Range of an e-bike is the biggest topic of discussion while purchasing an e-bike (or any electric vehicle for that matter). We come across numerous questions around battery life, battery range, battery performance on daily basis. In this post, we try to answer some of these questions with facts that might help readers make a more informed decision & reduce their anxiety.
Increase Range & Life of your E bike or electric bicycle on Indian roads
OMO BikesE bike or electric bicycles range depends on
1) Voltage and Ah reading of your battery
3) Weight of rider
4) Direction of wind
5) Road condition
6) Air in your tires
7) How you ride your
E bike and charge your battery
While first 6 parameters can be adjusted while manufacturing to optimum value, riding style affects the battery performance to immensely. And, hence, an efficient riding style can increase your battery range & life drastically.
Pro Tip: Keep your battery charged to full whenever possible
It is advisable to keep you lithium ion battery to full charge whenever possible. Using E bike with fully charged or half charged makes a lot of difference as the compared to fully discharge battery. The claimed range of OMO E bikes (300-350 charging cycles, where each cycle gives 40-45 km range) is around ~12,000 km which is assuming you are discharging battery to full every time you ride but you can increase the battery life if you charge as per research done in University of lithium ion battery
Pro Tip : Use Pedal as well, when you are accelerating.
When you are accelerating from zero, your motor consumes maximum power & then lowers to a constant when you attain a speed. Instead or using full throttle, it is advisable to use provide a small pedal push along with throttle. Just like you push your cycle a little with your foot while pedaling. Just this practice would help you attain a range e bike/electric bicycle range close to theoretical value.
Pro Tip : Do not drain your battery completely and leave it for long time
Draining your E bike battery completely and that too for a long time would show effect on overall ion configuration inside lithium cell which will result in lower life and low range. Keeping it fully drain, As per the research mentioned above ( image from attachment "So the most advisable and practical scenario(since u can't charge every 2 km)to increase the life of OMO E bike is to charge it after every 20-30 km of ride(50-25% of usage)
Pro Tip: Use Throttle Judiciously
It is advised to slow down and leave your accelerator if you know you are going to stop on traffic light or heavy traffic. Instead of using max throttle & then braking at last moment. This should be done not because your motor consume battery while going at low speed, instead it's done not to waste your battery when you are going too slow which you can also pedal like normal bicycle.
Pro Tip: Use branded lithium ion cells only
These days a lot of companies provide lithium ion cells and in this market you would find some local poor quality lithium cells as well. These are slightly cheaper than branded ones but the range & other performance parameters of branded lithium ion cell like LG, Samsung and Panasonic is higher than unbranded cell under same condition.
Pro Tip: Use auto cutoff Charger
Keeping your lithium ion battery at high voltage even after it's fully charged could result in short life. These days lithium ion battery comes with BMS which auto cuts off the power when the cells are fully charged. But we at OMO Bikes provide an auto cut off charger as well so your battery won't get over charged even 1% making it safe even if you leave your battery for charging over night without any worry.
Pro Tip: Do not keep your fully charged battery at high temperature
Depending on weather conditions and charging, you battery life can be affected over the period of time. Considering average Indian temperature above between 25 degree. Your battery life will be reduced by around 20% each year. We can not make an exact figure as the research only show data about fully charged battery and you would be using it to consume and charge according. But be sure to assume a yearly reduction of at least 20% of your battery life.
Battery is the most critical & expensive part of an e bike. With proper information & little care, batteries can last tens of thousands of kilometers / 4-5 years. We at OMO bikes make sure you get best product & keep our riders updated on how to make their rides better.
Ride More!