Fuel EXe Trek fuel exe range extender battery availability?

[Mteam]

Went for first ride with the range extender today, just to check its all working fine. All was good, I noticed that when the range extender runs out of juice the motor stops assisting for maybe 3 seconds while the main battery comes online, then normal service is resumed.

 

[Psythepie]

Went for first ride with the range extender today, just to check its all working fine. All was good, I noticed that when the range extender runs out of juice the motor stops assisting for maybe 3 seconds while the main battery comes online, then normal service is resumed.

I found the same, unfortunately it happened on a turbo setting steep climb!

 

[DethWshBkr]

I just ordered a Fuel ExE, and asked about a range extender. I was told it would be mid September. Seems like it's a continual pushback....

 

[Mteam]

I just ordered a Fuel ExE, and asked about a range extender. I was told it would be mid September. Seems like it's a continual pushback....

I think it varies from shop to shop,for example blazing bikes have stock right now

Trek Fuel EXe Range Extender Battery

TQ HPR Range Extender Battery for the 2023 Trek Fuel EXe Range 160 watt-hour external battery that extends the range of your Trek Fuel EXe for even more riding.

www.blazingbikes.co.uk

 

[Swingset]

Anywhere but the US.

 

[Cell4soul]

Email received from my LBS, my full 360 wh spare battery is ready to pick up. Looking forward to some 50 mile rides.

 

[Cell4soul]

Did my first ride with 2 full batteries today. I put in 35 miles and 4,000’. The second battery still had 33%. The bike should be good for 40 miles and 5,000’. My only complaint about the Fuel EXe was the range. I no longer have that complaint. As far as assist levels on this ride, I used the following:

Eco: 0%
Trail: 15%
Boost: 85%

I carried the battery in the Evoc pack. I thought for sure the weight would be an issue. It was not an issue; I didn’t notice the weight at all. The pack does get lighter as you go, every liter of water drank is 2.2 pounds. Personally, the range extender is a waste of money given the whole battery is only $150 more and it has more than double the range of the extender. The battery only took a few minutes to swap on the trail.

I am really stoked on this setup. The bike is dead silent and so natural to pedal. The EXe is the best lightweight EMTB on the market. It also appears to have the most reliable motor. 1,000 miles on mine with zero issues.

 

[BenQ77]

Hello, do I need additional screws for the retaining strap (for the range extender) or are they included?
If not, what screws do I need?

 

[Psythepie]

Unfortunately you will require some screws as bizarrely they aren't included with the strap. I'm afraid I can't tell what size as my LBS had a rummage in the back of the workshop & found some that fitted.

 

[Mteam]

Hello, do I need additional screws for the retaining strap (for the range extender) or are they included?
If not, what screws do I need?

people on the fuel exe facebook group reckon they are m4 x 6mm screws, apparently the same as what are used in lock on grips - although I guess they could vary depending on the type of lock on grip.

I cant confirm that as I just found some that fitted in my parts drawer

 

[JP-NZ]

Personally, the range extender is a waste of money given the whole battery is only $150 more and it has more than double the range of the extender. The battery only took a few minutes to swap on the trail.

I think the RE does have a place, over here in NZ where we have two islands, if I want to do some MTB riding in the north the best way would be to take the bike and fly. You can fly with an RE in carry on (160wh) but you can't fly with the normal battery. Thats about the only positive I see to it apart from being able to carry on the bike.

Good to hear the 2nd battery works well though! What Evoc bag are you using?

 

[Cell4soul]

Evoc FR Trail E-ride

FR TRAIL E-RIDE

The EVOC FR Trail E-Ride 20 mountain bike protection backpack is designed for e-bike use & has padded battery compartment, charging strap & control display.

evocsports.us

 

[farang]

I'm thinking of purchasing a full size battery instead of the range extender for the following reasons:

+ better value per Wh
+ 3-5 minutes to change out on trail or at the car. No special tools.
+ Longer range vs extender
+ Maintain stealthiness (the range extender, mainly the cable, is a dead give away)
+ 5.25gm per Wh (4.2lb)
+ still have use of water bottle cage
- must carry in a backpack

For those with a full-size spare battery, 2 questions:

1. Is the battery (body & connector) waterproof rated? If I carry it in the EVOC backpack and get rained on, will it be an issue? We sometimes have flash thunderstorms that roll through.
2. If the connector is not waterproof, I was thinking of using a snug rubber end cap to cover it but I'm also concerned about the battery's body being susceptible to water.

