Battery range on 500wh not what I was hoping

[dobbyhasfriends]

picked up my Levo yesterday and took it out today, its a 2019 carbon comp (500wh)
done 24 miles and 800m of climbing, used eco and trail only with a few road sections with the motor off.
the battery was completely gone when I got back. The beacons is quite rough though, lots of it was baby head long grass..
is this normal range? I was expecting more..
are my settings to blame?

all that aside, what an amazing bike ! I was still riding my old enduro until today but thats probably the last time it gets a turn of the wheel..

 

[s90gav]

Ive got a 2019 Kenevo with the 500wh battery and most ive got is 31.5miles and 5400ft climbing and that was in eco 98% of the time and i finished the ride with bout 10% battery left

 

[dobbyhasfriends]

ill be getting an additional 700wh battery I reckon.. asap

 

[Rich-EMTB-UK]

Climbing the mode you are in and very importantly your weight can make big difference as well. Also how you ride if all in high gears with slow cadence then more battery power is used.

 

[RoedeOrm]

My range with 500wH is around 150km (93mi) and 2.500hm (8.200ft). Weight is 66kg (145lb). Cadence between 80-110. Mostly using Eco. On Singletracks I use the Trail mode. Nearly no use of Turbo.

 

[Doomanic]

My range with 500wH is around 150km (93mi) and 2.500hm (8.200ft)

That's insane! I'd need at least three batteries to match that!

 

[RoedeOrm]

This illustrates how different the energy consumption can be. And how difficult to compare. If I would use my Levo like my Motocrossbike I would expect to run out of "fuel" after an hour riding or so.

 

[dobbyhasfriends]

Climbing the mode you are in and very importantly your weight can make big difference as well. Also how you ride if all in high gears with slow cadence then more battery power is used.

This was my first ride on an ebike of any kind.
I have to admit that on a normal bike im more of a grinder than a spinner and I found it difficult to get used to the power delivery at first. after a while I learned the kind of modulation you have to do up slippery climbs etc and made a few changes to the power settings to lower the outputs.

so I have had to change the way I ride already with pedal power modulation.. my body position has had to change as well, the way I move around on the bike had to change..

Im also 95kg without kit, I usually take a camelbak with 2-3 litres of water plus some tools so im well over 100kg when riding..

overall I loved it, I laughed like an emptying drain on the first long climb.. fantastic

 

[Zimmerframe]

My range with 500wH is around 150km (93mi) and 2.500hm (8.200ft). Weight is 66kg (145lb). Cadence between 80-110. Mostly using Eco. On Singletracks I use the Trail mode. Nearly no use of Turbo.

Is that descending 2500m over 150km's ??

 

[apac]

My range with 500wH is around 150km (93mi) and 2.500hm (8.200ft). Weight is 66kg (145lb). Cadence between 80-110. Mostly using Eco. On Singletracks I use the Trail mode. Nearly no use of Turbo.

Did you forget to turn the battery on?

 

[118]

grinder

That's an altogether different kind of 'range' surely..?!

 

[dobbyhasfriends]

That's an altogether different kind of 'range' surely..?!

isnt that 'grindr' - not that I would know of course..

so whats the in word for the guys that grind out the bigger gears

 

[outerlimits]

In Turbo 100%, I’ll get 18 miles and 600m climbing from a 460wh battery. That’s spinning 70rpm average hauling 110kg.
Cadence, weight, tyres, tyre pressure, trail surface and weather all play a part in your power consumption.

 

[Flatslide]

Different bike to yours entirely, but this is a ride over the top of a local hill and back on a 25°C day. I weigh just under 90kg geared up. Bike is Powerplay Altitude. 60% of this was road (tarmac and metal), and mode was mostly Trail-60% assist. Not sure why the app didn't record the cadence.

 

[RoedeOrm]

Did you forget to turn the battery on?

No! But to come to those numbers I only use the power to substitute the Levos weight and if my heart rate goes above 90% of HRmax (THX to BLEvo App). As a result I am much fitter on top of the hill but not much faster than with my normal Trailbike.

 

[NZ Levo Rider]

Im also 95kg without kit, I usually take a camelbak with 2-3 litres of water plus some tools so im well over 100kg when riding..

overall I loved it, I laughed like an emptying drain on the first long climb.. fantastic

I'm a similar weight, and I was really disappointed with the 500wh battery. I was getting around 35km and about 1200m of climbing. Got the larger battery and I haven't drained it yet.

I had problems pretty early on with my 500wh battery, and it needed replacing after only a month (got a 700wh replacement instead)... I wonder whether there's an issue with a batch of the 2019 batteries??

 

[Rusty]

With my 504Wh battery around Rotovegas I was getting a little over 40km with around 620m climbing. That is mostly in Eco with maybe 2km use of Trail dispersed between 10 or so chort climbs.
Haven't had a chance to ride that loop since I got the 700Wh but on the Waikato River Trail I was dialled back to 15/25 and 30/50 - after 75km & 1285m climbing I still had 12% battery remaining. Again mostly Eco with Trail on some climbs - maybe 3km. I did use Turbo 3 or 4 times for perhaps 250-300m. On the same trail riding my Scott with the Shimano e8000 and 504Wh I got around 43-45km before flat.

 

[Basy]

I finished the Epic at Mt Buller (Australia) on one Shimano 500wh battery. Zero bars by the time I got back to the carpark at the bottom. Trip was about 45km's with fair bit of climbing before the final decent. I was probably about 110kg's kitted up at the time and super unfit but used eco 90% of the way.

