Can we charge an electric scooter overnight?
Electric scooters are one of those green technologies that we admire so much, and we call it a green technology for so many reasons.
First of all, electric scooters don’t emit pollutants into the air, and also we can charge these scooters using renewable energy sources. Additionally, electric scooters are portable and take minimal space to store at home.
Nowadays, we can also see new designs for electric scooters that look exactly similar to regular scooters. Safer designs make this technology even more sustainable in the long term.
If you are already using this technology, I must appreciate you for taking care of the environment. You can be an inspiration for your family and local community if you can advocate the benefits of using electric scooters over regular ones energized by fossil fuels.
Now let’s get into the main topic. As an electric scooter rider, I am sure you have that one million dollar question in mind. And that is, “Can we charge the electric scooter overnight?”
In this article, we will discuss every possible doubts you might have, but let’s start with the central question first.
Can you charge an electric scooter overnight?
Yes, you can charge an electric scooter overnight. Modern charging systems come with an intelligent charge controlling mechanism that automatically switches off your charging system when your electric scooter battery is fully charged. The primary purpose of this mechanism is to prevent your electric scooter batteries from getting overcharged. If you are using the correct charging system provided by the manufacturer, you can safely charge your electric scooter overnight unless a malfunction occurs.
But in the long term, charging overnight may affect the battery life, and it is not a good practice to have. In the upcoming sections, we will discuss it in detail.
Which batteries do we use for electric scooters?
Generally, Lithium-ion batteries are the most popular ones for so many good reasons.
1. High energy density:
These batteries have a high energy density, and that is why you can see their use cases everywhere. This property helps to manage the space issue in accessories, and even they can fit in a smartphone without compromising performance.
We would always want to use these batteries in electric scooters, as making a portable design is a priority in manufacturing electric scooters.
2. Lightweight:
Lithium-ion batteries are more lightweight than any other popular batteries available in the market. These batteries are a blessing for an electric scooter as you may have a very minimal effect of bulkiness while riding an uphill slope. Overall it helps to make your electric scooter efficient.
3. Long battery lifespan:
We will use our electric scooter daily, so the battery must last long enough. And lithium-ion batteries come with this brilliant feature. They might last up to 2000-3000 charging cycles. However, we need to keep in mind that the performance of any battery degrades with time. And lithium-ion batteries are no exception.
These are some obvious reasons you would always like to choose lithium-ion batteries over any other type of rechargeable batteries.
Now, why was it essential to introduce the battery type we use in electric scooters?
As we know the battery type now, we can have a base to understand the overnight charging better. First, we must understand what happens when we overcharge a lithium-ion battery!
Overcharging issues of Lithium-ion batteries
Although you can’t overcharge your lithium-ion battery with a regular charger, it is possible to overcharge a lithium-ion battery manually. I would not recommend doing this at home as it involves accidental risk.
When the voltage becomes too high than the operating voltage of a lithium-ion battery, it may experience a thermal runaway leading to a battery explosion.
If you have flammable objects near it, it may lead to a big accident. That’s why we don’t recommend testing it manually without the help of a professional.
But fortunately, nowadays, the charging systems are smart enough to control the charging using voltage and temperature tracking along with artificial intelligence of the software. You can see these features in your electric scooter as well.
Unless malfunctions happen, which is unfortunate, you don’t need to worry about overcharging when charging your electric scooter with the charging system provided by the manufacturer.
Why is overnight charging possible?
As I mentioned earlier, overnight charging is definitely possible for an electric scooter. But why and how? I don’t usually charge any of my electric accessories overnight, but I remember I did it once. And guess what? Nothing happened.
Today’s charging systems are way smarter than before. Additionally, I am sure your electric scooter has software to take care of the charging procedure as well, and it automatically cuts off further charging when it goes to 100%.
But to maintain it to 100% level, the charging system may keep working overnight, and that’s a little work.
To conclude, you can charge your electric scooter overnight, and you don’t have to worry about overcharging.
