Let your scooter cool down

Never charge your scooter battery immediately after you've used it. Let it cool down at least 15 minutes before charging. An electric scooter battery heats up when in use, and battery longevity, as well as battery capacity, will be negatively impacted when charging it hot.

Make sure your electric scooter and charger are not wet

If you have been riding in wet conditions, and even if your electric scooter has some IP rating, very few of them are completely waterproof. It is important to make sure that everything is dry before you plug the power cord into a wall outlet.

Let it drip off or wipe it off as best you can. Some water might have ended up where it shouldn't be, the charging port for instance.

A minimum of 30-45 minutes is recommended.

Use an original charger

Make sure you always use the correct charger that came with the electric scooter and is approved by the manufacturer to avoid battery damage.

Off-brand chargers may not be compatible with the battery's chemistry, or they may charge it at a higher rate that exceeds its limits.

If you don't use the original charger, make sure to double-check it is the same voltage.

Charge in a dry, cool environment

A cool and dry place (room temperature) is the ideal circumstance for charging an electric scooter battery.

Below 0°C/32°F or hotter than 45°C/113°F is not recommended, because low-temperature or high temperatures can damage the battery.

Never charge your electric scooter in direct sunlight. Such extreme temperatures can cause a serious failure or even an explosion.

Do not charge the electric scooter in a humid room or in locations that are exposed to water, rain, snow, or other liquid.

Turn off your scooter while charging

Do electric scooters charge on or off? Turning your electric scooter off when charging is the best practice.

Charging your electric scooter with it turned on will reduce how fast the battery charges and can lead to battery damage.

Plug the charger into the power outlet first

Always check your manual for charging procedures. For most electric scooters, the rule of thumb is to always plug the charger into the wall outlet first, the electric scooter second. Unless your manual says the opposite.

The reason for this is if something goes wrong, let's say there is a short circuit, only the scooter's charger will be affected.

Most chargers have a red indicator light to show it is charging. If the charger turns red, all good, if not, unplug it and see if it is repairable or replace it.

Plug the charger into the scooter’s charging port

Insert the charger plug into the electric scooter charging port. Most modern electric scooters will indicate the charging status on the display. When the charger light is green, it means the scooter battery is fully charged.

Charge your battery until it’s fully charged

In order to get as many lifecycles as possible out of your battery, always try to get it fully charged.

Avoid having it completely drained. The more you ride with a fully charged battery the less risk of it draining completely which is not good for the battery. Of course, the lithium-ion batteries of today's electric scooters can manage not being completely charged a bit here & there but try to avoid it becoming a habit.

Avoid overcharging your battery

Scooter batteries don't like being overcharged. Although you might think that this is how you get it fully charged, it's not.

The best charging process is to stop charging as soon as the scooter's battery is full.

Your electric scooter might have built-in overcharge protection but even so, it is always best practice to unplug it once the battery level is full.

Don’t ride immediately after charging

Waiting for about 5 minutes to let the electric scooter battery cool off after being charged is recommended before going for a ride. It will prolong the electric scooter's battery life.

How do you know if your electric scooter is charging

When the indicator light turns red on the charger and you can see on the e-scooters display it is "filling up", it is charging. Charger turns green when full.

How to charge electric scooter without charger

No charger? Then don't charge it until you get the right one.

If for some reason, you absolutely must charge it, maybe in an emergency, you can use another source, such as a car battery.

But there is a procedure. You will need jumper cables.

Make sure the battery's voltage from the power source you are charging from, f.e. a car battery, is higher than that of the e scooter.

Turn off your e scooter and remove the battery. Find the positive terminal (red), and the negative terminal, (black).

Take the red lead from the jumper cable and attach it to the red or positive terminal on your scooter's battery. The other red end goes on the other power source. The one black lead goes on to the negative terminal on the scooter battery and the other end to metal or another grounding point.

Start the car and let it run. Let your battery charge for a while.

