2019 Specialized Turbo Levo News & Rumours

[MartinW148]

Any ideas on the changes for the 2019 models and if it's worth waiting for?
Would really like to see a display, even if this was an option.
Thanks
M

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

A few posts on here about it, I don’t think we will see anything other than colour updates.

 

[Mambat]

Here in South Africa we have been hearing rumors of a new Levo with the new Stumpjumper assymetric frame?
Just rumors............ but where there is smoke

 

[Elroy]

650 w battery and i'm in

 

[Topov]

A 630w battery may and I say MAY be here before the end of the year

 

[Kiwi in Wales]

You can’t get a 504w battery anywhere at the moment so getting hold of a 630w may be a bit of a challenge or maybe that is why you can’t get a 504w as they are working on the delivery of the 630w ones ?

 

[npatrix]

A 630w battery may and I say MAY be here before the end of the year

Hope they keep batteries compatible with previous models 504+630= 1134= a lot of miles

 

[Cyclone]

So 2019 models may have a 630 battery... interesting
I was told that specialised wont be changing the chassis / frame this year as it's not due a frame refresh until 2020.

So from what I was told (and rumours) Here is what I suspect it could be:

Released / announced the last week in July and shipped and received by Riders and stores 1st week in August (this date actually came from Specialized directly)

New Battery throughout the range 630wh for comp and up.
Same Style Frame.
All Carbon frames will be fact 11 carbon through the range (no fact 9 etc) therefore lighter.
Colour changes
Same motor (brose) optimised for use with new battery and lighter frames.
Different shocks/forks etc
Possibly 9 speed options or EX1 shifters / cassette optimised.
Small price reduction from the offset, due to the larger amounts of bikes expected to be ordered.

I think that's reasonable, and I would be surprised if there were any more changes, but if there are, I'll wait it out as as I'm not buying mail order again XD

 

[MartinW148]

630 battery would be amazing, but that would require higher cell density to keep the same size.
I think that's likely to increase the price, I certainly don't expect a price reduction.

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

I’d love to see an increase in battery. But I can’t work out how they can cram in more cells into the existing battery design without making it bigger. Unless the remove some the controller / LED cluster and internal boards to accommodate the extra cells.

 

[MartinW148]

The same number of cells with a higher density would work

Car manufacturers are currently doing the same thing....

 

[Topov]

The new battery will be backwards compatible, they will probably not be on the first 2019 models released

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

The same number of cells with a higher density would work

Car manufacturers are currently doing the same thing....

Interesting. Well retrofit would be awesome. As would a ‘trade in’ of the old battery to get the new one, or a cheeky discount off the new one for existing Levo / Kenevo owners.

 

[Doomanic]

Does anyone know what cells are used in the battery?

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

Does anyone know what cells are used in the battery?

@fos'l I seem to remember reading something from you somewhere about the cells in the Levo battery

 

[MartynG]

I believe they are the same as the Tesla Model T/S that's what I think I read somewhere.

Same amount of cells will do, just more efficient, higher desnsity etc so size need not change.

 

[R120]

If they bang out the Kenevo with a 630 battery i will find it hard not to but!

 

[Hedge Monkey]

The new battery will be backwards compatible, they will probably not be on the first 2019 models released

So you’re the specalized ghost that they have been shouting for..
Not updating yet.
Larger battery.
Come on now.
Stop playing games either you are or you’re not...

 

[Hedge Monkey]

@fos'l I seem to remember reading something from you somewhere about the cells in the Levo battery

Come on now how was the quantocks new app update and up there been there several times and it’s lush x
Sure you have something to say???

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

Come on now how was the quantocks new app update and up there been there several times and it’s lush x
Sure you have something to say???

Quantock was brilliant. I’ll get a video uploaded asap! I haven’t updated yet so still old school!

 

[Kiwi in Wales]

I believe they use 40 x 18650 batteries for the Levo/Kenevo battery unit. Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong on the following as I am doing this from memory. The 18650 batteries are 18mm wide by 65mm high.These batteries range from 2.5Ah to 3.5Ah. Not sure what value Ah battery they used to create the 460wh and 504wh battery but it would be somewhere in the above stated range.

Have a look at the attached screen shot of the Levo battery. There appears to be quite a big gap between the batteries so in theory they could, with a bit of jiggery pokery use the slightly larger and higher output batteries that have been released ...... either the 21700 21mm x 70mm or the 22650 22mm x 65mm. These put out around 3.8Ah to 4.5Ah.

So if they could squeeze 40 x 4.5Ah batteries in I believe this would give you your 630wh battery?

 

[Hedge Monkey]

Can’t wait
Trying out new updates tomorrow
Two bridges Dartmoor and fernworthy resivoir.
Looking forward to getting out for some air been a long week.
Hope you had fun..

 

[Doomanic]

Assuming the use of 18650s, most packs are 10s4p (10 cells in series to get 36v, 4 sets of 10cells in parallel to get the capacity). I suspect the 630Wh battery is 10s5p of 3500mAh 18650 cells rather than a different size cell.

It would be very simple for Bosch 5000Wh Powerpack owners to use a battery that's 25% bigger in one dimension, not so sure Levos have the same leeway.

Do any premium battery manufacturers make the bigger cell with high "C" ratings? I'd be very reluctant to sit on bike full of Trust(me, we will catch)Fire batteries...

 

[Kiwi in Wales]

I am sure I read somewhere that the 504wh battery was 40 x 3.5Ah batteries but not 100% sure about this.... will look at google and see what I can find.

 

[Doomanic]

That’s what I’d expect it to be, yes.

 

[Kiwi in Wales]

Looking at the screenshot of the battery it looks like it may be possible to squeeze in another 10 x 18650 batteries into the same space by moving all the existing batteries closer together.... well I guess we will find out when it gets released ?

 

[outerlimits]

I’d like to see the battery pack snap in half. Make it modular, where you can run one small pack and one dummy pack. Or 2 small packs to make one normal pack. And then you can keep a small pack in your backpack, and 2 small packs on the bike. Which would be equal to 1 and a half packs to extend your range.
You could also run a small pack and a dummy pack and the whole thing would be lighter. For those times you only want to bash out 10-15km.

 

[StuR]

Saw this article from battery manufacturer BMZ a few months ago
No definitive dates or answers , but it sounds like better batteries arnt to far away
The future of ebike batteries according to Germany's BMZ | Ebike portal

 

[Kiwi in Wales]

Saw this article from battery manufacturer BMZ a few months ago
No definitive dates are answers , but it sounds like better batteries arnt to far away
The future of ebike batteries according to Germany's BMZ | Ebike portal

Really interesting info in the article ? I jumped on to the BMZ website and they have a number of cells available including the 18650 and 21700. The highest output is a 5Ah 21700 so this is looking good for very high capacity ebike battery. It also looks like they are developing an ebike motor which looks very very similar to a Brose.

Thanks @StuR

 

[Doomanic]

I found this from Feb ‘17 while googling BMZ do the idea isn’t exactly new, it’s just taking some time to filter through.

BMZ’s E-Bike Super Batteries with 3Tron Cells Coming - Bike Europe