Pedego Boomerang Platinum Question

[Jeepster17]

Hello, I am new to the ebike world. I have had this bike for 1 month now, and I have 350 miles so far. I have had battery issues since I bought the bike. I have the new 52/17.5 battery. It is in the shop right now. We know there is a issue with the battery. My question is can someone please explain to me how the PAS system and the 10 gears that I have work so that I can get the mileage I am suppose to get. I ride on PAS 2 in low lowest gear, I keep my speed around 15 mph, and my energy bars at 3 or below. Trying to figure out what gear and PAS should I be in to get the best mileage. I do ride a lot with 0 PAS. Hope I am explaining this correctly.
Thank you,
Mike

 

[Eu224]

Hello, I am new to the ebike world. I have had this bike for 1 month now, and I have 350 miles so far. I have had battery issues since I bought the bike. I have the new 52/17.5 battery. It is in the shop right now. We know there is a issue with the battery. My question is can someone please explain to me how the PAS system and the 10 gears that I have work so that I can get the mileage I am suppose to get. I ride on PAS 2 in low lowest gear, I keep my speed around 15 mph, and my energy bars at 3 or below. Trying to figure out what gear and PAS should I be in to get the best mileage. I do ride a lot with 0 PAS. Hope I am explaining this correctly.
Thank you,
Mike

Like you, we are new ebike owners. Wife and I have new Pedego Boomerang Platinums. Might be best to experiment with various gear and PAS combinations to see what gets you best mileage for your riding conditions. Some specific settings on this model will affect battery useage. Sounds like you are helping your mileage with settings you are using. PAS 0 is non-ebike mode like a regular bike -- no throttle and no pedal assist. A small amount of energy powers your display and unless you use your lights, display backlighting, or USB port you're using almost zero battery.

Specific settings (controlled via display) might improve battery useage and mileage. We set max speed to 15mph versus max available. We adjust setting #5 to "off". This is called "European Mode" and reduces the max speed in each PAS mode. Unique to this model is torque or cadence sensing -- setting #6: we set to torque mode because it allows for variable control of speed in each PAS. I believe it can save energy.

Matching gears with PAS settings and throttle has been a learning experience since these bikes are twice as heavy as our older road bikes. 10 speeds, a throttle, and 0-6 PAS settings allow for a lot of experimenting. Torque and cadence sensors add to the learning experience. Lower gears make for easier pedaling and higher gears demand we work harder (extending range). In our very short owner experience PAS 1-2 using gears 1-5 seems about right for casual level terrain riding with speeds around 8-13mph. So far, we tend to use throttle only at intersections and getting started up hills. Up mild hills and inclines we use gears 2-6 with PAS 2-3. Higher PAS and lower gear on real steep hills. PAS 5 is the cruising mode and maximizes battery when cruising on level terrain at faster speeds in gears 7-10. PAS 6 is throttle only (no pedal assist) and if you use only the throttle you cut range in half or more. We're casual riders 70+ years old and not in a hurry. We've easily gone about 30 miles with 48V 15Amp battery on two occasions without battery range anxiety. Hills, heavy use of throttle, headwinds, higher speeds, and heavier loads reduce this. With your larger battery you might expect 20-25% better mileage than us in similar conditions.

When I was doing my homework on this ebike, I used watt-hours and average watts I would use per mile as a guide. Calculations are available from numerous sources online. In the conditions we bike in Northern Virginia (mainly paved/packed gravel roads and good bike trails), we estimate to use an average of 18-20 watts per hour. Our battery should output 720 watt-hours in new condition, so we expect approximately 36 miles before range anxiety sets in. We will use 15 mile maximum for outbound leg for roundtrips as a guide until we get better at this and understand our battery capabilities. I'm not up to free pedaling this behemoth too far and up hills to get home.

Please share your continuing experience with this new larger battery along with any other tips and suggestions. Thanks.

 

[Jeepster17]

Thank you for the information. It will help me work out my issue. I took my bike back to my bike shop. They did find out that the battery will not take a charge. I had no problem charging the battery.They gave me a loaner battery while they performed test on the battery.

