Any accessories ordered at the same time as a TravelScoot are shipped at no additional cost, so it seemed to makes sense to plan ahead for things I'll need in the future. I selected a spare drive belt, the travel set that protects everything during airline travel (for use when checking the TravelScoot at the door of the aircraft), and a spare Sealed Lead Acid (SLA) battery.
SLA batteries
I couldn't afford another spare lithium ion battery. While I'm unlikely to be exceeding the 11-12 mile range of the lithium in one day, I would still like a backup in the car. All lithium batteries (laptops, mobile phones) don't like excessive heat as they can explode, so the SLA made sense to keep in the boot on hot days. Also the extra weight of the SLA didn't bother me as a spare. The SLA is also supplied with a charger (which is different to the one used with the lithium).
SLAs do suffer from self discharge of 3-5% a month or about 50% a year and this increases in the hotter summer months. SLAs don't need to be fully discharged before charging, in fact the opposite is true - fully discharging can damage the battery permanently. My SLA came fully charged, so as long as I don't need to use it, I intend to charge it around April, July and October to avoid damaging it by letting the charge get too low.
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