Can You Charge Electric Scooter Without Charger?


The majority of electric scooters are powered by lithium-ion batteries, also known as Li-Ion batteries. These batteries are very widespread in their use, especially with portable consumer electronic devices such as smartphones, laptops, tablets, etc. The process of charging an electric scooter battery is simple if you have a charger. You just need to plug the charger into the power outlet in the wall and wait for it to charge. But what to do if you don’t have a charger? In this article, we’ll explain how to charge your electric scooter without a charger. So, let’s start!

Can You Charge An Electric Scooter Without Charger?

So Can You Charge An Electric Scooter Without Charger? Electric scooters can be charged without their original charger. You can use a portable car jumper, a universal power adapter, or a solar panel to charge the scooter. The best method is to use a portable car jumper, to charge the electric scooter if you don’t have the original charger.

Although, if you do not have a charger, this process becomes a bit more challenging. You might have lost the charger, or it’s broken, and you need to charge the scooter battery as soon as possible. Any power source should be able to charge a battery, but when it comes to lithium batteries, they do not charge from a random power source. They demand a constant-current charging system also referred to as the constant-voltage system, in short, CC/CV system.

The charging process starts when the battery starts taking energy from a constant current. The constant current is expressed by battery capacity in amp-hours marked with a letter C. The constant current amounts from 0.5C to 1C. When it charges the battery, voltage grows until it reaches a fully charged float voltage.

In the following chapters, you will find out why and how it is possible to charge a scooter without a regular charger most people are used to.

Here is an excellent article that you can read, Electric Scooter Batteries: Ultimate Guide.

How Does The Process Of Charging Actually Works?

Electric scooters are powered by the motor and the motor needs the power to work. If the power levels are too low the motor will not perform and subsequently, your electric scooter will not start. Because of this, the batteries installed in your electric scooters need to be strong with high endurance so your rides can be longer without disruption. When the battery is fully charged, a person can ride their scooter for somewhere around 10 to 15 miles (16 to 24 km).  

This mileage is more than sufficient for everyday commuting within the city, especially if you need to go to work, school, or somewhere else. The battery life can be easily damaged by small mistakes in usage. That’s why to get the most out of your electric scooter, make sure to charge it precisely as the manufacturer instructed. If the charger is broken and you can’t follow the manufacturer’s steps, you will have to rely on some other solutions.

Ways To Charge The Battery Without A Charger

We are giving you several options on how to charge the electric scooter’s battery without a charger. These guidelines go in favor of the scooter’s battery health. So, let’s start:

Method 1: Manually Charging A Battery

Just like changing a battery in a flashlight or a laptop you can also change the battery in scooters. The battery can be bought at local electric appliance stores and also on online shopping sites. Other than the easy access to batteries, the great part is that you do not have to be an engineer, and anyone can do this. You will need a few tools though.

Those are:

These tools can be bought in local stores and online on Amazon, but can also often be found in your parent’s and grandparents’ garages. If you get all the named tools and the correct battery, you will have your scooter riding again in no time!

1) Remove The Battery 

Removing the battery and recharging it in the open air will probably optimize its performance. The process itself might sound complicated but if you follow these steps closely it will be simple. Here are the steps:

  • Look over the scooter to locate where the battery is located.
  • Carefully remove the screws and make sure to not lose any as you will need them later to close it up.
  • Remove the deck that was held with screws.
  • You should now see a rod gripping the battery. Remove it.
  • Look for two wires that connect the motor and the battery.
  • Once you find them, unplug them from all connecting areas.
  • Once everything has been unplugged and disconnected, take out the battery.

Make sure to open windows and create airflow while you are charging your battery because the charging process produces a lot of heat. If you charge in an enclosed space, it often ends in overheating, which badly affects the unit’s overall performance.

2) Recharge The Battery

Battery chargers vary by many parameters and differ based on the manufacturer, but one thing is always the same, the wires. The wires come in two colors, black and red. The red color marks the positive and the black one marks the negative terminal. To recharge a battery, you must connect the two wires from the scooter’s charger (mentioned in the paragraph above) with these red and black wires coming out of the battery. Double-check the positive and negative indications and then connect it to a power source. This will start the process of charging.

Note! If this it’s not working, it might be because some chargers will not charge if the battery is not placed inside of them. So, try placing them inside. If you are still not sure, go to a local store and ask for more information and instructions.  

Method #2: Using A Portable Car Jumper

This is one of the best methods that you can use to charge your electric scooter battery. Portable car jumpers are favorable batteries that store higher voltage capacities compared to ordinary batteries. Considering its huge measure of voltage, you can use it to charge your scooter battery.

In order to charge your scooter battery using a versatile portable jumper, just follow the simple steps listed below:

Step 1: Attach the Jumper to the Battery

To approach the battery, first, you must access the battery of the scooter. The next thing to do is to join two cables of the vehicle jumper to the connectors of the power cell. Be aware to connect the red cable to the battery´s positive port and the dark one to the negative port. Afterward, make sure to double-check if there are possible leaks or breaks that could affect the result. If yes, eliminate them.

Step 2: Turn on the Jumper

When you finish step one, you should start the jumper. This will start up the current flow from the jumper to the battery. The battery must be connected during the process. The progression of the current will charge the battery.

Step 3: Leave to Charge

Once you have started the charging process do not interrupt it for around 20 minutes. Do not detach the jumper and the battery before the 20 minutes run out because that can be dangerous not just for the battery but for you as well. This can cause electric shocks and electric flames. Therefore, be careful and wait out the 20 minutes.

Step 4: Check the Battery Levels

After 20 minutes of waiting, you are free to check how far the battery is charged. If it’s not charged fully you can leave the devices connected for a bit longer, until the battery reaches 100 percent.

