What Does Volts, Watts, Ampere and Amp Hours Mean?

Volt (V) was named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta, the Watt (W) is named after the Scottish inventor James Watt and Ampere (A) named after André-Marie Ampère, a French Mathematician and Physicist.

Well, we thank them for what they have discovered but what do these letters and numbers mean in relation to an electric bike or electric bike conversion kit you are planning to purchase? Knowing these technical terms may help you look cool and clever but it will also help you make a better decision and the choose right conversion kit or an electric bike.

Now let us take a look at these letters and numbers to understand the way they impact the performance of your e-bike.

Volts:

Volts measure the power in an electric bike, also referred as electric pressure. Imagine electricity as water flowing through a tube. More pressure (Volt) will make the water move faster and stronger. High voltage means faster electricity transferred through the battery to your e-bike motor which affects the responsiveness of the bike but expecting it to impact the range may lead a disappointment.

Ampere (Amps):

Amp or Ampere is a unit of measure of the electric current / electron flow through the circuit in a second. Let’s say you have a tank full of water that connects to a tube. When pressure (V) increases in the tank, the amount of water which comes out of the tube will increase too. Well, what if you connect a wider pipe to the water tank? Yes, this is how ampere affects the electrical flow amount. The “Amp” value on the controller does have significance.

Watts:

Watt is the overall measurement of power that can be used and is equal to the voltage multiplied by the current. This also shows how much power your hub motor can consume or handle. Higher watts will increase the speed but on the other hand, this will decrease the range of your battery on a single charge.

Ah – Amp Hours

Ah is a unit to measure the amount of electric charge of your battery which lets one ampere to flow for one hour. Imagine Ah like your water tank. The larger the tank (higher Ah), the longer water will be supplied, therefore long range per charge depends on the capacity (Ah) of your battery. Higher Ah means a longer range.

While we haven’t gone into too much detail here we hope you have found this post interesting. If you have any other questions about e-bikes do let us know in the comments below or via our contact us page.