Wheelchair Batteries for Dummies

Note: This article covers mainly Batteries and Types of Batteries used in various Power Wheelchairs and Mobility Scooters. If you need information on Charging, Storage, Troubleshooting, and more: Click Here

First off, 99% of all Mobility Scooters and Power Wheelchairs use Two, 12 Volt, Deep Cycle, Sealed Lead Acid Batteries. The two batteries are mainly wired in "series" to produce 24 Volts. This is why you need a 24 Volt Battery Charger.

Amp Hours is the second major factor when looking at batteries. Basically an Amp Hour (Ah) is the amount of energy a battery holds. The more Amp Hours in a battery the further the mobility vehicle will go. Sounds great but your mobility vehicle is limited to certain size batteries which limits the amount of Amp Hours.

Next, there are two major types of batteries. Absorbed Glass Matt (AGM), and Gel Batteries. Both are Sealed Lead Acid (SLA), spill proof batteries. Both are approved by the F.A.A. and DOT to be brought on Planes and Cruise Ships. We get conflicting information regarding the differences but here is the short version. AGM batteries function better in colder environments than Gel batteries but Gel batteries last up to twice as long. Gel batteries should be recharged at a slightly lower voltage but most mobility manufacturers clearly write in their Owner's Manuals that Gel or AGM batteries can be used. Which leads us to believe that the charging differences are not significant enough to warrant major concern.

Bottom line regarding batteries: Believe it or not, Gel Batteries are the better value even though their up front cost is higher. Why, because Gel batteries can be recharged roughly twice as many times as AGM Batteries.

The good news. Power Wheelchair and Mobility Scooter batteries are actually quite uniform in size. We have over 400 different mobility vehicles listed on ezMobilityBattery.com, but if you add them all up, they only use around 8 different battery sizes. And of those 8 different battery sizes, 5 sizes account for about 95% of all used. Those five:

12 Volt - 12Ah or 15Ah, both are the Same size. Usually used in small portable vehicles.

12 Volt - 18Ah or 22 Ah, again, both are same dimensions. Usually used in small portable vehicles to help extend the range.

12 Volt - 31Ah to 36Ah, these are known as U1 Batteries and dimensions are similar. Mainly used in mid size mobility vehicles such as the Jazzy Select Elite and Victory 10 Scooter.

12 Volt - 55Ah, known as NF-22 or NF22 Batteries. Mainly used in large size high weight capacity mobility vehicles.

12 Volt - 75Ah, known as Group 24 Batteries. Used mainly in Heavy Duty mobility vehicles.

In addition, if you have a mobility vehicle that uses 12 Volt - 12Ah batteries you can always upgrade to 12 Volt - 15 Ah batteries due to both being the same size. The same works for 12 Volt - 18Ah batteries, the 12 Volt - 22Ah Batteries are the same size.

As usual, we recommend you look at the batteries that are currently in your mobility vehicle or refer to your Owner's Manual before ordering new batteries. If you're unable to do either, call us at 1-888-203-9695 and we'll help you figure it out. All we do is sell replacement batteries for Mobility Vehicles so our knowledge of them is quite extensive.