Vado 5.0 - weak assistance

[Ahmed1000]

My Tubo Vado 5.0 IGH seems to offer significantly less assistance in all modes when the battery is at 40% SoC or less. Don’t get me wrong, it still helps pull me up hills, but not at all with the same strength as when the battery is more full.

Anyone know if that’s normal behaviour?

 

[TrevorB]

There should some drop in performance in Turbo about only 10-20% . Shouldn't be really noticeable in lower power levels.
With Bosch it's about 15-20% less power in Turbo when battery is down to 30%.

I'd get shop to check it out, my guess would be battery.

 

[Ahmed1000]

There should some drop in performance in Turbo about only 10-20% . Shouldn't be really noticeable in lower power levels.
With Bosch it's about 15-20% less power in Turbo when battery is down to 30%.

I'd get shop to check it out, my guess would be battery.

Are you saying there should be some drop in performance when the battery is at 10-20% or the performance reduction is 10-20% when my SoC is 40% or less?

 

[Marcela]

I've noticed my spec bikes have less power at lower battery soc but not by a whole lot, they are chain driven. Your igh burns a little more power so your experience might be different.

 

[TrevorB]

Are you saying there should be some drop in performance when the battery is at 10-20% or the performance reduction is 10-20% when my SoC is 40% or less?

You said significant, definite it ie what is speed difference on one of your normal climbs between full and 40% battery.

NB all batteries have lower power delivery as charge drops because voltage drops.

 

[BioWheel]

Make sure your firmware is up-to-date.

 

[Richard Stallard]

The Vado SL manual says the motor support will be reduced when the battery reaches 15-20% charge.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Anyone know if that’s normal behaviour?

On two other Specialized e-bikes I own, any noticeable support degradation only starts below 20% SoC, and the assistance becomes very weak below 10% (with the actual power loss at 5%). Not sure how the IGH might affect the performance of your Vado but it does not look normal to me.

Can you mount a smartphone on your handlebars Ahmed? With Mission Control on and connected to your Vado, go to Diagnose -> Battery and open the Battery page, then go for your ride. Ride at a single selected assistance level. Observe the "Current" field; it gives you the current battery draw in A. After your battery SoC dropped below 40%, check whether the instant current has dropped or not. Of course, there is also Voltage involved. Please report what you have found.