Battery degradation from storage?? Impact of 37 degree temperature on range??

[ebikemadtown]

I just test rode an ebike with only 48 miles (Bought 2019 June). When I got on the bike the battery level indicated 3 bars out of 5. I took it for about a mile ride on highest pedal assist. Did a lot of throttle only and went up some hills. The battery was down to one bar when I was done. It was about 37 degrees outside. The battery is 36V 13AH. The bike is American Rider Cruzer (Crazy Lenny's own brand). Looks just like a NCM Munich.....

Question....

Do you think the battery has degraded over the 1.5 from improper storage and charging?
Do you think going from a heated room to 37 degrees impacted the range or maybe even just the displayed level remaining?

Thoughts??

Thanks,

 

[MartsEbike]

Cold temps don't help, and will reduce your mileage.

Personally I don't trust the "bars" battery meters so much. My battery "bars" will drop when I hammer it.. and then go back up if I ease off for a bit.

There is often a battery level meter on the battery itself which will show you the remaining charge. This is a better indicator.

Also with such little usage on that bike. I'd be inclined to cycle the battery a few more times before writing it off as bad...

 

[rich c]

On lower end control systems, the rate of fall on a display goes faster towards the end. Takes much longer to drop the first bar, then faster after that.

 

[harryS]

If the battery internal temp was at 37F, I would expect 33% less performance than at 75F. If it came out of a show room, then the battery wasn't that cold.

I take it you're in Madison and test rode the bike? The only way to really tell is to charge the battery up. The bars indicate a range. Three bars would be about 50% on my bikes, if I was watching the level go down, but it could drop all the way to 30% before it flips to two bars. What richc says is true too. The level seems to fall faster when there's less power, Good cells though will surprise you and hang in there a while before they go flat. Cheap cells just wink out.

So maybe you were a third of the battery, It did drop a lot for mile of rising, albeit hard. Do it on a fresh charge. Ask them to charge it and go back. Might be 50F on Thursday,

 

[MartsEbike]

On lower end control systems, the rate of fall on a display goes faster towards the end. Takes much longer to drop the first bar, then faster after that.

it can do anything... This isn't a "lower end" thing so much as electricity doesn't naturally correspond to "bars"... It's simply a mathematical calculation done by the manufacturer rather than a direct reading of current battery voltage.

The measurement isn't "bars".... its volts, amps and watts. If you're not seeing those figures, don't trust what it is saying with any level of accuracy.

 

[Luto]

on highest pedal assist. Did a lot of throttle only and went up some hills

Also consider this is a lot of drain depending on the weight of the person and the hills.

It could have been at 3.1 bars and ended at 1.9 bars. So really only 1.2 bar drop. That seems within range of a cold battery and the assists it maybe provided. Turbo mode or full assist is a much different drain and battery stress than a minimal assist. Some say full assist aka Turbo also thrashes the battery life, so maybe this is also the case.

 

[6zfshdb]

The bar gauge on my display never matches the one on the battery. They are sometimes two bars different. As previously stated, bar gauges are for relative reference. If you want accuracy, use a quality voltmeter.

 

[rich c]

it can do anything... This isn't a "lower end" thing so much as electricity doesn't naturally correspond to "bars"... It's simply a mathematical calculation done by the manufacturer rather than a direct reading of current battery voltage.

The measurement isn't "bars".... its volts, amps and watts. If you're not seeing those figures, don't trust what it is saying with any level of accuracy.

I guess I was comparing it to my Bosch powered bikes. The control system is very linear. Power is the same from 100% to 5%, as is the range of the battery. There aren’t any surprises while climbing grade when the battery is around 10%. There is no sag.

 

[Sierratim]

I guess I was comparing it to my Bosch powered bikes. The control system is very linear. Power is the same from 100% to 5%, as is the range of the battery. There aren’t any surprises while climbing grade when the battery is around 10%. There is no sag.

The same for our Specialized Vados. It's all in the the software. None the less, as others have posted here the bars are just a range. Better to use the bike's displayed battery voltage or charge level, if that's included in the display features.

 

[MartsEbike]

I guess I was comparing it to my Bosch powered bikes. The control system is very linear. Power is the same from 100% to 5%, as is the range of the battery. There aren’t any surprises while climbing grade when the battery is around 10%. There is no sag.

That's fair enough, if you think its dialed in pretty well then they've done a good job!