Lectric XP Battery Bar Interpretation?

[info4johng]

I have 220 miles now over 30 days. Most of my usage is commuting around town, 8-10 miles per day. I have been charging every night. I took a longer ride yesterday ~ 15 miles at PAS 3-4 with hills and another 5 miles today without charging. Battery bar while riding dropped to 3 bars but recovers to 6 bars (when static) when I shut down at home (47.2v).

• So does that mean that I used 40% of the battery capacity (10 bars - 6 bars) to travel 20 miles?
• Based on your experience what do you think my usable range is?
• Should I be waiting to charge until I drain the battery further in the future (3-5 bars when static?)

 

[ki11a]

I am 6'0 150lbs and I get around 25ish mile range on throttle only, with lipo batteries its always good to charge when the battery is not fully drained. The old tip of waiting until the battery is drained to charge only applies to lead acid batteries.

With my expierence (600 miles 1 month) it seems though when the battery is getting pushed and flats out at around 3 bars, then static's back up around halfway to a bit more than half...it means you have about 15 miles or so (on throttle only). When it gets pushed to around 1 or 2 bars while riding and static thats when you have to start worrying about it.

 

[tomjasz]

Bars are for cocktails, USE A MULTIMETER. Those bar displays cost me about 50 cents. In my experience, they are overpriced and woefully inaccurate. Give us some actual voltages to troubleshoot. All the best!

 

[Stach]

So the manual recommends to charge the battery to 75%, if you're not going to use it for a while (i.e. don't let the battery sit at 100%). So how does one know the percentage charge the battery is at when you're charging it, since the charger doesn't have any useful information and the display is not active?

 

[tomjasz]

So the manual recommends to charge the battery to 75%, if you're not going to use it for a while (i.e. don't let the battery sit at 100%). So how does one know the percentage charge the battery is at when you're charging it, since the charger doesn't have any useful information and the display is not active?

Use a multimeter.
ebike battery percentage chart

 

[sed6]

Use a multimeter.
ebike battery percentage chart

No no, you've said this twice. Peeps here are too stoopid to use a multimeter, that's why there's voltmeter built into our display!

 

[tomjasz]

No no, you've said this twice. Peeps here are too stoopid to use a multimeter, that's why there's voltmeter built into our display!

WOW! A magic voltmeter that gives readings even if the display is down.

 

[sed6]

Display not active? Turn it on?

 

[Stach]

Thanks, yes I can see the voltage when I turn it on, but I was hoping for a Max Charge value that I could set, so that I could set it and forget it, without having to watch it charge the entire time.

So what's the maximum volts that people are seeing in our batteries when fully charged?

 

[info4johng]

Use a multimeter.
ebike battery percentage chart

Thomas, The chart is very helpful. Thanks so much for that tip. So I looks like I can safely discharge to 43 volts (42 at the outside ) to maintain battery health and target charging to 51-52 volts unless I have a long ride.

Thanks, John

 

[tomjasz]

Thomas, The chart is very helpful. Thanks so much for that tip. So I looks like I can safely discharge to 43 volts (42 at the outside ) to maintain battery health and target charging to 51-52 volts unless I have a long ride.

Thanks, John

I'm not absolutely clear on which voltage you are running? 48V? The full charge is 54.6v
Making 42v to 52V a good range.

 

[Stach]

I'm not absolutely clear on which voltage you are running? 48V? The full charge is 54.6v
Making 42v to 52V a good range.

Perfect, that's exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!

 

[info4johng]

I just attached a state of charge table to my frame.

 

[info4johng]

Further to the "state of charge table" I have started to use an Alexa plug on a timer routine to only allow a partial charge on my Lectric XP much like my Tesla Model 3. While I can set the Tesla to begin charging during non peak times and to a desired percent charge I am experimenting with charger time to reach 85 to 90 % charge. I will report back what I find. So far from 53% (47 v) to 85 % (52v) took about 1 hour 45 minutes. My goal is the keep my battery between 90 % and 30 % to prolong battery life.

 

[Stach]

Great idea and I'll probably end up doing something like this too, with my TP-Link Kasa switches.

 

[Taylor57]

I just attached a state of charge table to my frame.

I just attached a state of charge table to my frame.

I just copied your chart and stuck it on my frame! Thanks..

 

[tomjasz]

Further to the "state of charge table" I have started to use an Alexa plug on a timer routine to only allow a partial charge on my Lectric XP much like my Tesla Model 3. While I can set the Tesla to begin charging during non peak times and to a desired percent charge I am experimenting with charger time to reach 85 to 90 % charge. I will report back what I find. So far from 53% (47 v) to 85 % (52v) took about 1 hour 45 minutes. My goal is the keep my battery between 90 % and 30 % to prolong battery life.

I have many customers that use a multimeter and timer to sort their charge levels. Well done!

 

[info4johng]

I tested the charge rate for my Lectric XP using the factory charger and found that the rate is essentially linear at 2 volts gain in battery recovery per hour at least between 50 and 88%. The data is attached.

 

[tomjasz]

Nothing better than a new fella coming on and using his talents to make a common-sense approach to charging, and with data!!! WELL DONE!!!

 

[info4johng]

Thanks Thomas