Levo Battery Charging

[escrs]

Ive always fully charged my battery after every ride and its normally charged overnight

Then its left for a week before being used and its then run down to 5% or lower and then i repeat above

Did this to my 2017 Levo battery which had 100 charge cycles on it and was at 97% battery health when i sold the bike

Also did the same to my two 2018 Kenevo batteries, one with 15 charge cycles (100% health) and one with 57 charge cycles (99% health)

Doing the same to my 2020 Levo and have seen no issues

 

[salko]

Just started with the Levo. Using it more on road so far as I get used to it. Was wondering on your room temperature comment. This am I rode at about 45*F. I don’t press it though. Running in eco boost of 15/45 most of the time. Increasing boost for short bursts as needed.
What is the concern about low temps? What range is considered room temperature in this context?

Specialized recommends not charging the battery at temperatures which are not close to room temperatures. Also storing the battery at room temps is a good idea. Spec tells also never use very cold battery for a ride, this may permanently damage the battery. For room temps I'm usually thinking 20-25*C...

 

[KennyB]

I set up timer on my watch or smartphone and I disconnect the charger when time is up, you may also use programmable power socket to disconnect automatically ... Charging speed in the range 0-80% is 22%/hour (in range 80-100% is about 2x slower) and I calculate hours and minutes how long do I need to charge it to get it to desired % and this works for me perfectly ...

That is so useful, the beauty is that one can accurately charge off the bike, indoors. A picture is worth a thousand words as they say (unless it takes a thousand words to explain it), so I have done a wee graph showing this for both batteries with the 4A charger and for the 500Wh with the 2A charger. Hope this helps.
By the way the 30% figure Specialized recommends is straight out of the user manual - Page 16, Para 8.7 Storage, 3rd bullet - "... not in use for extended periods of time ... charge ... 30-39%".

 

[Mikerb]

As far as temperature is concerned I am only concerned when it drops below 10°C. My bike is usually stored and charged in my garage but when temperatures drop below 10°C I keep it in my house. That means I can charge at room temperature and also the bike can dry out after a ride/clean/wash.
To reply to a couple of points above:-
1. New batteries are delivered in a deep sleep mode. The first charge unlocks that mode and it is never repeated. I suspect retailers are advised to charge to 70% in order to wake up the battery, allow it to be tested ready for sale and short demos. The deep sleep mode enables the battery to be stored for months without damage. They have a secondary sleep mode during which there is only minor decay in charge over time.
2. The reason for not leaving a battery on charge unattended is one of fire risk...and an uncontrollable fire at that! You are relying solely on a few electronic components working as they should to prevent overcharging. Chargers fail just like any other electronic device.

 

[MauryJ]

Specialized recommends not charging the battery at temperatures which are not close to room temperatures. Also storing the battery at room temps is a good idea. Spec tells also never use very cold battery for a ride, this may permanently damage the battery. For room temps I'm usually thinking 20-25*C...

Thanks so much. I used your formula to charge from 32% to 80% and set my timer. Very precise! It hit exactly 80% when the timer went off.

Haven’t removed my battery yet. Gonna figure that out now so I can store it inside on cold nights... OK. Got it out. Kind of a pain though.

 

[NULevo]

Thanks so much. I used your formula to charge from 32% to 80% and set my timer. Very precise! It hit exactly 80% when the timer went off.
Haven’t removed my battery yet. Gonna figure that out now so I can store it inside on cold nights.

Hi MouryJ, are you running a 500Wh or 700Wh battery on your Levo?

 

[MauryJ]

As far as temperature is concerned I am only concerned when it drops below 10°C. My bike is usually stored and charged in my garage but when temperatures drop below 10°C I keep it in my house. That means I can charge at room temperature and also the bike can dry out after a ride/clean/wash.
To reply to a couple of points above:-
1. New batteries are delivered in a deep sleep mode. The first charge unlocks that mode and it is never repeated. I suspect retailers are advised to charge to 70% in order to wake up the battery, allow it to be tested ready for sale and short demos. The deep sleep mode enables the battery to be stored for months without damage. They have a secondary sleep mode during which there is only minor decay in charge over time.
2. The reason for not leaving a battery on charge unattended is one of fire risk...and an uncontrollable fire at that! You are relying solely on a few electronic components working as they should to prevent overcharging. Chargers fail just like any other electronic device.

