another alternative to mission control and bike computers, tested...

[PedalUma]

The person in a Zen Garden quantifying how many blossoms are on the cherry tree, does not get it. I made a Zen Garden electric bike today for a young woman from Japan. The tech is invisible. Just as it should be. Less is more.

 

[kahn]

The person in a Zen Garden quantifying how many blossoms are on the cherry tree, does not get it. I made a Zen Garden electric bike today for a young woman from Japan. The tech is invisible. Just as it should be. Less is more.
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I appreciate your artistry and mechanical/electrical skills (at least from a distance).

But sometimes numbers do help. On Sunday's bike ride, after 31 miles and only 700 feet of climbing my battery bottomed out. It is good to know that type of information so I can plan the next trip accordingly. Of course, as I explained to my friend 10% is the new 0% (you know, Orange is the new Black, 50yo is the new 40yo or is it 40yo is the new 50yo). Why tell me I have 10% left but cut off power. Yes, I know to protect the system but then there really is not another 10% (oh, yeah, more numbers!)

Some like and prefer numbers but still can admire your work and you should not denigrate their need to count every tire rotation.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Why tell me I have 10% left but cut off power. Yes, I know to protect the system but then there really is not another 10% (oh, yeah, more numbers!)

Kahn, it is not exactly as you say, although the observation is pretty correct. It is not the motor is cut off below battery 10%. It is the assistance that is greatly reduced. My own observation from last Saturday's ride:

I was using the Range Extender set to "Discharge the RE first" mode. It is because the number of charging cycles on the main battery in my Vado SL greatly exceeds the same for the RE. (By mostly using the RE, I have a chance to equalize the number of charges for both batteries).

I was riding with strong tailwind on the outward trip leg (and with reduced assistance), so there still was a decent charge in the Range Extender at my destination. I had to significantly increase the assistance on on the way back to counter headwind. And I reached one of the steepest climbs of Warsaw, the Tamka. While there, I was in the Turbo mode and in low gear. Out of sudden, I discovered pedalling had become hard... Yes, it was the RE charge dropping down to 10%. I watched the e-bike power meter on BLEvo: the power was still delivered, only that was not the 300+ W of the battery power drawn. It was less. Let us say, the boost factor was 1.2x instead of 1.8x (as usually it is in Turbo with solid pedalling). It left me a little bit tired.

Now, I was continuing my ride upwind, still in the (hypothetical) Turbo mode. Before the RE charge dropped down to 5%, I was getting less and less assistance (let say, 48 mechanical watts). As the RE charge was about to drop below 5%, Vado SL disconnected the RE, restoring the full SL Turbo for me.

So I would say: The SL does not cut the motor power off below 10% of the battery. It only greatly reduces the assistance. And if you are climbing, the difference is significant!