Less assistance at two battery bars left after FW update at bike shop?

[OleP]

I just read in a Danish FB group that some people felt less assistance after a recent firmware update when battery level was down to 2 bars left.
Unfortunately I don't know the DU type - only that it had an Intuvia display. I also don't know the previous firmware version.
I can nowhere find a 'Change Log' document at Bosch homepage.
Can that reduced assistance level really be true and have others experienced something similar?

 

[Matt Penfold]

Was that a motor firmware update, or a controller update?

 

[webcurl]

I don't understand why in this age Bosch can't release changelogs.
If they want to be secretive about changes to their "Tampering" algorithms then they can simply disguise that as "Various bug fixes & product improvements" as do Google & all the others.
But would be nice to see firmware version numbers against all other fixes/improvements.

 

[OleP]

Was that a motor firmware update, or a controller update?

To be honest - I don't know, but I suppose it was motor update. The 'controller' (display) is IMHO only controlling the display

 

[Newby]

I have found that you get less assistance when the battery is getting low. This seems normal to me in my limited experience with ebikes. Is this others experience. Getting off on a bit of a tangent here. Sorry!

 

[OleP]

I have found that you get less assistance when the battery is getting low.

I think only the assistance will decrease to OFF or Eco when battery reports zero bars.
Of course the battery voltage decrease during discharge, but I'm confident that the power to the motor remains almost the same as the current may increase.
At least that is what I feel with my almost new bike. Maybe when battery gets old and the cells internal resistance increase, one can feel less assistance.
But my question was about a reduced assistance AFTER a firmware update at a bike shop.

 

[webcurl]

I think only the assistance will decrease to OFF or Eco when battery reports zero bars.

The motor assistance switches OFF when zero+reserve has been reached.
Reserve will depend on if there are attached lights & Rohloff E14 electronic shifter, these functions remain working until dead zero.

 

[fooferdoggie]

I think only the assistance will decrease to OFF or Eco when battery reports zero bars.
Of course the battery voltage decrease during discharge, but I'm confident that the power to the motor remains almost the same as the current may increase.
At least that is what I feel with my almost new bike. Maybe when battery gets old and the cells internal resistance increase, one can feel less assistance.
But my question was about a reduced assistance AFTER a firmware update at a bike shop.

your right I have never really noticed a change till the battery cut off. I have not heard of that. but I have not gotten to zero since my update either.

 

[theemartymac]

I wonder if they actually changed the cutoff point and made it a lower voltage to tweak the range. Has anyone compared the actual range to see if it's changed? As a general rule, you can run a battery comfortably into the range where reduced performance becomes apparent without damage, but as soon as you notice the power drop off, you should consider yourself in the <30% range.

A 48V battery will be full at ~54V, and cutoff might by as low as 38-40V (or as high as 42-44V on a conservative system). You will certainly see the reduced performance once you drop well below 48V if you are trying to use the higher end of the power output. A casual recreational rider might not push the motor hard enough to see it, but the hill climber or speed rider would. That's why 52V batteries are popular on 48V systems, as they keep the voltage above 48V for longer (but also have a higher low-voltage cutout point - the ultimate range doesn't change).