That fire risk sounds serious. I will have to find a better spot to charge up! Like a stone counter... outside! An uncontrollable fire inside the house is an even bigger risk, attended or not! That’s a big battery pack with a lot of power stored. An industrial fire extinguisher will need to be handy.

 

[MauryJ]

Hi MouryJ, are you running a 500Wh or 700Wh battery on your Levo?

It’s a 2020. It’s the 700.The charger is 4.0 A output.

 

[NULevo]

It’s a 2020. It’s the 700.The charger is 4.0 A output.

It’s a 2020. It’s the 700.The charger is 4.0 A output.

Thanks, Mine's a 500Wh, It will be interesting to see if the charge time is same.

 

[Lenka]

That fire risk sounds serious. I will have to find a better spot to charge up! Like a stone counter... outside! An uncontrollable fire inside the house is an even bigger risk, attended or not! That’s a big battery pack with a lot of power stored. An industrial fire extinguisher will need to be handy.

I charge in the hallway of the house where there is a ceramic floor and there is always someone at home. a fire extinguisher is obviously a good idea. it is not unusual for batteries to ignite. I often read about the fire of electric cars or just phones. Let's be careful.

 

[salko]

Unfortunatelly if battery pack gets ignited, fire extinguisher may not help you much. This one tried water and also didn't help him much:

 

[MauryJ]

Unfortunatelly if battery pack gets ignited, fire extinguisher may not help you much. This one tried water and also didn't help him much:

Wow. I notice exposed wires on the rack. Looked like he was messing with the system. Shorted it out and one by one the cells went off.
Serious heat and continued ignition as cells burst. Water is not the best fire suppression tool for electrical fires.

 

[KennyB]

New graph just for the 700Wh battery and 4A charger based on Salko's formula. I have put two scales on the Time axis, one to give you charge time to 80% and from 80 to 100%, the other straight to 100%.

 

[MauryJ]

Thanks, Mine's a 500Wh, It will be interesting to see if the charge time is same.

With just a single charge timed the rate of 22% for charging from 32 to 80% was precise. It showed exactly 80% charge upon completion that evening. Next afternoon as I began my ride the charge read 32%. Close enough for me!

 

[salko]

With just a single charge timed the rate of 22% for charging from 32 to 80% was precise. It showed exactly 80% charge upon completion that evening. Next afternoon as I began my ride the charge read 32%. Close enough for me!

I confused with this post, is there a typo?

 

[MauryJ]

I confused with this post, is there a typo?

Maybe confusing. I used your formula as you stated below:

Salko said: To show you my simple calculation example for my 700Wh battery and 4A charger:
If you ride home with 13% and want to charge to 75%, there is 62% difference. Charging speed as mentioned is 22%/hour (only for about first 80%). So 62÷22 = 2,82 hours = 2 hours 49 minutes ... this is time needed and you will have it charged to 75%

 

[MauryJ]

Difference of desired charge level in % and current charge level in % = desired charge amount.
Desired charge amount ÷ 22 = charge time in hours.
(Multiply anything after the decimal point by 60 to convert to minutes.)
hours:minutes. Set that in your timer.

Example:
30 % existing charge
80% desired charge
80-30=50
50÷22=2.272727
.272727*60=16.3636
2 hours 16 minutes should get you to 80% charge give or take 1%.
Testing right now. Results in 2+ hours.

 

[salko]

Difference of desired charge level in % and current charge level in % = desired charge amount.
Desired charge amount ÷ 22 = charge time in hours.
(Multiply anything after the decimal point by 60 to convert to minutes.)
hours:minutes. Set that in your timer.

Example:
30 % existing charge
80% desired charge
80-30=50
50÷22=2.272727
.272727*60=16.3636
2 hours 16 minutes should get you to 80% charge give or take 1%.
Testing right now. Results in 2+ hours.

Exactly!

It showed exactly 80% charge upon completion that evening. Next afternoon as I began my ride the charge read 32%. Close enough for me!

This "I began my ride the charge read 32%" confuses me, as you said you completed with 80% charge a day before ... Did you mean 82%?

 

[Robbie928]

That fire risk sounds serious. I will have to find a better spot to charge up! Like a stone counter... outside! An uncontrollable fire inside the house is an even bigger risk, attended or not! That’s a big battery pack with a lot of power stored. An industrial fire extinguisher will need to be handy.

