Vado SL - real world range

VadoSL

New Member
Region
United Kingdom
Any views on real world range for a Vado SL 4.0EQ ?

First real test today and only got 22 miles (35km) going from 100% to 12%. I admit it was a mix of mid and turbo with a few hills but mainly flat or slight incline.

I will think about range extender but I just thought it would be a lot better - I was thinking around 40 miles (65km) as a minimum !!!!
 
Any views on real world range for a Vado SL 4.0EQ ?

First real test today and only got 22 miles (35km) going from 100% to 12%. I admit it was a mix of mid and turbo with a few hills but mainly flat or slight incline.

I will think about range extender but I just thought it would be a lot better - I was thinking around 40 miles (65km) as a minimum !!!!
SL motors consume 300w at full power/turbo. main battery is 320wh. going 22 mph for one hour in turbo will deplete the battery. if your sport setting peak has 50% max power, then you’ll get two hours of constant full sport.

in short, turbo on default settings REALLY eats up battery! it’s best reserved for very steep climbs or fast, short, keeping-up-with traffic rides.

you may find it better, for example, to bump the assist levels of eco and sport up a bit, say 35 and 65 peak, and do your rides in eco and sport and reserve turbo for that unexpected super steep hill.
 
The real world range on the main battery with 55/55% assistance is 77 km (around 46 mi) in a flat area, regular warm conditions. This level of assistance means a good punch to the leg power. A similar range is achieved at 30/80% assistance. This setting makes it easy to ride hills.

Any assistance above 60/60% will eat the battery charge at an alarming rate.

Assistance of 40/40% and below ensures a tremendous range.

The numbers below refer to exactly your e-bike model.
 
Last edited:
This is the range I got on a single Range Extender yesterday, cold weather (4-8 C), 55/55% SL assistance, flat terrain:

1710893230620.png

24.7 miles.

The main SL battery is equivalent to two Range Extenders. (The actual range may depend on many other parameters).
 
The Range Extender battery range at SL 65/65% assistance:

1710986058821.png

The main battery would be good for 70 km, or 43 miles.
 
Stefan as usual provides precision to the discussion. This explanation mirrors my experience. Another factor is ambient temperature. over this past mild (Northern Virginia) winter my range on the colder days was down as much as 20%. Speed was also lower, but that might be attributed to the weight of extra clothing layers. :);)
 
More data:
  • 75/75% assistance. Range Extender lasted for 28.5 km, so the main batery would last for 57 km.
  • 80/80% assistance. RE was good for 24 km, so the main battery range would have lasted for 48 km.
1711262756298.png

Vado SL, a 105 kg rider+clothes+cargo, reference temperature 10 C, flat area, paved surfaces, very rare stops, light winds. E-bike restricted at 25 km/h.

Assistance %Range Range Extender [km]Range Main Battery [km]
55/55​
40​
80​
65/65​
35​
70​
75/75​
28.5​
57​
80/80​
24​
48​

I may continue my findings but it requires a better weather so I can do really long rides.
 
Last edited:
Just as a data point, 8kms at 100/100 on a flat route today used 23%, so assuming 90% battery availability then range of 31kms from the main battery.
 
It all depends on how you ride the Vado SL, assist levels, your own weight and fitness, wind conditions, road condition (good tarmac or slow draggy tarmac that the UK is full of, or cycle paths & gravel roads etc) and hills - how long how steep? For example I did 42 miles the other day with 25% of battery left after 3585ft of climbing. I might have used less, but with the weather being so rubbish last few months, I'm not that fit and so even though the day was gorgeous I was tired heading for home and used more assist in the last 10 miles.

But those figures are also misleading because I tend to ride as much as possible without any assist. Around 50% of that ride was without assist, 35% in eco and 15% in sport & turbo. I use the motor for hills, headwinds and to get me home when tired. After 3 years of playing around with assist levels etc and using it like this, I now know 30 miles is fine on the battery alone, and bear in mind its very hilly around here, up to 45 miles I need to be careful with route planning and assist usage and beyond that - when I'm fit enough - I use the range extender. Of course when I get fit enough to do 50 miles plus I'm also fitter and so use less assist so that helps as well.

Last summer while at my brother in law's house near Reading, I did a 30 mile spin on my ordinary road bike (non electric) it's flat as a pancake around there and it was so easy without hills! Didn't need a motor at all.

Of course if you bought the Vado SL for speed not so much to hep with fitness or range then that's not what I'm interested in. I like going fast but didn't buy the bike to go faster then my other non electric bikes by leaving it in turbo full time. Plus the 15.5mph cut off not going to help much there.
 
Just as a data point, 8kms at 100/100 on a flat route today used 23%, so assuming 90% battery availability then range of 31kms from the main battery.
Well, I do not have current data on the full SL Turbo ride. However, I can remember such a ride, and that brought me at 18 km on a Range Extender, so the main battery might be good for 36 km. (At least for myself in the conditions I'm riding!)

As @Rás Cnoic said, the actual range comes from many factors.
 
Last edited:
Lots of great data in here. Sounds just like the 1.2 on my Creo which I believe is less efficient than the 1.2 motor.

I could run it flat in 20 miles on Turbo, or I could ride the bike with no assist at all for 30 miles. Starting to pay more attention to percentage per ft of elevation.
 
Lots of great data in here. Sounds just like the 1.2 on my Creo which I believe is less efficient than the 1.2 motor.

I could run it flat in 20 miles on Turbo, or I could ride the bike with no assist at all for 30 miles. Starting to pay more attention to percentage per ft of elevation.
The SL 1.2 motor is stronger than the SL 1.1, so it has a shorter range at the same assistance/max motor power setting. You are riding a U.S. Creo 2 with assistance up to 28 mph while Europe and UK are limited to 15.5 mph/25 km/h. You are riding faster with the assistance, so you have to overcome a significant air drag. On the other hand, Creo 2 is aerodynamically superior to the Vado SL, which positively affects the range of the drop-bar e-bike.

I'm interested with your outcome of the range versus the elevation gain! A Vado SL rider rarely pedals downhill (no charge drawn from the battery) but you might be pedalling on the declines for a higher speed (which uses the battery charge).
 
Back