Super duper battery drain!!!

[mikeschn]

Wow, I've never had this happen before...

Yes, it was a really really windy day out there. Did I say "REALLY" windy!? But I decided to go for a ride anyways. My Giant Stance E+2 was fully charged. I can typically do a 20 mile trip on about 20% of the battery.

But today, with the wind, after about 6 miles, in turbo mode, at a relatively high speed... about 18mph... I said I had enough of the wind. Turned around and went home.

Dragging the bike into the basement, I noticed that the battery was 80% discharged. Whaaaaaa.... the... heck...? 80%... for a 12 mile round trip???? I've never seen a battery drain like that before...

Has anyone else ever had an experience like that before?

Mike...

 

[mikeschn]

How old is your battery?

Yes, I have experienced it before. One day, I just noticed a very low mileage.
I think your battery might be done.

If it's just this one time, I wouldn't worry about it. But ride it again and see what happens.

The Stance E+2 is a 2020 model. I. have not used it that much, as my rides are divided among many bikes. So I would say the battery is almost like new!

I’m going to attribute the astronomical drain to the wind. It’s supposed to be a nice day again tomorrow… I’ll test it then!

Mike…

 

[tomjasz]

The Stance E+2 is a 2020 model. I. have not used it that much, as my rides are divided among many bikes. So I would say the battery is almost like new!

I’m going to attribute the astronomical drain to the wind. It’s supposed to be a nice day again tomorrow… I’ll test it then!

Mike…

Worry not Timpo is FOS.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Mike: Air drag puts a cubic demand on power use with growing relative speed of the moving object relative to air. If you try to ride fast (18 mph is not slow), you're already generate the apparent wind of that speed. Now add the speed of headwind to it.

 

[mschwett]

Wow, I've never had this happen before...

Yes, it was a really really windy day out there. Did I say "REALLY" windy!? But I decided to go for a ride anyways. My Giant Stance E+2 was fully charged. I can typically do a 20 mile trip on about 20% of the battery.

But today, with the wind, after about 6 miles, in turbo mode, at a relatively high speed... about 18mph... I said I had enough of the wind. Turned around and went home.

Dragging the bike into the basement, I noticed that the battery was 80% discharged. Whaaaaaa.... the... heck...? 80%... for a 12 mile round trip???? I've never seen a battery drain like that before...

Has anyone else ever had an experience like that before?

Mike...

you rode into a stiff headwind at 18mph on a mountain bike! pretty impressive, IMO. do you have an idea how fast the wind was? at that speed a 15mph headwind ought to deplete the whole battery in an hour… but you’d have gone 18 miles into the wind, not 6. doesn’t seem quite right.

 

[mikeschn]

Just checked the bike computer. The round trip was 14.42miles, done in 48:01 minutes...

Right now the wind is 15MPH with gusts up to 30MPH, so I'm guessing it was about the same when I rode... definitely more gusts than wind!

Another favorite phrase for why I ride an ebike: “No road is too long, no hill is too high, no wind is too strong.”

LOL!

 

[DiggyGun]

I had similar a couple of weeks ago. We were riding some steep trails in the Lake District and using full power and the lowest gear for quite some time.

Normally, I get 30-40 on Tour mode, but this time, on Turbo mode after doing 6.5 miles, I only had 8 miles left.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I had similar a couple of weeks ago. We were riding some steep trails in the Lake District and using full power and the lowest gear for quite some time.

Normally, I get 30-40 on Tour mode, but this time, on Turbo mode after doing 6.5 miles, I only had 8 miles left.

Climbing can be as much battery intensive as a strong headwind (and riding into it fast) is. I can still remember my experience of a first real mountain ride on my 500 Wh Trance E+ 2 Pro. The route lead uphill from the first second, and I could not believe my eyes to see how fast the battery % was dropping down. I panicked and decided to only reach the major tourist attraction on the route and then go back. Later, it turned out downhill rides were taking no battery charge if you were coasting, effectively extending the range. I only rode for 17.7 miles with elevation gain of 1,900 ft and returned with 30% of the battery left.

Given the last 20% of Giant batteries is just a symbolic charge, I'm still glad I decided to come back from the Holy Cross Mt. soon! And that gave me the understanding why e-MTBs were expected to be ridden for relatively short trips but with a significant elevation gain: these are the conditions you meet on the technical singletrack!

Holy Cross Mt, or How All Went Wrong.

Nowadays, I fully understand why you do not pack your e-MTB with panniers, either... A backpack is enough!

 

[AHicks]

Just checked the bike computer. The round trip was 14.42miles, done in 48:01 minutes...

Right now the wind is 15MPH with gusts up to 30MPH, so I'm guessing it was about the same when I rode... definitely more gusts than wind!

View attachment 122934


LOL!

Something else to consider was the temperature. It wasn't real cold, but it wasn't real warm either. Cooler temps WILL have an effect on your mileage.

 

[tomjasz]

Cooler temps WILL have an effect on your mileage.

My new Jenny Mao battery is 21700 cells. I’ve noticed that 21700 cell pack has far less cold sag than my new 18650 cell batteries. Thank deity winter is behind us. But there were lots of snow and ice free days to ride. 25F is now my “no F-ing way” line. And only 3 miles to get fresh air and visit the shop..

 

[GhettoWedo74]

The Stance E+2 is a 2020 model. I. have not used it that much, as my rides are divided among many bikes. So I would say the battery is almost like new!

I’m going to attribute the astronomical drain to the wind. It’s supposed to be a nice day again tomorrow… I’ll test it then!

Mike…

I just had this happen 2 times in a row by winds here in Reno, I normally go 35+ miles, but my battery was almost drained after 17 miles the first time & 15 2nd Tim time, my e-Bike is only 2mos old so I was worried, but rode it through next day, & the wind was calm, & went right back to normal mileage traveled, it really does affect it, I wouldn't think that bad though....