Heat84 Lithium-ion. What is there besides that and lead-acid for electric bicycles?
I'm not fully sure of everything else is out there because there are additional battery chemistries such as NiCd, NiMH, NiZn, etc., each with its own pluses and minuses, and depending on various factors, one battery type may be better than the other for certain uses. Meaning that Li-ion is not necessarily the best in all scenarios.
In any case, depending on how, and how far it charged, Li-ion can be optimized for maximum life, maximum capacity, or some compromise in between. Battery packs in EVs or in high capacity storage systems are normally optimized for maximum life or something close to it, while in various portable gadgets and most everything they are usually optimized for maximum capacity -- that probably includes your electric bicycle.
Assuming you don't have any control over the charging algorithm, you can do the following to ensure that your battery pack lasts as long as possible:
- do not discharge the battery to 0%. This is the single most important factor.
- if you have a deeply discharged battery (i.e. 0% - 10%) recharge it as quickly as possible and do not leave it in a discharged state
- Terminate charging before it reaches 100%. (around 80% - 90%)
- If you plan to store an unused Li-ion, charge it to around 50% - 75%.