Questions on current Como 4

[mcdenny]

@mcdenny:
For clarity, what is the Assistance and Max Motor Power in your ECO setting per Mission Control?
Only to make the thing more precise: The Specialized battery is cut off for assistance at 5%, making the effective 710 Wh battery charge equal to 675 Wh.
I'm am sure your experiment has worked for your own leg power but not necessarily for the @Ade169 leg input. Let me explain.

My legs are bad because of the medical condition, and my own leg input into a long ride is 7.6 kcal/mile, which is less than half of yours. I was on my gravel club ride in March, and I played the role of the rear guard of that ride. My average speed was 13.8 mph. The average assistance was 32.1/100% (I was using an equivalent of MicroTune). 633 Wh of the battery power was consumed for a 65.8 mile ride, giving the battery consumption factor of 9.62 Wh/mi.

Now, that ride proved that with using my assistance level and my low leg power/input, a rider with the 710 Wh battery (of 675 Wh usable charge) should easily do a Metric Century with a Como 5.0 in the Eco mode.

I recommend to @Ade169 to ask the Specialized LBS showing him the full battery charge figure. It does not need to be 710 Wh (new batteries rarely contain the nominal charge) but if it turns out the new battery has the capacity of, say, 600 Wh then the battery shall be replaced per warranty.

However, if the battery charge is close to 710 Wh, then the high energy consumption by Ade's Como can only be explained by his riding style, excessive assistance, adverse road conditions (headwind, steep hills), very low cadence, or totally weak legs (mine are very weak, mind you!)

ECO 20/40 SPORT 40/80 TURBO 80/100

Just did the same ride again in SPORT mode.

PAS............Avg Speed......Wh/mile......Calories/mile......Support level.........Implied Range using 90% of 530 Wh battery
ECO..............10.4.................6.0................16....................195%......................80 miles
SPORT..........14.7................10.5...............14.....................323%.....................45 miles
TURBO.........16.2.................13.................13.....................429%.....................37 miles

This iteration is TURBO mode but minimal pedaling, targeting a 10-12 mph speed and cadence in the 50s.
......................11.8................10.6...............6.2....................702%....................45 miles

You can see the huge effect speed has on range.

Also interesting that I could go 45 miles at 14.7 mph with a good effort on my part (I doubt very much I could sustain that effort for 3.06 hours though). On the other hand I could do the 45 miles with virtually no effort by just slowing down to 11.8 mph and extending the trip by 45 minutes. Believe me, there is a big difference between expending 14 calories/mile and 6 cal/mile.

Ade, if they say there is nothing wrong with your battery (I hope they find its defective and install a new one) you should try a similar test trying to keep you cadence in the 70s and roughly similar pedaling effort.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

ECO 20/40

It is a very modest ECO setting that follows your needs as of a strong rider and it explains your excellent range easily.
My standard settings are: ECO 35/35%, SPORT 55/55%, TURBO 100/100%. I ride ECO on most of my solo rides, SPORT on group rides with a fast gravel cycling club and Turbo for steep mountain climbs or in emergency.

 

[mcdenny]

I tried another permutation of PAS and pedal power. Same loop but this time TURBO mode but minimal pedaling, cadence in the 50s, aiming for 10 - 12 mph. Could feel a little motor surging as I was putting so little torque on the crank the torque sensor wasn't sure if I was pedaling or not. Data added to the post above.

As an aside, I first posted the data so Ade could have something to compare his stats to. As I got into it though I realized that understanding the relationship between pedal effort, speed and PAS is important for battery management.

 

[Ade169]

Still waiting to get the bike back from the shop.
They have requested some of the information stored within the mission control app.
I suspect they also intend to use the app to tune the battery. Done this already, and it made absolutely no difference to the bike's atrociously poor mileage.
I do not use the mission control much anymore, as I find it more gimmicky than useful.
The phone will record my journeys without the app, and having made these trips many times before on my old Ebike, it seems to be much more accurate in its assessments of my journeys length.
Thank you for the advice and information you have given me, if nothing else. It does indicate there is something wrong the battery. Can't fault the bike except for its very limited milage. it's lovely to ride. Just can go any great distance on it without worrying about ending up having to push it home for the last several miles.
Having had the Kalkhoff for nine years now, it has never run out of juice no matter how long the ride.
No matter how you rate the specialised batteries, they don't come close to performing the same as the Bosch batteries. I know, because I've had experience of both of them now.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I do not use the mission control much anymore, as I find it more gimmicky than useful.

I rode for 63 miles on May 1st on my Vado 6.0, and the battery initial charge was 533 Wh. I could do the ride thanks to Mission Control Smart Control. Gimmicky? Perhaps for you.

 

[mcdenny]

@Ade169 Sounds like you have a bike shop problem as well as a battery problem. They should have a way to load test the battery and determine right away if it's defective or not. Sure sounds like it is.

I've read several instances here of Specialized stepping up to make things right. You would expect that of such a premium priced item. Maybe a call to Spec customer service could get your LBS motivated. Couldn't they lend you a battery from another bike to try?

You are bashing the Specialized brand @Stefan Mikes is leaping to their defense but I suspect the real problem is your bike shop.