 

[CjP]

I finished the Epic at Mt Buller (Australia) on one Shimano 500wh battery. Zero bars by the time I got back to the carpark at the bottom. Trip was about 45km's with fair bit of climbing before the final decent. I was probably about 110kg's kitted up at the time and super unfit but used eco 90% of the way.

View attachment 21354

I done the epic trail on my 2019 Kenevo and got back with 26%.
How good was the Epic trail!

 

[davarello]

For me the keys to maximum range on my Levo are turning down the ECO so it basically accounts for the weight of the bike (20% in my case) and making sure when climbing I use all the low gears before increasing the assistance on steeper bits. However if it's just a short ride, I'm more likely to put it in Trail most of the ride with spurts of Turbo for fun.

 

[Chubba]

picked up my Levo yesterday and took it out today, its a 2019 carbon comp (500wh)
done 24 miles and 800m of climbing, used eco and trail only with a few road sections with the motor off.
the battery was completely gone when I got back. The beacons is quite rough though, lots of it was baby head long grass..
is this normal range? I was expecting more..
are my settings to blame?

all that aside, what an amazing bike ! I was still riding my old enduro until today but thats probably the last time it gets a turn of the wheel..

what settings are you using?

It doesn't sound right in my opinion, you should be getting at least 1200m - 1500m on a ride and between 45-55kms.

My mate is 115kg on a 2019 Turbo Levo with 500w and that what he gets. Example below of a ride we did a few weeks back and he used eco most and trail a bit.

 

[galaga187]

This was my first ride on an ebike of any kind.
I have to admit that on a normal bike im more of a grinder than a spinner and I found it difficult to get used to the power delivery at first. after a while I learned the kind of modulation you have to do up slippery climbs etc and made a few changes to the power settings to lower the outputs.

so I have had to change the way I ride already with pedal power modulation.. my body position has had to change as well, the way I move around on the bike had to change..

Im also 95kg without kit, I usually take a camelbak with 2-3 litres of water plus some tools so im well over 100kg when riding..

overall I loved it, I laughed like an emptying drain on the first long climb.. fantastic

I’m similar weight but now getting longer distances I did one on Exmoor 32 miles 1000+m battery finished 10%. I was riding with friends on clockwork bikes so had the motor off for flat trails once moving and tuned assistance down on eco 15% and trail 27% for climbs. You will get better at getting more out of the battery as you get used to the bike.

 

[apac]

@dobbyhasfriends do a few cycles of the battery before concluding what range you are getting. I also find that cold weather affects the amount of capacity you get out of lithium cells of this type, and im sure its not that warm on the Beacons right now. Anyway, 24 miles sounds pretty good to me.

 

[JCB]

I am disappointed with the range of my 500wh battery also. Already ran out on 2 rides after 2h. I am told I need to ride in Eco most of the time, but the bike feels heavy in Eco, not fun.
I can't wait for the new Shimano battery, hopefully 700wh+

 

[Zimmerframe]

When I first started looking at getting an electric bike I wondered if it would, in the real world, actually have enough power to get up a single hill. I tried to imagine if I got one of my cordless drills and used it to drive a pulley and lift a 100kg weight, how far would it lift it .. probably not that far .. but with 5 or 6 batteries .. uhm .... yes, maybe a whole hill ...

So when I got the first one and found that, as I plodded around like a petrified granny, it would almost go 100km's - I was quite surprised.

As I got faster and rode harder, the range became less and less ..

Now I have a Kenevo and I sulk because I can only go 29km's and 1200m climb on Turbo ...

 

[CjP]

When I first started looking at getting an electric bike I wondered if it would, in the real world, actually have enough power to get up a single hill. I tried to imagine if I got one of my cordless drills and used it to drive a pulley and lift a 100kg weight, how far would it lift it .. probably not that far .. but with 5 or 6 batteries .. uhm .... yes, maybe a whole hill ...

So when I got the first one and found that, as I plodded around like a petrified granny, it would almost go 100km's - I was quite surprised.

As I got faster and rode harder, the range became less and less ..

Now I have a Kenevo and I sulk because I can only go 29km's and 1200m climb on Turbo ...

Glutton!

 

[Zimmerframe]

Glutton!

Louis Vuitton battery case .. good thinking ..

 

[CjP]

Louis Vuitton battery case .. good thinking ..

Don’t ever change Zimmer

 

[dobbyhasfriends]

what settings are you using?

It doesn't sound right in my opinion, you should be getting at least 1200m - 1500m on a ride and between 45-55kms.

My mate is 115kg on a 2019 Turbo Levo with 500w and that what he gets. Example below of a ride we did a few weeks back and he used eco most and trail a bit.

View attachment 21362

View attachment 21359

I was changing my settings throughout the ride as I found that - especially on trail mode, it was too much assist and on some occasions I felt that the bike was driving me along and not the other way around.. in fact, because ive always used clipless pedals and race shoes but converted to flats for this bike, i found that the impetus of the bike was catching me out and I would lose a foot from the pedal pretty frequently.

from memory:

ECO: 25-45
Trail: 45-80
Turbo: 100-100

 

[Zimmerframe]

Don’t ever change Zimmer

I might when I have my xmas shower .. Talking of which it's almost time to go and get completely soaked and covered in mud. It's 4c degrees - so perfect for keeping those brake disks cold for some ScReAM testing .. Would be a lot more fun if it was snow and not rain .. and a good time to test Spesh cold weather battery performance !