The loaner battery did not do any better. Now we think it might be the controller also. Took the bike back to the bike shop yesterday, so they can do some more test.
My battery should give me 910 watts, based on 15 mph I should get at least 60 miles on a full charge.

I will let you know what happens when they find out anything. Thanks

 

[Eu224]

Thank you for the information. It will help me work out my issue. I took my bike back to my bike shop. They did find out that the battery will not take a charge. I had no problem charging the battery.They gave me a loaner battery while they performed test on the battery.

The loaner battery did not do any better. Now we think it might be the controller also. Took the bike back to the bike shop yesterday, so they can do some more test.
My battery should give me 910 watts, based on 15 mph I should get at least 60 miles on a full charge.

I will let you know what happens when they find out anything. Thanks

Sorry to hear about your continuing battery problems. I wonder if it's unique to this new 52V 17.5Amp battery and the controller having issues even though you indicate another battery had similar problem. From what I've read you should get 60 miles with smart useage. That's a huge distance with these bikes.

Please keep us updated on progress and what the shop found to be the problem.

 

[6zfshdb]

Keep in mind you will get the best mileage at slower speeds using PAS 1 and applying as much pedal pressure as possible. Your weight, the gear you carry, the slope, riding surface , tire pressure and the wind conditions will also factor in. As Eu224 mentioned above, 18 - 20 watt hours per mile is a good estimate for us older folk but the average is closer to 14 - 15.

For example, I have a platinum Interceptor which uses the same 10 speed drive train as the Platinum Boomerang. It also uses the same battery format except in my case, it's the older 52V 15 AH model. I'm 74, and weigh 255. I carry around 30 pounds of gear and the best I've been able to do is 54 miles on a single charge. This was done on a calm day on smooth level blacktop using PAS 1 and applying moderate pedal effort mostly in 8th gear with the speed at 12 MPH. Again, my battery is the 52V, 15 AH model which puts me in the 14 - 15 watt hours per mile range. Using the above criteria, 60 miles per charge should be possible with the new 17.5 AH battery.

It should be noted however that I don't usually ride to get the best mileage. I ride mostly for enjoyment and moderate exercise. The above scenario is a bit more strenuous than I prefer to do on a regular basis. On average, with the 15 AH battery, I get approximately 36 miles per charge. That puts me in the 20 watt hours per mile range.

I deal with range anxiety by carrying a spare battery. I don't always need it but it's nice to have it when I do.

 

[Eu224]

Keep in mind you will get the best mileage at slower speeds using PAS 1 and applying as much pedal pressure as possible. Your weight, the gear you carry, the slope, riding surface , tire pressure and the wind conditions will also factor in. As Eu224 mentioned above, 18 - 20 watt hours per mile is a good estimate for us older folk but the average is closer to 14 - 15.

For example, I have a platinum Interceptor which uses the same 10 speed drive train as the Platinum Boomerang. It also uses the same battery format except in my case, it's the older 52V 15 AH model. I'm 74, and weigh 255. I carry around 30 pounds of gear and the best I've been able to do is 54 miles on a single charge. This was done on a calm day on smooth level blacktop using PAS 1 and applying moderate pedal effort mostly in 8th gear with the speed at 12 MPH. Again, my battery is the 52V, 15 AH model which puts me in the 14 - 15 watt hours per mile range. Using the above criteria, 60 miles per charge should be possible with the new 17.5 AH battery.

It should be noted however that I don't usually ride to get the best mileage. I ride mostly for enjoyment and moderate exercise. The above scenario is a bit more strenuous than I prefer to do on a regular basis. On average, with the 15 AH battery, I get approximately 36 miles per charge. That puts me in the 20 watt hours per mile range.

I deal with range anxiety by carrying a spare battery. I don't always need it but it's nice to have it when I do.

Yes, yes, yes. You're able to pull alot of miles out your battery and that encourages us. As we get accustomed to our new Boomerang Platinums with same battery as you and somewhat similar biking habits we hope to get your range. We have a trail, the W,O&D outside Washington D.C. that is about 26 miles one way. We'd sure like to try a round trip or close to a round trip one day. On our old traditional hybrid non-electric bikes we were only able to about 18 miles before pooping out. Being 70+ and not athletes we hope the battery and motor will gives us the extra push we need.

