citizenbiker

I purchased a Citizen bike with the expensive add-on pedal assist. After about a week after getting and using the bike, my battery no longer charges. It was fully charged when I got the bike. After traveling about 7 miles the battery went from fully charged (4 green lights) to 50% or two green lights. I charge the battery when it is about 50% and it only charged twice in one week. It says 3 hours or so to charge but even charging it after 8 to 10 hours, it still has not charged.

Citizen Bike told me there is nothing wrong with the battery. My commute is extremely difficult now without the pedal assist. It is actually harder to ride than a conventional bike without the pedal assist.

Does anyone else have similar issues with the battery? Could anyone tell me what I am doing wrong? I paid good money for the bike and the battery is actually more than the bike itself. Citizen Bike is selling it for about $389 from its advertised $599 and it seems like Citizen Bike is the only place I can get a replacement battery.

I spoke to an attorney who stated that if there are others who are having similar issues, there is a possibility for a class action for the full amount of the bike and battery and any other accessories purchased since it means that Citizen Bike may be selling very expensive, defective batteries (which may be unsafe) and is not telling customers the truth of the battery life, risks and capabilities.

If there are any other people experiencing this, please post to share with the rest of the community. I like Citizen Bike but these batteries are not doing its job. For the price you pay for the battery it should at least charge and work like advertised and not give out after one week of operation.

linberl

You'll have much better luck with answers if you move this to the e-bike forum.

Pinigis 

Has your battery actually run out, or is it just that the display is showing that it has run out? Often this is just a matter of resetting the controller and all is well.

citizenbiker

I would like to move it to the e-bike forum, but what is the specific name of the forum? Or could you send a link to the forum?

citizenbiker

No, the battery has not gone out. It is just that I cannot charge the battery. I have been riding without the battery assist. But, the battery assist costs more than the bike itself. I decided to take it somewhere else to have other ebike shop examine the battery because I do not think CB is taking my concerns seriously. The only option CB is giving me is to get my money back but I do not think they understand my concern is that the custom battery may be defective and they are selling these batteries to others unaware that there is something internally wrong with some of those batteries or some component to it. I do not think I am alone in this. It may be that most people take the battery to the ebike shops and do not think about it. I think the only solution would be to recall the item and correct the issue.

linberl

https://www.bikeforums.net/electric-bikes/ Also for a more technically oriented crowd, post here: https://endless-sphere.com/forums/vi...ef46ca75d6d020

downtube

Is the charger faulty?

If not maybe you could return it and buy another?

Thanks
Yan

citizenbiker

Don't know, I have to take it to another ebike shop for a second opinion. I was told that the charger may or may not be the issue. It could be the battery itself causing issues in the charging. I will not know until the second opinion. I am suspecting that it is the charger but I am not sure. I cannot find the charger part anywhere or company that makes it anywhere online. It looks like a cheap charger part.

citizenbiker

Thanks. I will look into this thread. Right now, I think I am going to take it into the ebike shop for a second opinion.

Doc_Wui

Many inexpensive ebike chargers need to be connected to the battery first before they are plugged into the AC socket. The charger light will glow green After that, connect to the AC power, The charger light turns red, and will go green when fully charged. Otherwise the charger may sit there showing green, and the battery never takes a charge.

I'm sitting here in my hotel room right ow, charging up two batteries for the electric folding bikes we brought with us in our car.

Anyone familiar with ebikes and batteries should be able to diagnose a bad charger is a few minutes. Chargers are quite inexpensive and pretty universal. Checking out a bad battery takes more skills and time.