Remove the cables in reverse order and make sure the lead ends never touch each other.

how long to charge an electric scooter

How long should my scooter charge? It depends on the model and size of your battery. Also what type of scooter battery charger you have. Your instruction manual will have the data on how long it will take to charge it. Between 3 - 5 hours is typical for many of today's average electric scooters. If it takes 8 hours, charging the battery overnight is a good idea. Some fast chargers can fill it up in less than an hour but this should be used as a backup rather than a routine

How often to charge an electric scooter

If you ride your scooter every day, depending on how far you ride, you will probably charge your electric scooter overnight all day you use it. Don't let the battery level go below 30% as lithium-ion batteries don't perform as well at this level. You will quickly drop lower and also shorten the battery life span.

how much does it cost to charge an electric scooter

Depending on your type of electric scooter it will require more or less energy to charge. However, we are talking very low figures.

An approximate calculation done by some researchers concluded it looks something like this:

Conclusion

In short. Charging your e scooter is not complicated but, doing it right will increase battery longevity as well as performance. Finding a good routine and never letting it fully discharge are two of the top tips given.

How to Safely Charge Your Electric Scooter

Your browser does not support the video tag.

Steps for charging an electric scooter | Credit: Richard S. / RG

Congratulations! You just bought a scooter and are probably worrying about how to charge the battery to keep your expensive investment in tip top shape. 

Don’t fret — this article teaches you the myths and truths of how to charge an electric scooter and how to prolong battery longevity — ensuring you get the most life (and miles) out of your battery.

Plug the charger into the wall first

Unless the manual states otherwise, plug the charger into the wall first, before plugging into the scooter. This is the safest bet for protecting the charger and its output capacitors.

The charger will get hot during the charging process, which is completely normal. 

Place your charger on edge, uncovered, on a non-flammable surface that will get plenty of airflow. 

Connect the charger plug to the scooter's charging port

Power your scooter down and remove the protective cover on the charging port.

Make sure both the port and connector are dust free and blow out if necessary.

Pay careful attention to orient the charger correctly. Most chargers are keyed so they will only go in one way, but some are poorly designed and you can still short the connector.

Plug the charger into the port on your electric scooter.

Wait for scooter to charge

Charge until the indicator light on the charger turns green and promptly disconnect.

For most chargers, the light will turn green before fully charged. If your scooter has a built-in voltmeter or battery display you will notice you’re not quite at 100%.

If you need maximum distance, you can continue to charge until you hit 100% or use as-is.

Use our charging time table to estimate charging time.

Pro Tip: Operating your battery between 30% and 80% of full charge will greatly increase your battery life (see tip #2).

Promptly disconnect the scooter when charged (don't leave plugged in)

Disconnect the scooter from the charger first, then unplug the charger from the wall outlet.

Charge as often as needed.

Use the following tips to max out your battery life.

Tips For Max Battery Longevity

These are the most important tips to prolong battery life, ordered from most to least important.

We’ve noted which recommendations are helpful, and which are impractical and excessive.

1. When storing for long periods, keep your scooter at 40% charge in a cool, dry place

Storing lithium ion batteries fully discharged is absolutely terrible for their longevity and #1 killer of good batteries.

Storing fully charged or discharged will accelerate battery degradation

For longer-term storage, like during winter months, store at 40% charge.  Due to self-discharge, you’ll need to check and top up the battery every 4 to 8 weeks to keep it at this level. 

Store your scooter in a cool and dry place.  Storing above 30 C / 86 F will decrease life. storing fully charged at elevated temperatures is especially bad.

2. Operate your scooter within 30% to 80% of its battery capacity

You can prolong the battery life by operating it between 30% to 80% of its capacity.  This is called the sweet zone and can increase battery life up to 4X.

For individual cells, this ends up being between 3.36 volts (30% of capacity) and 3.96 volts per cell (80% of capacity) is optimal.

We’ve produced a chart below that shows what the final voltage will be on a given scooter at optimal charge.

