery from the same company and after about half a season, he is starting to experience the same decline. Meanwhile, my battery is still producing plenty of range and power going into my 4th year!
Based on this practical example alone, you can see that a name-brand battery is worth HUNDREDS of dollars in your pocket. Yes, it costs more in the beginning, but it saves hundreds of dollars compared to the cheaper no-brand batteries.
Because of this real-life experience and observation, I started to do more research into batteries and brands and found this very informative 14 minute video on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMZuHMlRw_0
It shows many battery brands being tested under different conditions including the leading 4 brands from China. The clear conclusion is that the Chinese brands all tested very poorly and the name-brands are the best, by far. The following screenshot shows the rating of the mAh-per-cost which shows the LG and Samsung the best. The red underlined brands on the far right are all Chinese brands. This portion of the video starts at about the 9-minute mark.
Another very interesting section of this video starts at the 12:44 minute mark. It is the “Fan Test” to see which battery lasts the longest under the exact same load. This test removes all the variables that would be difficult to control on an ebike such as the rider’s weight, air pressure, terrain, wind, etc. This is just a pure test that proves how much better the name brand batteries are.
The winners are the LG and Samsung which lasted 3 TIMES LONGER than the Chinese brands (circled).
THREE TIMES LONGER.
Not even close.
No wonder my ebike is still going strong after 3 years and my friend had to replace his battery after 1 year.
One of the worst things I could do for my customers is recommend a bike that will require a battery replacement after the first or second season at hundreds of dollars of cost. That is why I so strongly recommend the name brand batteries like the LG 16 amp hour in the new 750 watt folding Golf Ebike.
