Rad miles
- Thread starter BTfl
- Start date
MechaNut
Active Member
Range varies wildly with e-bikes because there are a massive amount of variables that can influence range per charge. Just off the top of my head you have tire type, tire pressure, road surface, rider weight, bike load, how windy it is, how hilly it is, level of pedal assist used, whether you use the throttle or not, and so on and so forth. That's generally why range per charge is expressed as a range. If I remember correctly Rad's listed range for their current gen battery is between 20-40 miles. I'd say you're doing pretty good for range. I would maybe get 20-24 miles out of a charge on my RadCity but I'm on the heavy side and my commute route is low rolling hills so I expected to get the bottom end of the listed range out of the battery.
AHicks
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
I've recently re-powered my '18 RAD City (again). After replacing the original 750w direct drive motor with a direct drive 1500w, and becoming disenchanted with that motor for it's lack of hill climbing performance (coastal community with rolling hills), I installed a gear driven MAC motor with a special low speed wind (12t). This motor is all about low speed torque, which will, by design, sacrifice high speed performance (noticable at speeds over 20 mph).
One might think a torque monster like this, rated anywhere from 1000-1500w (depending on who you're talking to), would be a complete power (battery) hog (that's what I was expecting anyway). What I'm finding is that's just not the case at all. This last week (3rd week it's been installed, so still getting used to it) I've run a series of my typical short hops (3-8 miles) over a combination of packed dirt trails and pavement. I started with a fully charged battery, and this morning it finally dropped to 47 volts, which is about where I like to charge. All riding was done in PAS 1 (mostly) and 2, speeds 8 to 13mph (mostly floating around 10 mph). It included some clowning around with wide open bursts while climbing up short hills.
Total miles on the odometer were 33.5, which I feel is pretty incredible, as the 1500w direct drive was hard pressed to see 25 miles with the same usage.
So this gear driven MAC 12t not only has MUCH more punch, it's WAY more efficient! With the amount of torque on tap, especially in the hill climbing scenario, it's not hard to see how this motor got it's reputation.
Also noteworthy, I'm 315 lbs, so this is no story about a fly weight in the saddle....
One might think a torque monster like this, rated anywhere from 1000-1500w (depending on who you're talking to), would be a complete power (battery) hog (that's what I was expecting anyway). What I'm finding is that's just not the case at all. This last week (3rd week it's been installed, so still getting used to it) I've run a series of my typical short hops (3-8 miles) over a combination of packed dirt trails and pavement. I started with a fully charged battery, and this morning it finally dropped to 47 volts, which is about where I like to charge. All riding was done in PAS 1 (mostly) and 2, speeds 8 to 13mph (mostly floating around 10 mph). It included some clowning around with wide open bursts while climbing up short hills.
Total miles on the odometer were 33.5, which I feel is pretty incredible, as the 1500w direct drive was hard pressed to see 25 miles with the same usage.
So this gear driven MAC 12t not only has MUCH more punch, it's WAY more efficient! With the amount of torque on tap, especially in the hill climbing scenario, it's not hard to see how this motor got it's reputation.
Also noteworthy, I'm 315 lbs, so this is no story about a fly weight in the saddle....
Tars Tarkas
Well-Known Member
I did 25 miles today on my '19 RadRover. At the end the display was blinking between 2 and 3 bars. It settled on 3 when I stopped, so I figure there was a pretty solid 40% left. I road mostly on 3 and 4 PAS. Mathematically, if I ran the battery down to zero, I could have gotten 41 miles.
TT
TT
AHicks
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
Yup, I could have run my battery down to 45-46 volts and made 40 miles as well, but I was pretty happy with what it had done while coming down to just 47 volts. My bar display still showed 3 of 5 bars. My concern, when it gets as low as it was even, is about voltage sag. When I absentmindedly ask for a lot of throttle (to climb a hill or cross a busy intersection for instance), it could pull the controller or BMS voltage into the range of the Low Voltage Cutoff (LVC) and have one of them shut me down! Not that it would be too huge a deal, but I would have to remove the battery to reset the controller. For what purpose? Way easier, and better for the battery, to just recharge. It would be different if I were 5 miles from home while trying to beat a rain storm! -Al
