Range Test
Recently I have been exploring the different kinds of range I get with the bike, while riding at different settings. As I mentioned in the last post, the test I did was at a very light, leisure pace, averaging 10mph. This is meant to enjoy the scenery but also to get some exercise in! In PAS 1, primarily, you get some assist, but the bike still feels very heavy at times, especially when you transition to any kind of incline. But leisure is only half of why I bought this bike and isn't fully representative of all of the use cases I need it for. The other primary use case is commuting.
When commuting, two things fundamentally change. First, I don't want to take my sweet time going through traffic. I want to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible, while still staying safe. This means that a 10mph average speed won't cut it anymore. The second very important aspect is effort - when I am biking home in the dark, after a long day at work, I don't want to exercise - I want to cruise quickly and get home. For this application, I've determined that PAS 3 is ideal. With PAS 3 the bike still feels very natural, but everything becomes effortless. I can sustain 20mph speeds with little effort, gaining speeds from a stop becomes an easy task, and I use mostly gears 4 and 5, as opposed to 3 and 4 when using PAS 1-2.
I decided to do range tests at different power levels. I started with a full battery and rode until the motor shut off. At some levels, this meant the test was split in multiple days without a charge in between, which is fine. For all tests I maintained roughly the same overall route, so there's no significant terrain change between tests. A couple caveats: somewhere along the way I added some accessories (rack, lock, water bottle) that add weight to the bike. This might cause a difference in range, but I cannot control for that. Also, some days/rides were really windy, whereas some were very calm. I can't control that either, so take the range results with a grain of salt. Without further ado, here are the results:
Test 1
Power profile: 65% PAS 1, 30% PAS 2, 5% PAS 5
Avg speed: ~10mph, 10-20 on flats and descends, 5-10 on climbs
Obs: No additional accessories
Range: 55 miles
Test 2
Power profile: 40% PAS 1, 55% PAS 2, 5% PAS 5
AVG speed: ~10mph (but easier on the legs)
Obs: No additional accessories
Range: 50 miles
Test 3
Power profile: 100% PAS 3
AVG speed: ~15mph, ~20mph on flat stretches with no effort, climbing at a minimum of 10mph
Obs: Rack, lock, bottle - one windy day, one regular
Range: 32 miles
Test 4
Power profile: 100% PAS 5
AVG speed: 20mph, ~24mph+ on flat stretches with no effort, effortless climbing of smaller inclines
Obs: Rack, lock, bottle - very windy day
Range: 17 miles but true PAS 5 power started to decline around mile 12. At around mile 15 it felt more like PAS 3, around the last mile, it felt like PAS 1 or below.
Test 5
Power profile: 100% PAS 1
AVG speed: ~8mph
Obs: Rack, lock, bottle - mix of windy and regular days. 100% PAS 1 is definitely annoying if you're not riding on mostly flat terrain. It's great if you want to get some exercise!
Range: 60 miles
A few takeaways:
- It is definitely not worth trying to squeeze every last bit of battery. A mixed mode ride will leave enough range for most rides.
- Battery readings continue to be inconsistent. Even in rides where I kept the exact same power level through the entire duration of the battery, some bars lasted 5 miles and others lasted 1.
- The last battery bar always lasts longer. Power also decreases on the last bar. Whether that's intentional or not, I actually like it. Power is reduced and range is somewhat extended when you're at very low battery.
- At PAS 5, I got higher range than I expected, but power significantly decreased during the last 5 miles, so I'm not sure it really counts. It is expected that when battery is lower, the bike cannot maintain the high output it needs for high PAS.
As usual, a picture to make up for the long post. This is the bike in grocery getter mode.
View attachment 80118