 

[Mteam]

I'm thinking of purchasing a full size battery instead of the range extender for the following reasons:

+ better value per Wh
+ 3-5 minutes to change out on trail or at the car. No special tools.
+ Longer range vs extender
+ Maintain stealthiness (the range extender, mainly the cable, is a dead give away)
+ 5.25gm per Wh (4.2lb)
+ still have use of water bottle cage
- must carry in a backpack

For those with a full-size spare battery, 2 questions:

1. Is the battery (body & connector) waterproof rated? If I carry it in the EVOC backpack and get rained on, will it be an issue? We sometimes have flash thunderstorms that roll through.
2. If the connector is not waterproof, I was thinking of using a snug rubber end cap to cover it but I'm also concerned about the battery's body being susceptible to water.

The battery itself is water resistant,so I wouldn't worry about it . The manual says it's ip67 rated.

 

[farang]

Thank you!

 

[mctubster]

Nice to know l have the extra range but I think I now want more. Working on a new design that uses 5000mah 21700 cells. It looks like I can fit the larger cells into the same same form factor. Maybe 10mm longer and of course 350 grams heavier. 260 Whr will let me run with my full fat buddies for the entire ride (me on max boost of course ).

Great design job there, love to know how you are going with the external pack, any issues and would you be able to share your STL files for any of your designs?

Cheers

 

[BuzzinHornets]

I ordered an EX-e today from a Trek branded shop and was told they have had the range extenders on back order for nearly a year, the newest date they have is Sept. 4. They have had zero communication as to what the issue is/has been. I’m going to hurry up and wait…

 

[RoktMyDog]

Lame AF trek gives no word on what's going on with the extenders UNavailability. Compared to my 2020 Levo SL, my Exe has easily 30% less range, making it the low end of ranges for the lightweight ebike class AND making the 2nd Gen levo SL look better and better.

 

[Swingset]

Well there used to be a Mitch from Trek that participated in these forums. Roman from TQ pulled out a while ago. Lets see if we can get Mitch to comment on this?

 

[Sharkiedog]

A US NorCal datapoint: I received my extender ~2 weeks ago, I believe it was the first received by my LBS.
and yes, the LBS didn’t realize that the M4x6 button head machine screws had to be ordered separately.

 

[farang]

For those with a full size battery (not range extender), I've found the perfect carrying case for it; even better than the battery case included with EVOC e-ride packs.

It's originally designed to carry 4 beer cans, which equate to the length of the TQ battery. It has waterproof zippers, insulated/padded, and has lots of configurable straps on every side. It's also very well made.

I think it's a pretty good price for what it is.

Orange

The STASHERS modular, insulated bags features a food-grade removable liner to safely carry fruit, snacks, ice, etc. Use the liner with the cans or remove the liner to carry cans with coozies on them. The strap design on the bags is a key feature - the wide, durable straps reach all the way...

getstashers.com

 

[Swingset]

Interesting turn of fortune yesterday. The dealer I bought the bike from 10 months ago called to say the range extender I ordered is in. I never ordered one from them but did from another dealer- same owner though. Told them to have it fully charged so that I can bring the bike in and plug it in to see if it throws and error code while I am there. Fingers crossed.

It is amazing to me that the shop guy is going over the order for over $700 and telling be that 4- 4mm screws are required and need to be ordered at extra cost on a product that is almost a year overdue. Poor form. I went out in the garage and found some that are better quality anyway.

Will advise on how this turns out.

