Water Resistance Ratings

Each electric bike will have a specific rating(s) for how water resistant they are, from no specific, tested protection (bad or just not proven) to protection from low-pressure water jets (good) or even submersion (best).  These levels of protection can be rated based on the Ingress Protection code (IP code standard – ANSI/IEC 60529).

A summary of the typical IP codes can be found below, with the code rating in the form of IP## where the first digit indicates the level of dust protection (from 0 to 6) and the second digit indicates the level of liquid protection (from 0 to 8).  Typical IP6# ratings range from IP60 – protected from dust by not liquids, to IP68 – which is completely dustproof and waterproof to 2m depth for 30 mins (like the iPhone 11 for example). 

Electric bikes fall somewhere in between these two levels of protection.  Some examples of current ebike components where I’ve found IP ratings:

· The Bafang Max motor, controller and display are all IP65, which means they’re completely dustproof and heavily water-resistant.

·  Bafang motor and other Bafang Components are generally rated IP65

·  Bafang  batteries are generally rated IP66

· The Bosch Active Line and Performance Line motors are rated to IP54 – dust and splash water protected. 

· Shimano Steps Battery – IPX5 (X, in this case, means it hasn’t been tested for dust / foreign object protection)

· To get an idea of the level of water resistance of your electric bike check your specific ebike manufacturers manual for the IP rating.

IP Rating Table Guide

Let’s do some examples using the Aventon IPX4 rating and the Turboant’s IP65 rating:

The Aventon e-bike IPX4 rating

The “IP” indicates you’re looking at an ingress protection standard

The “X” indicates it hasn’t been tested against intrusion by solids

The “4” tells you it’s protected against splashing water

So Aventon’s IPX4 rating tells you that Aventon e-bikes have not been tested against dust intrusion (though that doesn’t mean it’s not resistant to dust) and the bike’s electrical components can withstand splashing water. That means Aventon e-bikes should be OK to ride in the rain and even through some puddles.

The Turboant Thunder T1 IP65 rating

The “IP” indicates you’re looking at an ingress protection standard

The “6” indicates it’s dust tight

The “5” tells you it’s protected against jets of water

So the Turboant Thunder T1’s IP65 rating means its electrical components are dust tight and protected against jets of water, but not powerful jets of water.