Optimal Voltage Charging Chart

Voltage (Nom)

Voltage (Max)

# Cells In Series

Optimal (30%) Discharge

Optimal (80%) Charge

36 V

42 V

10

33.6 V

39.2 V

48 V

54.6 V

13

43.7 V

52.3 V

52 V

58.8 V

14

47.0 V

56.6 V

60 V

67.2 V

16

53.8 V

65.3 V

72 V

84.0 V

20

67.2 V

78.4 V

3. Charge when the battery is between 32 F and 113 F (0 C to 45 C)

Absolutely do not charge your scooter when the battery might be below freezing temperature. For example, if you’ve been storing your scooter in a garage or outside where it is below freezing.

Wait until the battery has warmed up above freezing to charge.

Charging the battery at elevated temperatures ( 113 F / 45 C) can shorten its life, but is not as damaging.

4. Don’t leave your charger plugged in after charging

Disconnect your charger once your scooter is fully charged (or charged up to 80% from tip #2). 

Leaving it plugged in after it has finished charging will result in corrosion of the cathode and decreased capacity.

5. Don’t fully discharge your scooter in less than an hour

If you have a fast scooter and want to go fast, discharging the battery quickly will be unavoidable. 

However, if you’re really concerned, you basically don’t want to discharge the battery at a rate that will entirely deplete it in less than one hour (this is referred to as a C-Rate of 1.0). 

On sustained high speed runs or under heavy torque loads like accelerating up a steep hill, you are likely, if not momentarily, going above this ideal discharge rate.

Our recommendation is to enjoy your scooter and not worry about this too much.

6. Don’t fully charge your scooter in less than an hour

Lithium ion batteries will last more cycles if you charge them more slowly (known as C-rate in technical battery terms). 

For optimal battery longevity, it is best to fully charge a battery in not less than 1 hour.

For most scooter and charger configurations, you won’t be able to exceed the charging rate -- even with dual quick chargers.

How to Use a Quick Charger

Quick chargers give you greater control and feedback for charging your scooter. They allow you to control the charging rate and amount of charge to prolong battery life.

1. If your fast charger has a wall voltage adjustment toggle, set it appropriately (110 V or 220 V).

2. Plug the quicker charger into the wall

3. Adjust the charge rate setting, typically from 1 A to 5 A.

4. Adjust the charge depth setting from 80% to 100%.

5. If the charger has a switch, turn it on.

6. Plug the connector into the charging port of your scooter.

7. Charge until the quick charger display reads the target voltage.

Dual Charging

Typically, higher performance scooters with larger batteries will have two charging ports. This allows the addition of a second charger for even faster charging. 

Charging using a second charger will follow the same steps as above, but for the second charger.

Charging Myths

Myth 1: It is necessary to charge the scooter after every ride

It is not necessary to charge your scooter everyday or charge after every ride. The best practice is to keep the battery between 30% to 80%.

However, if you're going on a long ride then give the scooter a full charge.

Myth 2: You should fully charge a scooter before riding and fully discharge before charging

You do not need to fully or charge or charge at all before riding. 

You should charge when you need the range for a ride and not for any ritual reason.

You do not need to fully discharge your scooter before charging. Li-ion batteries don’t have “memory” like NiCd or NiMH batteries that would require full charge/discharge to maintain capacity

Electric Scooter Charging FAQ

How Long Does it Take to Charge an Electric Scooter

It takes between 4 and 20 hours to charge an electric scooter, but charge time greatly depends on battery capacity and chargers used.

You can use the charging time table to estimate how long a battery will take to charge from 0% to 100%. To use the table find your battery capacity (in Ah) and the current output on your charger (from 1 Amp to 5 Amps). Most smaller scooter chargers are 1 A to 2 A while bigger scooters (or dual chargers) will be 2.5 A to 5.0 A.