We have same battery as you (one upgrade over stock battery) and dealer swears it is 52V 15Amp. But when I look on bottom of battery cover it says 48V 15Amp. I tend to believe dealer and think Pedego may be listing these conservatively. Any ideas on this and does it matter?

 

[6zfshdb]

Yes, yes, yes. You're able to pull alot of miles out your battery and that encourages us. As we get accustomed to our new Boomerang Platinums with same battery as you and somewhat similar biking habits we hope to get your range. We have a trail, the W,O&D outside Washington D.C. that is about 26 miles one way. We'd sure like to try a round trip or close to a round trip one day. On our old traditional hybrid non-electric bikes we were only able to about 18 miles before pooping out. Being 70+ and not athletes we hope the battery and motor will gives us the extra push we need.

We have same battery as you (one upgrade over stock battery) and dealer swears it is 52V 15Amp. But when I look on bottom of battery cover it says 48V 15Amp. I tend to believe dealer and think Pedego may be listing these conservatively. Any ideas on this and does it matter?

Many 48V batteries, including Pedego, are actually 52V. This is a fairly common practice.

 

[darksky]

I measure the voltage on my Pedego 48v 15a battery after each ride to determine the percent of charge left in the battery. At full charge it measures 58.8 volts on a digital multimeter.

 

[6zfshdb]

I measure the voltage on my Pedego 48v 15a battery after each ride to determine the percent of charge left in the battery. At full charge it measures 58.8 volts on a digital multimeter.

58.8 is the correct voltage for a fully charged 52V battery. Here is a chart comparing voltage and % charge remaining.

This isn't a very accurate method however since the voltage drop vs % charge isn't linear.
The chart shows 50% charge remaining when the voltage drops to 50.4 V. In reality, at that point, the remaining charge is considerably less. If you ride out until the voltage drops to 50.4, you likely won't have enough power left to get back.

The bar gauge on the Pedego display uses voltage and it's difficult to determine when the battery is half discharged. If you use this voltage method, you need to experiment and create your own voltage / range chart.

The best way to determine your state of charge is to measure ampere hours consumed. Unfortunately, most ebike displays, including the Pedego, do not measure this. There are aftermarket AH gauges available but most require modification to the Pedego bikes. This could void your warranty.

In my case, I waited until the warranty on my Interceptor expired before installing an AH gauge.

If you're interested, this post shows how it was done:

Accurate Battery Gauge Project

I've searched in vain for some time now for an accurate, programmable, handlebar mounted battery gauge. Some high end bikes come equipped with this type of gauge and the displays on many others are up-gradable. Unfortunately, the controller on my bike isn't one of them. The battery gauges on...

electricbikereview.com

 

[Jeepster17]

Thanks for the great information everyone.

 

[Eu224]

WoW! I second Jeepster17. Thanks for the amazing amount of information on these batteries.

 

[Jeepster17]

Well Pedego does not know what is causing my issue. Today I received delivery of a brand new Boomerang Platinum Edition bike. The swap it out for me.
Very thankful to Pedego Haddonfield, NJ bike shop. Thank you Patrick, Joe, Nick, and Chris.

 

[Eu224]

Well Pedego does not know what is causing my issue. Today I received delivery of a brand new Boomerang Platinum Edition bike. The swap it out for me.
Very thankful to Pedego Haddonfield, NJ bike shop. Thank you Patrick, Joe, Nick, and Chris.

Great! Very typical of Pedego customer service. Another reason we choose to deal with a reputable local bike shop with a large responsive organization behind them. Let us know how this works out for you.

 

[darksky]

58.8 is the correct voltage for a fully charged 52V battery. Here is a chart comparing voltage and % charge remaining.

Any idea why my 48v 15a battery measures 58.8 volts at full charge?

 

[6zfshdb]

Any idea why my 48v 15a battery measures 58.8 volts at full charge?

Even though your Pedego battery is labeled 48V, in reality, it is a 52V battery. Pedego tech support verified this when I asked the same question. Many manufacturers do this as a way to increase range.