Most if not All of the Electric Bicycle sold here in Singapore, would have the AH reading of their battery publicised. As a result, buyers would only look out for the AH reading of an E-Bike Battery to jump into conclusion that the bigger the AH reading, the better the E-Bike is in terms of battery life.
Well, what if we told you that you have been lied to all these while? What if we told you that a big AH does not necessarily mean it’s better?
Before that, let’s all go back to basics about the E-Bike battery and use an analogy to make you understand better.
Water Flowing Through A Pipe
If we think of electricity as water flowing through a pipe it can help us understand amps, volts and watts.
- Amps: Volume of water flowing through the pipe.
- Voltage: Water pressure
- Watts: Power (Amps x Voltage) the water could provide
With this analogy in mind the definitions below for amp, volt and watt should be easier to understand.
Amps: Used to describe the number of electrons moving
Volts: Used to describe how fast electrons move, more voltage = more speed !
Watt: The combination of Volts and Amps ( Volts x Amps = Watts )
Ampere-Hour (Ah): It is the unit of a battery capacity that measures the amount of charge that can be available in a fully charged battery. This amount of charge is what determines the amount of current that can be discharged from the battery and its discharge time.
- For example, if a 12V battery is rated 48Ah, it theoretically means the fully charged battery can discharge 48A for one hour or 12A for 4hours and so on. Thus, Ampere hour (Ah) is about the current(A) discharged by the battery and its discharge time(h)
Watt-Hour (Wh): It is referred to as the energy capacity of a battery as it more accurately determines the energy that can be stored in a battery. Wh = Volts x Ah
Watt-hour (Wh) gives a more accurate capacity of batteries because it includes the Voltage (V) and the Ampere-hour (Ah). It also determines how far you might go on a full charge.
As much as amp-hour determines how much charge is in a battery, you can’t compare batteries by just using it. You have to consider both the amp-hour and voltage.
Here’s an example:
| Volts | Ampere/Hour | Watt/ hour | |
| E-Bike A | 48 V | 8 Ah | 48V x 8Ah = 384 Wh |
| E-Bike B | 36 V | 10 Ah | 36V x 10Ah = 360 Wh |
With this example, You can clearly see that E-Bike A produces a LARGER Watt-hour (Wh) even though it’s Ampere-hour (Ah) rating is SMALLER than E-Bike B.
Conclusion
Key Takeaways for you to bring back about e-bike battery:
- Bigger Ah does not mean it’s Better
- The correct Unit to look out for is Watt-hour (Wh) because it includes the Voltage (V) and the Ampere-hour (Ah)
We hope this gives you a better understanding as to what to look out for when you are getting an E-Bike. If you do still have any burning questions to ask, feel free to drop us a DM on Facebook and our team will get to you as soon as possible!
I completely agree with the blog post! It’s refreshing to see someone calling out the misconception that Ah reading is the sole determinant of e-bike battery quality. I’ve always thought it was weird how some sellers would tout their batteries as having a certain Ah rating, without considering other factors like discharge time and voltage.
Hi Rizal, thank you for sharing your thoughts on our blog post! We’re glad to hear that you found the analogy of amps, volts, and watts helpful in understanding e-bike batteries better. At Eko Life, we believe it’s essential to consider multiple factors when evaluating an e-bike battery, including discharge time and voltage. If you have any further questions or concerns about our products or services, please don’t hesitate to contact us at [email protected] or +65 6589 8877.
I never really understood the difference between Ah and Wh, but this analogy with water flowing through a pipe made it click for me! It’s clear that the author put a lot of effort into breaking down complex concepts in an easy-to-understand way. I’ll definitely be considering both Ah and voltage when shopping for e-bike batteries from now on.
Hi Feng Chen, we’re thrilled to hear that our analogy helped you understand the difference between Ah and Wh! We strive to make complex concepts easy to grasp for everyone. Remember, it’s not just about the Ah reading – considering both Ah and voltage is key when choosing an e-bike battery. If you have any more questions or need further clarification, feel free to reach out to us at [email protected] or +65 6589 8877.
I’m glad someone is finally speaking out against the ‘bigger Ah means better’ myth. It’s led to some really bad buying decisions for me in the past. I’ve always thought that there must be more to it than just a single number, and this post has convinced me to do my research before making another purchase.
Hi Saharuddin, we’re thrilled that our post has helped you understand the importance of considering multiple factors when evaluating an e-bike battery. It’s great to hear that you’ve had negative experiences with buying decisions based solely on Ah ratings in the past. At Eko Life, we believe that educating ourselves is key to making informed choices. If you have any more questions or concerns about e-mobility products, feel free to reach out to us at [email protected] or +65 6589 8877. We’re here to help.
For e bike the ah /wh doesn’t really matter …riders wants to know for how long they can ride their ebike and if it’s powerful
For that the motor W will distinguish the power and inherit the actual time of running in full power