Full battery discharge ride

[BEC111]

Actually, I started at 70% on my Vado 4 SL. Rode 40 miles yesterday. From Ashburn to Purcellville on the W&OD. I’d ridden about 25 miles to get down to 70. When I reached Purcellville I was down to 27% which did not bode well for having assist on the way back.

Thus, it was now time to test the assertion that I could easily ride the Vado SL without assist. Fortunately, Purcellville to Ashburn is mostly downhill or at least downish. I rode the first 8 miles without assist except for a segment which rides through a traffic circle where I wanted the assist “just in case”. The Vado has a button to go to Turbo. So I kept the power on but at zero assist and hit the turbo button when I needed it. This really helped when crossing roads in the circle. I only consumed 1% of the charge during this stretch. I rode the rest of the way in Eco with an occasional burst. By the last five miles I was pretty exhausted. My legs were numb and my feet kept falling off the pedals. Exhausted.

When I reached my driveway, the power indicator on the bike was flashing red. According to Mission Control there was only 3% charge left. I’d finally done it. Used the whole battery riding. Extrapolating, my guess is that my range with the standard battery, riding mostly in Sport (level 2) is 50 to 60 miles.

In the meantime, the range for my 72 year old body is about 40 miles.

Guess I need two range extenders. One for the bike. One for me.

 

[Art Deco]

Actually, I started at 70% on my Vado 4 SL. Rode 40 miles yesterday. From Ashburn to Purcellville on the W&OD. I’d ridden about 25 miles to get down to 70. When I reached Purcellville I was down to 27% which did not bode well for having assist on the way back.

Thus, it was now time to test the assertion that I could easily ride the Vado SL without assist. Fortunately, Purcellville to Ashburn is mostly downhill or at least downish. I rode the first 8 miles without assist except for a segment which rides through a traffic circle where I wanted the assist “just in case”. The Vado has a button to go to Turbo. So I kept the power on but at zero assist and hit the turbo button when I needed it. This really helped when crossing roads in the circle. I only consumed 1% of the charge during this stretch. I rode the rest of the way in Eco with an occasional burst. By the last five miles I was pretty exhausted. My legs were numb and my feet kept falling off the pedals. Exhausted.

When I reached my driveway, the power indicator on the bike was flashing red. According to Mission Control there was only 3% charge left. I’d finally done it. Used the whole battery riding. Extrapolating, my guess is that my range with the standard battery, riding mostly in Sport (level 2) is 50 to 60 miles.

In the meantime, the range for my 72 year old body is about 40 miles.

Guess I need two range extenders. One for the bike. One for me.

But you made it without walking. Good enough at any age.

 

[rich c]

I wouldn't make a habit of taking the pack to 3%. Not healthy for the battery cells. I can't say if it's healthy for you.

 

[Fredman]

So I kept the power on but at zero assist

I notice on my 2020 Vado 4.0 when the power is left on with zero assist, there's a bit of a drag from the motor. When I switch the power off, it pedals easier. Wondering if that's normal...?

 

[BEC111]

I hadn’t intended to run the battery down. At least on this ride. I did want to do it once so I could get a real feel for range. That worked at least.

I was wiped yesterday, but am fine today, so the ride was worth it.

As for drag, I found that if I shifted to zero, the motor worked harder than usual and felt draggy when I switched to any level of assist. Once I‘d decided to ride with assist for the rest of the ride, I stopped completely for a few minutes then set an assist level. On purpose, attempting to fix the problem. Drag problem went away. Yet another item for a future firmware update.

 

[GrayFox]

I hadn’t intended to run the battery down. At least on this ride. I did want to do it once so I could get a real feel for range. That worked at least.

I was wiped yesterday, but am fine today, so the ride was worth it.

As for drag, I found that if I shifted to zero, the motor worked harder than usual and felt draggy when I switched to any level of assist. Once I‘d decided to ride with assist for the rest of the ride, I stopped completely for a few minutes then set an assist level. On purpose, attempting to fix the problem. Drag problem went away. Yet another item for a future firmware update.

On my sl 5, there are some hills I can coast down with the power off, when I power back on the power eases on very smoothly I get no sense of drag...

 

[BEC111]

On my sl 5, there are some hills I can coast down with the power off, when I power back on the power eases on very smoothly I get no sense of drag...

I’ve found the same thing. If I power down and ride, powering back up rides as normal. If I ride with the power on but the assist set to zero and then turn assist back on there is some sort of drag. The motor seems to be working harder than usual with less effect. This is probably due to some combination of torque and cadence sensor error. Possibly, since the power is on the sensors are sending their usual data but the assist controller isn’t listening. When assist is turned back on the controller doesn’t sync up properly?

Be interesting to see of a future software update addresses this issue.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Cannot say for SL but for me, riding the "heavy" Vado until 5% on long trips is a norm, not an exception. No adverse effects on the battery noticed. Specialized have designed a high quality battery, excellent Battery Management System etc etc. Vado (not SL) cuts the motor off at 5% battery to avoid any damage to it while keeping the lighting and the display on.
There are different views how the battery should be best used but I say the life is too short not to enjoy it. Now, Mission Control allows riding in Smart Control mode, and it uses a conservative approach, so it provides less support when in doubt. I've noticed riding with Smart Control (set for distance, elevation gain and battery remaining %) gives the best bang per battery Watt-hours.

Yes, I had to ride my Vado without power when it still had the terrible BLOKS display (and the "frozen" display stopped providing the juice to the motor). Not anymore!