Charging Time Table

Battery (Ah)

1 A

2 A

3 A

4 A

5 A

2.6 Ah

2.6 hr

1.3 hr

0.9 hr

0.7 hr

0.5 hr

5.2 Ah

5.2 hr

2.6 hr

1.7 hr

1.3 hr

1.0 hr

7.8 Ah

7.8 hr

3.9 hr

2.6 hr

2.0 hr

1.6 hr

10.4 Ah

10.4 hr

5.2 hr

3.5 hr

2.6 hr

2.1 hr

13 Ah

13.0 hr

6.5 hr

4.3 hr

3.3 hr

2.6 hr

15.6 Ah

15.6 hr

7.8 hr

5.2 hr

3.9 hr

3.1 hr

18.2 Ah

18.2 hr

9.1 hr

6.1 hr

4.6 hr

3.6 hr

20.8 Ah

20.8 hr

10.4 hr

6.9 hr

5.2 hr

4.2 hr

23.4 Ah

23.4 hr

11.7 hr

7.8 hr

5.9 hr

4.7 hr

26 Ah

26.0 hr

13.0 hr

8.7 hr

6.5 hr

5.2 hr

28.6 Ah

28.6 hr

14.3 hr

9.5 hr

7.2 hr

5.7 hr

Use this table to estimate how long it will take to charge your battery from 0  to 100%.

How Long Does An Electric Scooter Battery Last?

An electric scooter battery will last 300 to 500 cycles or 4828.02 km to 40233.5 km of range before losing a significant capacity.

Charger Types and How To Make Sure You Have The Right One

Verifying Charger

If you lost your charger, need to replace it, or not sure if you have the right one, then follow the tips below.

Check the connector to make sure it is the appropriate type of fit into your scooter’s charging port. 

Verify voltage and current by reading the print on the charger.  It will say something like DC Output and give a voltage and max output current.

Connector Types

DC coaxial power plug

DC barrel-style connector on GOTRAX charger | Richard S. / RG

• DC coaxial, barrel-style charging connector
• Comes in a variety of lengths and diameters
• Common on smaller, less powerful scooters, including: GOTRAX, Xiaomi, TurboAnt, Segway Ninebot

USB power connector

USB power connector on Unagi charger | Richard S. / RG

• Square USB-style yellow power connector
• Uncommon
• Used on the Unagi Model One

XT60

XT-60 power connector from Widewheel charger | Richard S. / RG

• Square, keyed, two pin connector
• Uncommon
• Used on the Mercane WideWheel

XLR

SLR power connector | Credit: Richard S. / RG

• Circular, three pin connector often used in audio applications
• Common
• Used on some Inokim scooters

GX16-3P

GX13-3P power connector is the most common | Credit: Richard S. / RG

• Circular, three pin connector with threaded collar
• Very common in mid-range to larger scooters
• Used on Apollo, Kaabo, Zero lineups

The Science Behind Charging Your Scooter

Learn all about the technical aspects of electric scooter batteries in our complete guide.

How do your scooter’s batteries age?

Lithium ion batteries age when internal corrosion occurs within individual battery cells. This is a normal process that occurs during charging and discharging but can also be accelerated through improper care. 

During charging, lithium ion is shuttled onto the graphite anode. During discharging, the lithium ion is released from the anode.

However, in time, the lithium ion will begin to plate onto the anode and forms a solid electrolyte interface that grows and diminishes the capacity of the battery.

Over charging, completely discharging, and extreme temperatures accelerate the plating of the lithium ion to anode, degrading it.

Why is it important to store partially charged?

During storage battery cells will continue to lose charge. Below 2.7 volts/cell the battery seriously degrades and can even become unstable and potentially hazardous.

Why is plugging the charger into the wall first the best practice?

Plugging your charger  into the wall first, before plugging it into the scooter is the safest bet for charging if you don’t have reliable instructions.

The charger has an output capacitor that is sitting 0 volts of potential when not plugged in.

If you connect the unpowered charger to your scooters battery, which is typically at 36 V up to 84 V (depending on scooter) it will discharge a huge amount of current into the 0 V capacitor.  This can result in sparking and cause damage to the charger.

By plugging the charger in first, you are bringing the output capacitor voltage much closer to that of the battery.  When you plug it in, the voltage difference will be much smaller and you shouldn’t get a current spike.

Why shouldn’t you leave the scooter plugged in after charging?

Once fully charged, the extra charge will cause plating of metallic lithium onto the anode in the battery. This metallic lithium will accumulate in time and degrade the battery capacity by blocking the flow of lithium ions and consequently electrons.