Unfortunately the likelyhood if anyone being able to control a potential fire in a house (compartment) from one of these batteries is very very slim, would need to be something like dry power but that doesn’t remove the heat so underneath would smoulder until it regains oxygen levels. I haven’t done much research into these batteries in terms of how many have had issues ect yet but being sad and as it’s my job I will be soon (firefighter/Fire Behavioural instructor for London Fire) if one of these ever does go fire blanket to and boot it outside call emergency services.

 

[Kave]

I use a telldus system with powermeter connected between the charger and socket. We have 230v here and when the Specialized charget is charging it usually charges at 188w. I have now set a rule in Telldus to stop charger when charger is down to 160w. I will then go out to see what % Blevo reports. I hope its at about 80% charge level.

 

[Kave]

So, after looking at the power graphs of the charging, I decided that 180w might be the limit, ie when charging drops down below 180w stop charging. I just tried and looked at the bike with Blevo and Garmin Edge, 81% battery. I also added a virtual switch in Telldus so I can decide if I want 100% charge or 81%. I also upped the watt limit to 181w to see if that will give med 80%.

 

[Utah Rider]

I have two 460wh and one 504wh. The 460wh batteries are three years old. I don't have much faith in the how the app records complete charge cycles. Anyway, I bought my two bikes to ride so I don't really spend any time worrying about charging levels. I always run my batteries until they shutoff and I always charge until they shut off. My two batteries that are three years old have a combined 6000 miles. They are both around 80% health and only deliver half the range of when they were new. These are first generation batteries. My 504wh is much improved over the previous version. I try and carry a spare battery for long rides but I have lost count of the number of times I had to pedal back to the car without voltage.

My bike sits in the back of my Durango all day everyday when I am at work, with the battery in it, and my spare is in there too. As you can imagine the truck gets very hot inside in the summer. I've had no fires in three years. My newer 504wh battery has around 1200 miles on it. It always reads 100% health. Of course there is always a possibility of a fire during charging but the system is pretty smart and will shut down if there is a problem during charging. Occasionally one of my old batteries will stop charging with an "overcharge" code. The first mission control app used to let you connect to the battery during charging and you could monitor the charge rate and voltages. I noticed that the newer mission control app does not allow that.

 

[Paul willis]

Bit of a minefield these batteries I can’t get to grips with the don’t charge it to 100% bit , I have charger that came with mine that turns its self of when done shurly it’s set to to do min damage from specialized also if I go for short
Blast then top it up to max can thin hurt battery

 

[Utah Rider]

I have three bikes now. I always keep my batteries at full charge and ready to go. Anymore it seems like every ride I'm able to ride until my battery is dead. If I bring two batteries then the same thing. They always get charged the minute I get home. Even if they are warm. Probably not proper battery etiquette but haven't had any problems. I recently bought an 18' Levo that was sitting on the showroom floor for two years. Since the battery has a two year warranty I make sure I run that battery hard. Great engineering from Specialized.

 

[Paul willis]

Thanks d I will crack on doing what I am doing have two batteries one new one 12 months old so have bit warranty left on both

 

[55plusmxinsanity]

I, also, charge my battery to full after each ride. 67 cycles 2k plus miles and battery health still at 100%.

 

[Paul willis]

I read somewhere 2 years or 300 charges

 

[I want my 2 Dollars!]

If you don't need a full charge, don't go to 100. Just do some searches. These batteries have a great deal of documentation explaining how they work, what causes then to decline and how to postpone that decline. Charge to 100 every 4th or 5th cycle and don't leave it stored at 100 or less than 50 for any length of time. Ideal store is right around 60pct in a cool temp. Refrig is good for Batts at 60 over the winter,. Freezer is bad . Understanding your battery can make it last 2100+ cycles vs 500 to 700 if your always topping it off or draining it fully. It'll probably outlast the bike if your good to it.

 

[YouWhy010]

I don't have experiences with 500Wh batteries but I assume it must be like this: charging speed 22%/hour for 700Wh battery will take 154W of power. If you use same 4A charger for 500Wh the charging power stays the same 154W so it means in 1 hour you will charge it for about 31%. If you are using 2A charger then times will get roughly doubled ... But of course these batteries have BMS with its own programmed mind and can act a bit differentely ... Please try and let me now if my theory holds the water ...

Thanks Salko, this was the info I was looking for and it works for me perfectly.
It would be "nice" if Specialized would give an option of 80% charging.
On my smartphone there is an App doing that.

 

[Dazzling1984]

excellent thread guys, lots of useful information many thanks =)