Step 5: Disconnect the Jumper

When you reach full charge on the scooter’s battery you should turn off the jumper. Then you can disconnect all the cables that were plugged into the battery in this order: unplug the negative port of the battery (the dark one). Most of the time it’s black. And then unplug the positive red port. You are done and ready to ride.

Method #3: Use a Universal Power Adapter

If you are looking for another way how you can charge your electric scooter, a universal power adapter is a great choice. It is immeasurably better than other similar gadgets and can also help with charging an electric scooter without a charger. It will, for sure, be a fit for your one-of-a-kind circumstance. For a better understanding of how to charge your electric scooter with this power adapter, read the following instructions:

Step 1: Plug the Power Cable to Adapter

As this power adapter can charge diverse gadgets, you can be sure that the interfacing wires will accommodate your port in any situation. Find the right connector and connect it to the port of your battery.

Step 2: Set the Voltage & Current

This part is very important if you want to keep your battery safe. Look at the owner’s manual and see how much voltage (V) your battery can handle. Also, don’t forget to check the current (A) also. If there is too much of it, it can overheat the battery and damage it. The recommended way is to set the current at 20% of its capacity.

Step 3: Switch Off The Power On Scooter

Proceed to turn off your scooter’s electrical plugs, radio, lights, and other segments of the scooter that could draw power. This step helps accelerate charging and reduces the waste of vitality.

Step 4: Leave To Charge

Leave the battery to charge until it reaches full capacity. As mentioned above, some batteries have LED indicators that by showing a green color indicate a fully charged battery, and some smart batteries have a self-stop feature. That feature stops the process of charging once it has reached a 100 % and that way preserves battery health.

Step 5: Disconnect the Adapter

Once the charge has reached the desired level (fully charged), unplug the power connector, and you are ready to start your electric scooter.

Method 4: Charge The Battery By Using A Solar Panel

Solar panels are already been used to charge a smartphone, tablets, laptops and other electronic devices. Today, there are models of solar panels that can also be used to charge batteries such as those on electric scooters. With a solar panel, you need to have a solar charge controller also.


Therefore, to do this, you will need to spend a little bit more money on the necessary equipment. Most solar panels are using around 20V on average when there is a sunny day. Solar panels need to be connected to the charger controller so you will need to boost the voltage to charge the scooter battery. Electric scooters usually come with 36V or 48V batteries. While we don’t recommend this method, as it could end up costing you between $200, we’ve stated it for you so you know it’s possible too.

Pre-cautions

  • Pay attention to the positive and negative electric cables.
  • Voltmeter and Hydrometer that measure charge.
  • Putting on gloves and goggles as a safety precaution.
  • Doing the charging process in a dry and cool place.
  • Knowing that the second choice listed is just a temporary measure that you can take. It will for sure motivate you to investigate the problem and look for a durable answer to the energy problem.

A Few Things About Charging The Battery 

In most cases, chargers come with LED indicators installed. The indicators tell you that the battery is fully charged by shining in usually the green color. Rarely, this is not the case. But if it’s not, the fastest way to know how long to charge your electric scooter is to look up the charging time in the user manual. It usually amounts to around 12 to 24 hours to reach full charge.

Another way to check the battery is to use a measuring device called the voltmeter. To measure, you should connect the two terminals from the charger to the voltmeter and read out the voltage. The voltage should be around 12V. Therefore, if the voltage amounts under 12, the battery is not charged enough yet.

Pay Attention To The Battery Temperature

There are some facts you should know about charging that will help you preserve your scooter’s battery. Here are some listed:

  • Do not charge the scooter right after your used it. This is because the scooter heats up after being used and recharging a hot battery could damage the cells inside.
  • The same rule applies the other way around. Do not ride your scooter right after charging it, because the battery is hot after being charged. Riding it right away will increase the heat even more, that again damages the cells inside.

The best functioning temperature for the battery is around 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius). Based on the tips above, you should conclude that the best thing is to wait after usage to charge and wait for usage after charging. Waiting for 15 to 20 minutes is enough to stabilize the battery to room temperature.

One other tip:

  • Keep the battery always charged as much as you can. Lithium batteries that the scooter uses are known to perform the best when they are charged fully. Their performance decreases with the battery percentage decreasing. Therefore, always try to have the scooter charged at least 30 to 40 percent.

These tips will help you preserve battery life and prevent not reaching the chosen destination because of the battery running out.

Safety Tips For Charging Lithium Batteries

Here are the most important things that are related to lithium batteries that are used in electric scooters.

  • Try not to expose the battery to extreme heat as this may cause overheat and short-circuit in the batteries.
  • Use the original charger for the battery so you don’t damage it. When trying something new, consult with expert.
  • When storing a battery, discharge it to about 40% and store it in a cool place.
  • Try not to completely discharge the battery. Fill it as often as possible.

Buy an electric scooter that has a high-capacity battery so you will need to charge it less.

If you find yourself in a situation where Your Electric Scooter Battery Doesn’t Charge, read this article.

Conclusion

By now you understand much better how the charging process of battery works and how you can charge your electric scooter without a charger. The methods that we described in this article can be easily applied. Even it is better to use your original charger to charge the battery, it may happen that sometimes it is not possible. In case you can’t get the original charger, feel free to use one of the above methods. I hope this article helped you, and if you have additional questions feel free to write in the comments below.

Mario Poljak

I'm the co-owner of ElectricScooterReport. I have been passionate about Scooters since I was a boy. I will bring you experience, expertise and knowledge in this new industry which I have gained over the last couple of years.

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