Indoor vs. Outdoor Storage for Electric Trikes: What You NEED to Know!

Indoor versus outdoor electric trike storage. Which is best?

Hey everyone, I'm Dustin. I have 20 years of experience in the bike and e-bike industry. Today, we're going to talk about indoor versus outdoor electric trike storage. All right, right here, I've got three awesome e-trikes from sixthreezero, our Simple Glide models, and our Relaxed body. Let's say you're thinking about getting an e-trike or you already have one and you're wondering, okay, where do I store this thing, and which is best for storing it? Well, I think quite obviously keeping your electric trike indoors is the best option. Now, we live here in San Clemente. I live here in San Clemente, California, and we are only about two to three miles from the ocean, and anything that gets left outdoors is susceptible to rust. There's just a lot of moisture in the air, the salt water, all of those things add to, you know, things rusting quicker than they would in an environment that is not located by the water.

So the other thing too is anywhere you're located in the mornings, in the summers, springs, you'd oftentimes gonna have a morning dew, right? So while these connections are very tight for the electrical components, they're not necessarily airtight. So if any moisture were to get into the lines, you turn it on and it fries the wires, and all of a sudden the motor is not working. So my recommendation is, if you can keep it indoors, that is number one. Putting them in a shed is also an okay option if you can close the door on it, and keep out the moisture, the rain, and things of that nature. I under no circumstances recommend leaving your e-trike out to the elements where it could be hit with rain or anything like that. Now, if you are going to store it outdoors, let's just say hypothetically, number one, I would bring the battery to a dry location.

I wouldn't leave that outdoors. Number two, I would prep your e-trike by taking electrical tape and sealing off any of the exposed connections. Like on the handlebars, you have wires that connect. I would throw electrical tape over those. I would also seal off any connection points where the battery is connected to your controller. The controller is usually located somewhere connected to the battery. You just want to make those connections as tight as possible to keep the moisture out. So again, if you can take that electrical tape and seal that off, that would be great. Now, the battery as well, you want to keep that in a cool, dry, and temperature-controlled location as possible. A lot of people I know don't want to bring the batteries into their homes. One option is if there are fireproof bags. That you can put your battery in if you do wanna take it inside, so you don't leave it outside, especially if you leave it in a garage in the winter and the temperatures get down to zero or 10, and your garage temperatures get cold as well. So you could get one of those fireproof bags and keep it in a more temperature-controlled environment through the winter.

Also, when you're storing, you do wanna make sure if you're not gonna be using your e-trike for an extended period, that you do occasionally charge it. If you let it sit for too long and the battery comes down to zero, fully depleted, there's a chance you may not be able to charge that battery back to life. That is just one issue that exists with lithium-ion batteries. So my recommendation is if you can keep your e-Trike indoors in a garage, maybe store your battery somewhere in a more temperature-controlled environment if you are susceptible to vast highs and lows, temperature changes, whether it be too hot or too cold, and that dictates your garage. Or if you have a temperature-controlled garage, that is a great option as well. So, as I said, the preferred option, keep it indoors. The other thing, too, I said you can weatherproof the connections. With disc brakes, there is a metal rotor on here. If that gets left outside, that's gonna be susceptible to rust, which can affect your braking power, and also your chain is gonna be susceptible to rust as well. That's why it's a big benefit to keep it stored indoors.

Don't forget, you can check out all three of these e-trikes in the description. If you have any other questions, please reach out to us at theteam@sixthreezero.com or call us at 310-982-2877. In addition to that, we offer a 30-day test ride on your e-trike policy. If you don't love it in the first 30 days, send it back. No questions asked, no money out of your pocket. We're also going to warranty everything for one year. If anything goes wrong in the first year, we'll take care of its parts and labor, and if you want to come out for a test ride, we're here in San Clemente, California at 1046 Kairokoto Unit K. Come test ride all of our e-trikes before you purchase, and also join our community before you purchase. We have a Facebook group called Sixthreezero Pedalers. There are thousands of members in the group. Join before you purchase to talk to existing riders to ensure you're making the right choice. Then, when you have yours, post in the group, make friends, and finally download the app to track your rides and compete on the leaderboard. So thanks for sticking around and don't forget, it's your journey or experience, enjoy the ride.