How Long Do Vape Batteries Last?

There are a lot of misconceptions surrounding vapes and vape batteries. Some of these misconceptions are holdovers from the days of moral panic, where concerned parents were deeply worried about exploding vapes. 

Fortunately, most of these problems have been solved through the use of safety features, and the rise of disposable and closed pod systems. The biggest question surrounding vape batteries these days?

“How long do they last?”.

The answer is very complicated. It depends on how frequently you’re using your vape, the type of vape or vape pen you’re using (and the type of battery in your vape), the coil you’re using - the list goes on. On average though, most vape pen batteries should last around 6-12 months under normal usage.

How long your vape battery will last per charge can vary significantly based on usage. We can, however, attempt to answer another question: how many times you’ll be able to charge your vape before your vape's battery capacity starts to decline.

How many times can I charge my vape pen battery?

While there’s still variety in the different kinds of batteries vapes might use, they’re almost universally lithium-ion. 

Now, there are different types of lithium-ion batteries, so remember that your mileage may vary. That being said, most of the lithium-ion batteries used in vapes will last for about 200-300 charge cycles before they start to degrade. 

In other words, you can fully discharge and fully recharge most vape batteries around 250 times before the battery's capacity starts to decline. You’ll be able to use them beyond that point, but they’ll need to be recharged more often. Somewhere between 500 and 1500 charge cycles, they’ll die completely. 

Discharging your battery

There’s a common myth that you should discharge your vape battery all the way before recharging it. Back in the day, when most rechargeable batteries were nickel-cadmium, that was true.

Today, the opposite is true. You should actually avoid discharging your battery fully - in fact, most battery indicators will tell you your device is close to dead when the battery still has quite a bit of charge left. That’s because emptying the battery fully would seriously destabilize it - and that creates the aforementioned risk of explosion.

You should also avoid overcharging your vape battery. It’s fine to charge your battery when the display says 20%, and you don’t have to worry about overcharging - unless you’re going out of your way to overcharge, safety features generally make it impossible to do.

Closed pod systems

If you’re using a closed pod system, it’s much easier to evaluate how many puffs you can get in one charge cycle. That’s because all of the specs are the same - there’s obviously a difference in how much you draw per puff, but when systems are standardized, data is easier to obtain.

STLTH has said, for example, that most users are able to get about 200 puffs per charge cycle out of their devices. If you have a closed pod system, you can look at the FAQ for that company’s devices or contact their customer service if you’re interested in an estimate of use per charge.