Voltage, Amperage, Watt hours – What does it all mean?

For a first-timer in the e-bike industry often get told all different types of information on what these factors mean and how it impacts your electric bike. There is a lot of misinformation that ends up getting distributed around the web, and if you are just finding out that you can’t believe everything you hear on the internet I’m more than happy to be the first person to tell you.

Every electric bike has a Voltage rating and Amps per hour rating and a Watt-Hours rating, and these ratings are the primary focus of how your bike is going to perform. We’re going to take a minute to go over a quick and dirty way to understand these ratings and pick the right bike for you!

Voltage – This may be the most commonly misconstrued piece of information, but this number is most traditionally associated with the amount of torque or power that can be transmitted to your motor. A lot of times people will solely look at this number and use this as the “higher the value the better the bike” metric, but that is not always true.

Voltage is important when you are carrying heavy loads, or when traveling amongst hilly terrain, as the extra power will make it so that you can remain at your top speed regardless. However, if your voltage is very high and your amperage is very low, you will be able to go full speed during hills and with heavy loads but you won’t be able to travel very far.

Traditionally voltages go up in increments of 12 with 36V / 48V’s being your two most common voltages in electric bikes such as the Paris 36V and Paris 48V respectively. For electric scooters, they can go anywhere from 48V up to 84V like the all-new Vienna 84V electric scooter.

In short: More Voltage = More Torque

Amp Hours – This is the most underrated piece of information that goes around the inter-webs. The amp hours are how long your battery is going to last before it runs out. This seems almost counter-intuitive in a sense, as the Voltage is what is showing on your dash as a battery meter.

In short: More Amp hours = More Range

Watt Hours - This one is my favourite because it is the easy way to tie a number to performance. Watt hours is just the following equation: 

Voltage x Amp Hours = Watt Hours

So if you take the Beast 2 which has a 60V 32AH battery: 60 x 32 = 1920WH. This allows you to quickly asses the battery power of a bike without looking at two different metrics.

In short: Watt Hours = Performance Rating

So I hope this little quick tutorial helps you make a more informed decision in which ebike is for you, as some of the other pieces are often overlooked. If you have any questions feel free to chat with us online or give us a call and we can answer all your questions!