 

[Cell4soul]

Interesting turn of fortune yesterday. The dealer I bought the bike from 10 months ago called to say the range extender I ordered is in. I never ordered one from them but did from another dealer- same owner though. Told them to have it fully charged so that I can bring the bike in and plug it in to see if it throws and error code while I am there. Fingers crossed.

It is amazing to me that the shop guy is going over the order for over $700 and telling be that 4- 4mm screws are required and need to be ordered at extra cost on a product that is almost a year overdue. Poor form. I went out in the garage and found some that are better quality anyway.

Will advise on how this turns out.

They will likely need to do a firmware update with both the battery and extender on the bike. They had to do that when I purchased my second battery.

 

[Swingset]

Picked it up yesterday. Bike threw an error code and a quick five minute firmware update cured that. Did a quick blast up
my home trail in Trail the whole time. 925 feet of climbing and 9 miles total (up and back) and went from 150% to 112% so never rinsed the RE. I was pondering the change over though. On the main battery it throttles the power back when you get below a certain percentage. On the RE it theoretically just goes to zero and does the change over to the main with no drop. Given that the main is 360W and the RE is 160w it seems like there are 20 extra watts protecting the RE from complete discharge that are not available. Just an observation.

This certainly opens up some rides where I was just on the wrong side of making it back.

 

[Mteam]

Picked it up yesterday. Bike threw an error code and a quick five minute firmware update cured that. Did a quick blast up
my home trail in Trail the whole time. 925 feet of climbing and 9 miles total (up and back) and went from 150% to 112% so never rinsed the RE. I was pondering the change over though. On the main battery it throttles the power back when you get below a certain percentage. On the RE it theoretically just goes to zero and does the change over to the main with no drop. Given that the main is 360W and the RE is 160w it seems like there are 20 extra watts protecting the RE from complete discharge that are not available. Just an observation.

This certainly opens up some rides where I was just on the wrong side of making it back.

I managed to get 2800 feet of climbing out of just the range extender the other day, I wanted to see how far it could go if I was really trying to make it last. This was with eco mode set to 50% assist with a max of 60watts, and only switching the motor on for any uphills. It wasn't much fun, but was still faster than my normal bike.

I don't think the range extender holds 20w in reserve to prevent damage to the battery, I think it just lets you run it down to zero percent (which is not the same as a fully flat battery) without limiting the power draw and be damned if that degrades the cells quicker.

 

[ragetty]

i wonder, if one hooks up a full 2nd battery like the RE, does the display show 200%?

 

[Swingset]

For years I was wondering why the auto makers just didn't have a series of $$$$ LED's on the dash for the check engine lights. Oil change gets a $, blown tranny $$$$.

Same scheme for the battery indication the EXe?

 

[socal_rider]

I cancelled my range extender order today. LBS said they’ve been pushed again to January. I bought a base carbon Levo which came with a 500 Wh and 700 Wh battery. If that’s not enough for me I’ll just buy a moto.

 

[Swingset]

I have nearly the same amount of money in my Husky FE350......

 

[Mteam]

Just a quick note to say that I took my fuel exe on a plane from manchester, uk to southern spain over the weekend, I left the main battery at home, and just took the range extender battery in my hand luggage.

The bike with battery removed went through the oversized luggage scanner with no issues, and onto the plane (flew with ryanair)

When I got to the security check at manchester I emptied out my rucksack of all the usual electronics, drone, steamdeck etc including the 160wh range extender battery, so it could all go through the scanners. My tray with the range extender battery got diverted off for a more detailed investigation, the security bloke said the scanner had flagged up the battery as suspicious , he asked me what it was, I told him it was a battery for an ebike, he then gave it all back to me and I was on my way. On the way back from spain I didnt get stopped at all.

The RE worked well, I had to turn the assistance right down to get the range I needed on some of the more pedally days, but it did exactly as I expected. The trip was mostly van uplifted with a small amount of pedalling, the biggest day was about 3000 vertical feet of pedalling (10000 feet descent), the range extender managed this with 6% left, I only turned the motor on for the uphills, on the flats and downs it was off. Most days were 1500-2000 feet of pedalling, with 10000 feet descent.