Battery

[ness55]

Hi I’m new to my electric bike and this forum, so sorry if this is a repeat of previous threads. I have just brought a Carrara subway e bike from Halfords. I love it so far, but seem to only manage to get 20 miles out of a fully charged battery. Today I’ve been out and kept it in tour mode till the last mile than popped it into sport to go up a long hill. I weigh approx 13st and the ride was a mix of flat, downhill and gradual uphills. For the last 1/2 mile the bike went into eco mode.
I expected the battery to last further? Do I need to ask Halfords for a new battery or am I expecting too much?
Any advice welcome, thank you

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

It does vary a lot based on how much effort you put in yourself.

SOme cheaper ebikes (like the subway - I know it is >£1000 but.....) can tend to see that the pedals are moving and take that as enough evidence to deliver power. More expensive ebikes have better systems and look at the torque (i.e. how much pressure you put on the pedals) and use that to add somem# power - so if you press less hard the motor helps you less. The cheaper ones are not so sensitive so if you spin the pedals at a certain speed then you get full power without any real effort
On one of those bikes it can be quite difficult to stop the bike delivering power when you don't need it!!
I tend to find that this can sometimes only be stopped by riding close to - and edgeing over at times - the motor cutoff speed. This should be 15.5 mph but tends to vary a bit - having a speedometer can help here.


Also - and more importantly - if the bike has been in storage for some time before you took delivery then the battery may not be in great shape. The batteries do not like being left unused to long periods of time - so there may be a problem.
On that note I would contact Halfords and tell then about the very low range ASAP. If only to register that there might be a problem so in the future they can't say the bike is too old now or that you have not stored the battery properly after a year or so.
Remember that Halfords stores vary a lot - some appear to be great - some not so much. And some have a great technician - but if that specific person is not in then the rest are not as good. So make sure the store manager knows about the possible problem.
If you get lucky they may replace the battery???


Anyway - register the problems and see what they say - in the meantime read the user guide and make sure that you follow the battery care instruction fully - it may help.

WHatever happens - keep us informed - it may help others to know how you get on

Good luck - and enjoy riding!!

 

[cyberknight]

description says approx 40 miles , assuming its new i would take it back half isn't approx

 

[fossyant]

There are a few folk on here who have one of the Carreras

@Drago can let you know what mileage he gets and he's a 'man mountain' !

My dad is looking to get one very soon.

 

[Drago]

Im a big heavy laddie and the quickest ive emptied the battery to zero was 22 miles. More typically, using the modes more sensibly, 30-40 is about my norm, but I can eke that out further if being really niggardly with the electrons but it starts to take some serious brain and leg power to make thar happen.

When the display registers empty itll do a goodly few miles before it really is out of juice and stops working- if the bike has genuinely run out of electrons and will give no more assist at 20 miles then you've been trying very hard, but the fact that it is still running, albeit in a lower mode, would suggest it is not quite dry of juice.

One can't say for sure without riding it, but probably its fine. It is one of the smaller capacity batteries out there.

 

[gbb]

With OPs post in mind, I went out today on my Crossfire e with over 3000 miles on it (and its battery) and did 21 miles in Tour mode, occasionally upping to Climb mode. I started at 92%, finished with 37%...so 55% of the battery to do 21 miles. (I did occasionally and absentmindedly drop into eco mode...force of habit, my preferred assist level)
Simple (but not exact) extrapolation would be I should get around 40 miles in Tour mode. You wouldnt I suspect though, batteries do tend to drop quickly and significantly in the last 10% in my experience.

One question for OP, you say the battery was full ?....mine had just come off charge and was showing 5 bars, ie full..but the display showed 92%...that could be almost 10% loss straight away if you didnt read the actual level on screen. Obviously I hadn't charged it fully, possible you did the same ?

Either way, 20 miles sounds short at your levels of assist. I'd do a few more runs, see if the mileages achieved change.

It's worth noting, the way you ride your bike, particually what gear you're in for the particular terrain could make a big difference. I'm sure if we rode alongside on the same bikes, we'd perhaps end up with quite different answers.

 

[gbb]

That's a point, what capacity does the new Subway have ?.
It's ok, I just looked. My Crossfire is 417Kwh, the new subway is 317Kwh...there a big chunk gone right there.
20 miles maybe isnt so far off at those levels of assist.

 

[Drago]

Ive noticed as well a significant reduction in mileage in cold weather. Ive never gone as far as record keeping, but its in the order of 20%.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I noticed a reduction in range over the winter as well - I am hoping it will recover when we get to regular riding in warm weather

There is a cover I can get for the specific battery - I may get one for next winter

 

[iluvmybike]

Battery life depends on a number of things - the physical wattage of the battery,the mode you use, heavier riders will use more, as will riding uphill, into the wind, on muddy trails, amount of stop/start. The advertised 40 mile range will be in perfect conditions on flat terrain in Eco mode for an average size/wieght of rider. As soon as you add in the other factors batery life can plummet. It's a bit like the figures they use for fuel consumption for cars

 

[Zanelad]

Ive noticed as well a significant reduction in mileage in cold weather. Ive never gone as far as record keeping, but its in the order of 20%.

I'd say you're spot on. In summer i can get 5 round trips to work (110 miles) before charging the battery. Admittedly, the last ride home is a bit of a gamble, but I've done the big climb early into the journey. In winter it's 4 trips before plugging it into the mains.