Dual battery range test, completed!

[Altema]

Several have asked for a range test on my Rad mini with the new 52 volt dual batteries. I decided to test the range on each battery separately, simply because it would take about 5 hours of riding to deplete them both. For part one, I tested the Joyisi 52 volt, 20 aH battery which mounts to a plate in my rear rack. This was a near-worst case scenario on purpose. Throttle only with the pedal assist turned off, speeds between 15 and 20 mph, wind so strong that I wore the motorcycle helmet just to protect against flying debris and windburn, tire pressure set to a squishy 19 PSI, and climbing steep hills at 20mph. I also used cruise control a lot, which hurts battery life because it is always feeding some power to the system to keep the speedometer accurate, and it will crank up the power maintaining speed on every hill. I rode every last foot of paved bike trail in three interconnected Metroparks, and spent most of my time in the one with the most hills. Oh, and I used my display USB port to charge my rearview camera display, and it drew enough power to make the USB cable warm.

The results of this throttle only test was 44.56 miles.

It could have been longer, but blasting up steep hills draws a lot of power. The controller finally cut power to the conroller before I made it back to my car, but since I had the other battery with me, I just turned off the low battery and turned on the other battery. Overall I'm pretty happy with the results, and am looking forward to testing the other battery as well for part 2. Stay tuned!

[jbfoster]

I don't think my butt could handle 44 mile ride. Maybe if I stopped along the way a few times I could. I do about 15 miles and my butt is starting to feel it and that is with the Cloud 9 seat. The Cloud 9 is better than stock but not that much better.

Jim

[Altema]

I don't think my butt could handle 44 mile ride. Maybe if I stopped along the way a few times I could. I do about 15 miles and my butt is starting to feel it and that is with the Cloud 9 seat. The Cloud 9 is better than stock but not that much better.

Jim

I have a suspension seat post to help out, and stood up on the pedals to give my butt a rest every so often. It was a very windy day, so I know standing up didn't help mileage, but oh well!

[Altema]

I completed testing today, much to the dismay of someone who had come over for the weekend to spend time with me. I did three more segments, starting out by doing 15 miles in the park with the worst hills, and doing the final 13 miles in areas with more moderate terrain, and the battery finally died on a lap around Willow Metropark. Almost made it back to the car, so that was nice. I realized a few miles in that I had the front suspension unlocked and set soft, but I'm not sure that makes a difference when going throttle only. I was hoping for a little more, but I pulled a few stunts which hurt the range, like stopping at the base of one of the steepest hills and powering up at full throttle, and holding it at top speed for a long run to distance myself from an analog biker who was trying to prove himself after I passed him 😉.

The total range for day one was 44.56 miles, and the total range for day two was a slightly disappointing 28.68 miles, bringing the grand total of throttle only range to 73.24 miles.