Since entering the winter, many wheelchair users with electric wheelchairs will find that the battery life of the wheelchair seems to have deteriorated. A quick search on the internet reveals that everyone has similar troubles in winter, why is that?
Firstly, we need to understand a basic scientific principle: batteries are very, very sensitive to temperature.
Most electric wheelchairs use lead-acid or lithium batteries, and the chemistry inside these types of batteries changes with temperature.
During the winter months, when the temperature plummets, the electrolyte inside the battery becomes viscous and the lithium ions move through the battery at a slower rate, resulting in an inactive chemical reaction.
As a result, the battery's usable capacity and power output will be reduced, and the range will naturally decrease.
Impact of cold winter weather on batteries
1. Battery charging efficiency will be reduced in low temperature environment, it takes longer time to be fully charged, some substandard batteries, in low temperature, long time charging can not even reach the full capacity state.
2. Low temperature will lead to weaker discharge performance of the battery, the effective discharge capacity and discharge energy will be significantly reduced, which also means that the range of the wheelchair will be significantly shortened.
*Optimising charging strategies
The colder the environment, the more likely to accelerate the loss of battery power, so when charging, you can try to choose a higher temperature daytime or indoor charging, avoid charging for a long time in the cold outdoor.
When charging, try to use the original charging head to charge, avoid using different brands or models of chargers, so as not to cause damage to the battery.
The order of plugging in when charging should also be noted, the battery should be plugged in first, and then plugged into the power supply, so as to avoid the impact of high current on the battery and charger.
Unplugging is the opposite, first unplug the power supply end, and then unplug the power supply end, which can prolong the service life of the battery.
*Refinement of riding skills
Daily driving electric wheelchair travelling, in the process of driving, pay attention to control the speed of the car, timely and good judgment, try to avoid rapid acceleration and emergency braking and other intense driving behaviour, which can ensure the safety of travelling, but also to avoid the energy consumption of the vehicle.
After driving the electric wheelchair, try to park the electric wheelchair in a place that is not attacked by wind and rain to slow down the loss of battery power.
*Daily good maintenance
In order to ensure that the electric wheelchair can run normally in winter, you can regularly carry out a comprehensive inspection and maintenance of the electric wheelchair, including tyre pressure, brake system, lights and so on whether it is normal.
Especially the tyres of the electric wheelchair, because the tyre pressure is greatly affected by the temperature, once the tyre pressure is too low, the resistance of the electric vehicle will increase, which will affect the range of the wheelchair.
Regularly check the tyre pressure every month, and again before travelling to ensure that the tyre pressure is in the normal range.
