Anyone have experience with 3rd party range extenders for Shimano EP801, or, even better, experience putting one on a Moterra SL?

[TheKaiser]

I'm looking at getting a new, lightish, but still full power e-bike, and the Moterra SL is in the running. The 1 hesitation I have is that Cannondale does not seem to have made any provision for a range extender on this bike. In my opinion, this 600wh battery is a great way to keep the bike light, and will cover most rides, but having the option of a range extender is key for making it the whole package for big days out with a lot of vert. Also, I know the stock battery is a Darfon, not a Shimano, so not sure how much that will alter the options compared to a bike with a full Shimano motor/battery system. So, my questions are:
1. The Orbea Rise has a range extender available that apparently works with its EP801. Is there any chance that the Orbea range extender would work on other EP801 based bikes like the Moterra SL?
2. Digging through the forum, I have seen there are 3rd party range extenders manufacturers that claim Shimano compatibility, including Epic e-Bikes in Australia (Shimano Trail eXtender Bottle Batteries), Hexagon 360 in Italy (Range Extender "Hexagon 360" - 10Ah 360Wh) and Trailwatts in the UK/US (Focus Ebike 252wh Booster Pack). Do any of you folks have experience with using them on an EP801 bike, and in particular, and EP801 bike with a Darfon battery.
3. Are there any options that I am missing, that could be well suited to the task of adding a couple hundred watt hours to the Moterra SL? Unfortunately, the battery is not removable without pulling the motor, so simply purchasing a 2nd battery isn't a comparable option to a range extender.

I'd be happy to receive responses either from riders with knowledge or manufacturers who are active here on this forum like @TrailwattsUK

Thanks in advance for any assistance! I am really hoping that there is someone filling in the gap that Cannondale has left with this bike.

 

[Winford]

I would not be happy with a 600 w battery, and then if you are asking how to piggy back more on it. Why not just buy a 900w bike

I have a 900w on an ep801 and I literally drain it empty almost every day, Im ready for second battery so I can stay out longer.

 

[TheKaiser]

I would not be happy with a 600 w battery, and then if you are asking how to piggy back more on it. Why not just buy a 900w bike

I have a 900w on an ep801 and I literally drain it empty almost every day, Im ready for second battery so I can stay out longer.

Yeah, I hear ya man. I have a friend riding an Evil with an EP801 with a 750wh battery. He let me take his bike out for a 7-8mile lap, with maybe 1000ft of climbing. When he gave it to me it only had 60% charge, so that should be about 450wh. He thought that would be more than enough juice, but he normally runs it on a low power setting, whereas I'm inclined to have some fun in Turbo mode, turning uphills into downhills, and I actually fully drained that battery before the end of that 7-8mi lap, which luckily finished with a descent, so I was on purely meat power for the last couple miles of the ride. If I'm going to be on an e-bike, I'd like to be able to really have some fun dicing it up out there, rather than just having a gentle helping hand on the steepest terrain, so that kind of gave me pause in regards to committing to a bike with lower power capacity.

I see guys who have bikes with huge batteries like Norco offers, and I see guys with easily swappable batteries who have 2 batteries and change them out mid-ride, and I see guys who have range extenders for big rides, all of which seem like workable solutions to me, although each has its pros and cons. The thing is, a bike is not just a battery, so I'm trying to balance my desire for battery capacity with liking the rest of the bike, and the bike having reasonable pricing, and so it's tough to find something that tics all the boxes. The Cannondale is a sweet handling bike with great reviews, at a reasonable price, so having the option of a range extender would really make it the whole package. The older Norcos, for example, that have 900wh batteries available, are like 15lbs heavier, with less refined suspension, and don't seem like they're as fun to ride. The new 2025 Norcos on the other hand, might be a good way to go, with 800wh and the ability to take a range extender, but the pricing isn't as good as the Cannondale, and they're not as readily available yet. The Ibis Oso has 750wh with easily swappable batteries, with pricing that is suddenly much more competitive, so that could be an option too, although it is heavier, and uses a Bosch CX Gen 4 whereas the Norco is now Gen 5. So to put it simply, none of these options are perfect, which is why I'm exploring options to minimize their shortcomings.

 

[Winford]

and don't seem like they're as fun to ride

You might be mistaken, my canyon spectral cf8 with a 900 is getting a ton of trophies on strava and kom's in the endurance capitol of the world. The bike is fun as hell, and the weight gives you more stability down hills. I have some great runs up rocky technical sections as well. I guess once you get sed to a 900, there is no way a 750 would ever fit the bill. Right now i am getting ready to try 1500w - 1800w a day. It took a year of riding 25-30 miles every day to get in good enough shape to want to add more miles, without killing yourself.

