OK this is another rambling newbie post of mine but I naively/stupidly learnt a big valuable lesson about my battery yesterday.
Was keen to find out what the range really was on my cheap unbranded Chinese battery 48v 20ah, as I said I'd gotten 41 miles from a fairly hilly, mainly off road ride using predominantly Eco level 2 and I had 32% battery left on display and still 1 of 4 green lights on battery itself
In my head that meant that I had about 60 miles range maximum if I used level 1 on the road and level 2 when needed on hilly off road sections. It was cold, 2 degrees yesterday but had been the same on my 40 mile ride. Anyway attempted a 59 mile ride up into the Peak District with a lot of steep hills.
Got to 42 miles and with the battery at around 25% it quickly started giving me less assistance, and quickly plummeted down to 15% - and from then it was like peddling in treacle, quickly giving me no assistance at all. Anyway I managed to limp home the last 17 miles by a combination of putting the level to 0 when on the flat and downhill, and the battery level would slowly creep up to 20% so I could use level 1 sparingly just to get me up any inclines. There is definitely quite a bit of resistance when peddling at 0 or with the battery turned off, it is hard going on the flat but even the slightest incline is indeed like treacle.
I presume it is the batteries management system kicking in to protect the battery, is this behaviour about right at the % I mention? Also is there any of the battery calibration settings that I can play around with - again am presuming it is the LowCutVoltage setting (in my case 39.0v) which sets the cut off point for my battery?
Would a battery with the more expensive branded Samsung, LG or Panasonic cells behave in the same way or would they give me a bit more help when battery level dipped below 25%? I don't want to damage the battery and would always try and not let it go below 20% but there may be occasions when I overshoot and would be good to know if there are any adjustments I could make when out on a ride
If it helps these were the values I was recommended to put in for my 48v battery (ignore the 36v)
Battery | 36V | 48V |
0% | 30.0 | 39.0 |
20% | 32.2 | 41.9 |
40% | 34.4 | 44.7 |
60% | 36.6 | 47.6 |
80% | 38.8 | 50.4 |
100% | 41.0 | 53.3 |