The Five Most Asked Questions About Electric Bike Range and Battery Life
- How far can you ride on a charge?
- What are the best long-range electric bikes?
- How can I increase the distance I can ride on a charge?
- How can I maximise the lifespan of my ebike battery?
- When should I charge my ebike battery?
1. How Far Can You Ride on a Charge?
By far the most common question we get is “How far can you ride on a charge?” In other words, if my battery is fully charged, what distance can I expect to be able to ride before it is empty and needs recharging?
Of course, there is no single answer to this question, as it depends on a number of factors, including:
- Are you riding on paved or unpaved surfaces?
- Are you riding on flat to moderately hilly terrain, or on steeper terrain?
- How well do you know how to operate the mechanical gears on your ebike? (Most ebikes have a combination of 8-10 mechanical gears, plus up to five levels of pedal-assist from the motor).
- How much leg energy are you using? Your legs have around 200 watts of continuous power, while most ebike motors deliver 250-300 watts of continuous power. Looking at this another way, there’s just about as much power in your legs as there is in the motor, but how well do you use that leg power? (Learn about watts and torque here.)
- Are you mostly using lower levels of pedal-assist (motor assistance), or are you using higher levels of assistance much of the time? (The more work the motor is doing, the faster you will drain your battery.)
With these caveats, here is a general formula you can use to calculate electric bike distance per charge:
- An average ebike rider will use around 7.5 watt-hours of battery power per kilometre when riding on paved, gently undulating surfaces. So, if the ebike you’re considering has a 500 watt-hour battery, then you can expect to get around 66 kilometres on a fully charged battery;
- An average ebike rider will use around 12 watt-hours of battery power per kilometre when riding on steeper, off-road trails. So, the 500 watt-hour battery would deliver around 42 kilometres of range in these conditions.
So, to get a rough idea of how far you’ll be able to ride on a charge, find out the size of the battery (in watt-hours) and then use the formulas above.
2. What are The Best Long-Range Electric Bikes?
- The bigger the battery, the further you will be able to ride on a charge. So, if you plan on long trail rides, opt for an electric bike with a 600 watt-hour battery, or larger. (MeloYelo trail bikes have 630 watt-hour batteries).
- If you’re going to be doing a lot of longer-range, off-road trail rides that involve reasonably hilly conditions, then choose an electric bike with a mid-drive motor. In steeper conditions with lots of twists and turns, a mid-drive motor will be about 20% more efficient than a hub-drive motor.
- Choose an electric bike that uses a torque sensor to define the amount of motor power being delivered. A torque sensor rewards more leg pressure on the pedals, with more motor power. And, if you’re applying a good amount of leg pressure, then you will be helping to maximise the distance you can ride. Here’s an example:
Three athletic ladies, all over the age of 65, rode MeloYelo ebikes from North Cape to Bluff – 3000kms on Tour Aotearoa. Towards the end of the journey, one of these ladies was able to ride 95 kilometres and only use ¼ of her battery power. Which brings us to the next question:
3. How Can I Increase the Distance I can Ride on a Charge?
The harder your electric bike motor has to work, the more battery power it consumes. So, what can you do that will make life easier for your motor?
- Know how to use your mechanical gears. Shift down into a lower mechanical gear before the pedaling gets too hard. Only after you’re in a lower mechanical gear should you boost your motor power. And, when you reach the crest of a hill, be sure and shift your motor assist back down to a lower level.
- When you’re riding on flat terrain, consider riding your ebike with no motor assist. On MeloYelo ebikes, this simply means shifting to “Level 0” on the display. And, unlike some ebikes, MeloYelo ebikes are easy to pedal, even with the motor set at zero assistance.
- Maintain a good “cadence.” Cycling cadence varies widely from rider to rider, and in different situations. Generally, a good cadence in cycling is between 80-100 rpm. Beginner cyclists often pedal rather slowly, around 60-85 rpm. Racers and more experienced hobbyists usually average between 75-95 rpm, and pros can sustain over 100 rpm. Different cadences make different physiological demands on the body. Low cadences require more force to be exerted in each pedal stroke, placing a greater burden on the muscular system, while high cadences typically involve less force per pedal stroke. If you’re putting less force on the pedals, then less motor power will be consumed, increasing the distance you can ride on a charge.
4. How can I Maximise the Lifespan of My ebike Battery?
Ebike batteries are expensive – it can cost $1000 or even more to replace a battery. So, what are some good practices to follow when charging and storing my electric bike battery?
- Don’t charge your battery after every ride. I follow this same process with my cell phone. I don’t automatically plug it in to charge every night. Instead, I look at the charge level at the end of the day, and see if I can make it through another day without charging. This helps lengthen the useful life of my phone’s battery.
- Consider charging your battery to around 80%, versus 100%. Obviously, if you’re planning a long ride then you want your battery fully charged, but charging it to just 80% sometimes, will increase the lifespan of your battery.
5. When Should I Charge my ebike Battery?
You should charge your electric bike battery in the following situations:
- If you’ll be riding it within the next 24-48 hours
- If it’s getting down to around 30% full
- If it’s been sitting idle for a few weeks. Try not to leave it for more than a month before giving it a charge.
Conclusion
- Do your own math to calculate (very roughly) the distance you can expect to ride on a charge – regardless of which brand of ebike you’re looking at. Find out the size of the battery in watt-hours (e.g. 630 watt-hours), then divide that by 7.5 for town riding, or by 12 for back-country riding. In this example, you’d expect to achieve around 84 kms riding around town, or 53 kms riding on back-country trails.
- Learn how to operate your ebike efficiently. (MeloYelo agents are very good at coaching you on this.)
- Look after your battery – it’s the most expensive component on your ebike.