But I still don’t recommend charging overnight, even though it is possible. Especially when you are sleeping, I would ask you not to keep your charger plugged in. And I’ll explain my points in the following sections.
Impact of overnight charging on battery life
There is no harm in charging your battery overnight in the short term. But if you do it every day, it can cause problems after a few years. You might not even realize it, but your battery might degrade faster than usual.
Let me explain why! When you keep your charger plugged in, it doesn’t stop working even after getting charged fully. It has to maintain the voltage to keep the battery fully charged at 100%, cause if you cut off the charging, the battery starts to discharge automatically depending on the age of the battery.
Although it might be a small work to do, it may affect the battery life in the long term. Not only that but also it causes additional stress to your charging system. Again, you may not have any immediate risk if you are charging with the branded charger which comes with the electric scooter. But if you are charging with a cheap charger, you never know. There might be many possible risk factors. Next, I’ll address these factors to consider.
Is it safe to charge your e-scooter while sleeping?
When you are sleeping, things are not in your control in case a malfunction happens, and a minor malfunction may lead to a big disaster if we are totally unaware. Using the native branded charger, you can be more risk-free but still not entirely risk-free. If it is not super necessary, I would not recommend it.
And in the case of a non-native or a cheap charger, the risk is greater. It would be best to plug in the charger before you have your dinner and remove the charging before sleeping. Also, you can charge just after waking up from sleep. If you plan the charging time well, you can avoid charging overnight.
Battery condition:
If your electric scooter battery is 2 or 3 years old and gets heated up abnormally, I would suggest taking it to a service center and probably replacing the battery with a new one.
Old batteries may have a greater risk, so I would always be cautious about charging my electric scooter overnight. And also, the age of any electronic device depends on its usage. Make sure you are not delaying the replacement or servicing.
Why does safety depend on the charging system?
The biggest mistake that we might make is charging with a non-native charger. Native chargers come with a power specification where voltage and current are specified to match the physical properties of the charging cable and the battery.
But in the case of a non-native charger, malfunctions may occur due to the mismatch of power specifications. Let’s try to understand how the adapter and charging cable work!
Charging Adapter
A charging adapter converts high voltage AC supply to low voltage DC to charge the battery. The converted power may vary in different charger adapters depending on the battery device. That is why it is essential to use the native charger adapter to avoid any input mismatch for your electric scooter battery.
Charging Cable
Charging cable is also a super important factor, and we can’t use just any cable available. You know from school days that the resistance of a cable depends on its physical parameters such as length and the area of cross-section as well.
And the native charging system comes with a compatible cable (wire) that can take the load. But in the case of a non-native charging cable, you don’t know if it is consistent with the whole system. Such mismatch can lead to an increase in resistance, and in extreme cases, the cable might cause an accident.
Now you can imagine why it is super essential to use the native charging system for your electric scooter provided by the manufacturer.
And also, if malfunctions occur in any of those components discussed earlier, you might get into trouble. So if you are planning to charge your scooter overnight, make sure your charging system is the native one and working perfectly well.
Precautions to charge electric scooter overnight
I understand situations are not always favorable, and maybe you really need to charge your electric scooter overnight. Then I have these tips that you may like to consider.
- Ensure your battery health is fine and doesn’t have abnormal heating issues.
- Never use a non-native charging system that you have not tested before with proper checking.
- Do not keep any flammable objects near your electric scooter while charging overnight.
- Ensure that your charging system works well and cuts off the charging when your electric scooter gets fully charged. If you notice abnormal heating issues while charging, then be cautious about putting on charging overnight.
Finally, why don’t I recommend charging the electric scooter overnight?
Modern charging systems are smart enough to control overcharging, and you don’t have to worry much if you are using the native charger and your battery health is fine.
But you know that you don’t have any control over any accidental issues when you sleep. That’s why I would always suggest avoiding charging overnight, and it is best to charge when you are conscious and have control to manage any situations quickly.