 

[Amber Valley Guy]

On a Shimano display the 5 battery bars do not show increments of 20% as logic would dictate. If 2 bars have gone (and just changed from one to now showing two bars gone) the battery is already 55-60% discharged. So at best you had approx 40% battery left to play with, maybe less.
My own findings on a Shimano battery are (from fully charged)
1st bar 33% battery used
2nd bar another 25% used
3rd bar another 20% used
4th bar another 15% used
And finally the 5th bar means you only have about 7% power in reserve.

If as you say, presumed you had 60% battery left on your friends bike (2 bars gone on the display) , you might of had anywhere from 60-40% charge left in Shimano terms. Or in real world terms 42% best or 22% at worst.
I suspect your friends bike was nearer the 22% power remaining mark, when you went for a ride and then you used full power and drained the battery, classic mistake.

 

[TheKaiser]

On a Shimano display the 5 battery bars do not show increments of 20% as logic would dictate. If 2 bars have gone (and just changed from one to now showing two bars gone) the battery is already 55-60% discharged. So at best you had approx 40% battery left to play with, maybe less.
My own findings on a Shimano battery are (from fully charged)
1st bar 33% battery used
2nd bar another 25% used
3rd bar another 20% used
4th bar another 15% used
And finally the 5th bar means you only have about 7% power in reserve.

If as you say, presumed you had 60% battery left on your friends bike (2 bars gone on the display) , you might of had anywhere from 60-40% charge left in Shimano terms. Or in real world terms 42% best or 22% at worst.
I suspect your friends bike was nearer the 22% power remaining mark, when you went for a ride and then you used full power and drained the battery, classic mistake.

That is interesting insight into the battery meter, thank you for sharing it. I know there is some variation in the motor and display between different Shimano motor generations, and different bike brands using the motors. For example, my friend's Evil has 7 power level settings (which seems a little excessive to me) whereas another buddy with a Santa Cruz Bullit has 3 or 4 and the Moterra SL has 4 power levels. Also, there is variation in which display and controller setup bike brands are using. Do you know if any Shimano motor equipped bikes can display an actual percentage, or are they all limited in the way you describe?

Just curious, as I understand that if a brand is using solely a top tube single button controller, with no proper "display", then a 5 bar meter might be all you can really do, but for bikes with handlebar mounted mini displays it seems like it shouldn't be that difficult to provide something more precise with greater fidelity.

 

[timo2824]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you're wanting to ride 20+ miles in boost, just buy a dirt bike. We need more crossover to increase the amount of single track trails we have on the motorcycle side.

 

[TheKaiser]

You might be mistaken, my canyon spectral cf8 with a 900 is getting a ton of trophies on strava and kom's in the endurance capitol of the world. The bike is fun as hell, and the weight gives you more stability down hills. I have some great runs up rocky technical sections as well. I guess once you get sed to a 900, there is no way a 750 would ever fit the bill. Right now i am getting ready to try 1500w - 1800w a day. It took a year of riding 25-30 miles every day to get in good enough shape to want to add more miles, without killing yourself.

Yeah man, I didn't mean to diss bigger battery and (slightly) heavier bikes. I had a ton of fun on a Turbo Levo that I spent a week with, and it weighs just about the same as your bike. Your setup sounds ideal with the quick swappable batteries, and it sounds like you are a perfect use case showing why that can be so valuable. In a perfect world, I'd want all these bikes to be able to take different size batteries, and have them be quickly swappable, so they could be easily customized based on the rider's needs, or swapped out mid-ride as it sounds like you are doing, for all day fun. How many feet/meters of vert are you doing when you go through that 900wh battery?

I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you're wanting to ride 20+ miles in boost, just buy a dirt bike. We need more crossover to increase the amount of single track trails we have on the motorcycle side.
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I see where you're coming from man, and I actually tried going that route about 20-25yrs ago, at that time because I was thinking it would be a good replacement for lift served DH riding. I know a lot of people may roll their eyes at this, but not having grown up on motorcycles, I actually had a lot of trouble dealing with the reversed front brake when compared to pedal bikes. Plus, I found all my normal body english developed on pedal bikes had little effect on a 200lb moto. I know that can all be overcome with practice, but I was hoping for more skill crossover. I still have a fantasy of building up a super light moto, with a thumb throttle rather than a grip, clutchless transmission, and reversed brakes, but the thing about e-mtb that is so appealing is that it is basically 100% the same skills as the MTB riding I know and love, just with a little extra pizzaz.