Lectric XP Hill Issue

[gdkalligher]

Hello my Lectric XP has had HILL ISSUES since out of the box. My neighborhood has a lot of rolling hills. Intermittently the Lectric XP peddle assist (PAS) gets lost on the downhill side and will not reengage as needed. The throttle is dead too and will not respond. Again happening intermittently. This becomes a safety issue as one relies on the throttle to get across traffic in a hurry!

Now a new issue; the electronics including PAS completely crash going up longer hills if the volts drop to 41 as shown on the controller display even if the battery is fully charged. Turning the key off and on again will reset but on the next long hill the same issue. An E06 error code shows briefly before the display losses power and goes blank. Also the battery shows no volts until the key is turned off and on again. The support people at Lectric have sent a replacement throttle cable and controller but neither have fixed these issues.

Anyone else having similar HILL ISSUES with their Lectric XP?

 

[bholio]

I have also experienced the PAS/throttle outage after going down a hill. Unfortunate because there is a small uphill, plus traffic light / major road at the bottom, and having no throttle in that critical area sucks.

I shift to a low gear at the bottom of the hill in anticipation of it not working. I now coast down the hill instead of 28mph in PAS5 like I used to, and it hasn't happened in awhile. Probably waiting until I drop my guard...

 

[AHicks]

My bet is you guys are both over heating the motor and it's shutting down on you. 2nd bet is you are trying to ride in too high a PAS level for the conditions.

If you are trying to climb hills that requires full throttle, and it takes more than just a few seconds to climb, overheating is pretty likely. Truth is you're going to have to contribute much more of your own power on these climbs, or maybe have a look at a mid drive bike that can be geared way down for these long climbs.

On the battery crash thing, where the voltage is dropping down below 41v, the bike is working as designed, to prevent over discharge which is an easy way to destoy a battery WAY before it's due date.

 

[bholio]

I'm going down hill when it glitches, not up. Fresh battery. Not a voltage drop problem.

Not that long or steep a hill, .3 miles in length, 50ft vertical at most. When I go back up the same hill on my way home, the bike is able to maintain 12-15mph on the way up, throttle only, with panniers full of groceries, never an issue.

Its a software problem, the controller thinks it is going too fast or something. In general, PAS / throttle responsiveness is weird on this bike.

 

[AHicks]

Sorry, I misunderstood. Original (1st) poster clearly has issues on the way "up" the hill.

So when going down the hill, are you exceeding the speed that the PAS level you are in normally allows?

 

[theemartymac]

Hello my Lectric XP has had HILL ISSUES since out of the box. My neighborhood has a lot of rolling hills. Intermittently the Lectric XP peddle assist (PAS) gets lost on the downhill side and will not reengage as needed. The throttle is dead too and will not respond. Again happening intermittently. This becomes a safety issue as one relies on the throttle to get across traffic in a hurry!

Now a new issue; the electronics including PAS completely crash going up longer hills if the volts drop to 41 as shown on the controller display even if the battery is fully charged. Turning the key off and on again will reset but on the next long hill the same issue. An E06 error code shows briefly before the display losses power and goes blank. Also the battery shows no volts until the key is turned off and on again. The support people at Lectric have sent a replacement throttle cable and controller but neither have fixed these issues.

Anyone else having similar HILL ISSUES with their Lectric XP?

Your uphill cutout sounds suspiciously like a battery voltage cutout. 40-42 is a common cutoff voltage to prevent the battery from being deeply discharged. it presents as a sudden power off when the load spikes and voltage drops to the cutoff. It will restart every time, as the voltage spike is only present under load. Some controller may allow you to lower the cutout voltage to say 40, which shouldn't be overly dangerous to your battery as long as you still aren't running it down that far all the time.

I also recall a manufacturer having a similar problem as your downhill cutoff due to a mismatched controller/hub motor. This was a recent problem as they had to substitute a different motor due to supply chain issues, and the firmware required feedback power to prevent the automatic timeout from kicking in. The new motor didn't maintain a return current, so the box was timing out and shutting off on longer descents. Short term fix was to maintain partial throttle input when coasting (This could be a way to validate the problem too), but the real fix was either a firmware update or properly matched motor/controller.

Not saying either one is your problem, but likely worth considering.