It finally happened - ran out of juice

[paraganek]

Trek Powerfly 5 Speed, Bosch 500 Powerpack.
Have been commuting since August, always keeping the battery charged between 20% and 80%.
Last night when biking back home from work (7 miles) I underestimated the remaining capacity and had to pedal hard uphill without any assistance the last quarter a mile.
I could definitely feel I was not getting the full assistance level for some time before the system decided to cut the power to the motor.
The level of assistance was set to SPORT (climbing uphill) but the whole last minute it felt like I was riding on ECO mode.
Interesting fact was the motor shut down but my integrated lights stayed on.
It tells me the battery probably still had maybe 5% left on it so it was able to keep the lights on but the system just cut the power to the motor to prevent any damage to the battery from being completely depleted.
Lesson learned, I will keep charging more often and keep the battery happy

 

[michal]

This happened to me when test riding a Riese & Muller Nevo on a very windy day. Didn't realize the battery was practically empty and, needless to say, it was a difficult ride back to the shop

The integrated lights and horn continued to work for a bit after the motor cut out, but they gave out after a few minutes as well.

 

[AZOldTech]

I have a Haibike Yamaha mid drive motor ebike coming so I would love to hear how a mid drive motor ebike feels without any assist and no battery. Does it feel close to a real bike than hub motor ebikes or just the same?

 

[Johnny]

That is why 500wh is actually a small capacity when you are trying to stay between 20-80. The so called good ebike systems should come with larger capacity batteries, at least 650-700wh.

Or the extra battery which should normally cost $300-400 should not be sold for $1000!!!

Well I regularly ride my bike without assist when riding with non-ebike friends. It is not hard unless it is a steep uphill (which I still climb without assist every now and then for fun).

Better luck next time.

 

[DDBB]

I have a Haibike Yamaha mid drive motor ebike coming so I would love to hear how a mid drive motor ebike feels without any assist and no battery. Does it feel close to a real bike than hub motor ebikes or just the same?

I have an sduro 6.0 trekking with Yamaha PW motor. With assist shut off I don't feel any resistance from the motor. There may be some but if there is, it's so small it's not noticeable. I believe there's a freewheel type mechanism that completely disengages the motor when assist is shut off. You might be having to turn a gear with the cranks but it just feels like a heavy bike.

 

[Johnny]

I have a Haibike Yamaha mid drive motor ebike coming so I would love to hear how a mid drive motor ebike feels without any assist and no battery. Does it feel close to a real bike than hub motor ebikes or just the same?

First of all yes without assist mid drives ride like a normal bike.

I can say that Bosch and Yamaha are quite different though.

With Bosch there is a reduction gearing in the motor so without assist if my cadence is high I feel the gears inside. For me it is not a big deal, yes there is some resistance but not that much.

When I rode Yamaha I loved how it felt. I didn't feel any drag or resistance when I was pedaling Yamaha mid drive Haibike(it was a FS 29er), so without power I can say that i enjoyed Yamaha more.

 

[paraganek]

I have a Haibike Yamaha mid drive motor ebike coming so I would love to hear how a mid drive motor ebike feels without any assist and no battery. Does it feel close to a real bike than hub motor ebikes or just the same?

I have not ridden any hub drive bikes but when I ride my mid drive without any assist it feels pretty close to a real bike (a heavy one).

 

[Bicyclista]

I have a Haibike Yamaha mid drive motor ebike coming so I would love to hear how a mid drive motor ebike feels without any assist and no battery. Does it feel close to a real bike than hub motor ebikes or just the same?

I have a Haibike AllMtn with Yamaha mid-drive motor. To repeat what others have said, without assist it feels like a heavy bike. It weighs about twice as much as a conventional bike, after all.

I nearly ran out of juice only once. It had only 2% when I got home. By then I was riding it in ECO mode, so the assist level was really minimal. That was when the battery was only about a year old and perhaps 2,000 miles. (I am now at 2 ½ years and 5,500 miles.) Most of the time I get home with more than 20% or more than 30% charge.

 

[DDBB]

Is that with the 500wh battery or 400wh... 19mi. is pretty short for STD mode?

 

[hurricane56]

I could probably do 19-21 miles in Turbo on my Bosch Performance Speed with 500wh battery. The 400wh battery only got me 17 miles at most, with some windy days only getting about 16 miles.

With the Bosch display, the five ticks on the battery are a little misleading. The last 20% indicator isn't representative of 20% of the battery. Once you use the first 80% of the battery as indicated by the display, its really like you have no more than 2 miles of range on flat ground.

 

[AZOldTech]

Thank you all for your comments and putting my mind at ease that I chose the right mid motor (Yamaha) ebike. Many thanks to all.

 

[paraganek]

With the Bosch display, the five ticks on the battery are a little misleading. The last 20% indicator isn't representative of 20% of the battery. Once you use the first 80% of the battery as indicated by the display, its really like you have no more than 2 miles of range on flat ground.

Exactly. That's what I have figured out now too. I was really thinking the last bar on the controller would be roughly 20% battery power left but that is far from the truth.

 

[ebikemom]

There is no resistance on a geared hub bike without the motor, but the heavy bike FEELS like resistance, for sure.

 

[DDBB]

 

[Carterk]

There is no resistance on a geared hub bike without the motor, but the heavy bike FEELS like resistance, for sure.

This.

I think it’s a psychological thing- when I ride my Brose ebike in Eco for a while and then turn off assist, I SWEAR it feels like something is dragging... but nope. After a couple of minutes riding with no assist that feeling goes away- but it sure feels GREAT to turn it back on!

 

[glenmorenee]

I went to charge my battery for the very first time and noticed the one bar anomaly. I was trying to keep to the recommended 20-80 charge suggestion. I rode the bike down to 1 1/2 bars and thought "OK getting close to charging". At the end of my ride I checked the range available and it was down in the 1-2 miles area! This anomaly is certainly good to know because who wants to push a 60# bike home.

 

[DDBB]

My Haibike 6.0 trekking with Yamaha PW motor and 500wh battery display says 50mi. range in the highest PAS mode starting with a fully charged battery... I haven't ridden the bike for more than 15mi. in one outing.. So with what I'm reading it's safe to assume the projected range is HIGHLY optimistic?

 

[MarkF]

Don't most ebikes have a cutoff so you don't run your battery "too low?"

 

[DDBB]

I believe they do and that's part of the BMS. The display may read 0% remaining but in reality the BMS is going to have an LVC to not let it drop below a set voltage,what that voltage is probably varies by manufacturer

 

[RabH]

I have a Giant Road E+1 Pro with the Yamaha Syncdrive Pro motor, I ride it without assist very often and it just feels like a normal (but heavy) bike! After a few rides getting a feel for it I decided to attempt a 100 mile ride, my battery decided to quit at 99.5 miles I got home with 100.3 miles showing on my gps, the last 0.8 miles were completed without a problem! I now make sure I don't let the battery get too low and switch off the assist if it does!