eZee Torq owners: What range are you getting from your battery?

[rsscott]

I'm currently commuting around 19 miles a day (round trip) on my Torq. At the moment i'm able to charge the battery only once a day although sometimes the red light starts to appear in the last mile or so of my journey so I guess i'm getting around 20 miles on a charge (give or take a bit of headwind etc). This is using the bike in full power mode.

What are other Torq riders getting?

 

[imellor]

The max I get is about 14 miles.
I wonder if your range is assisted by the fact that the battery gets a rest before the commute home as I have noticed the battery does seem to "recover" a little once rested.

Ian

I'm currently commuting around 19 miles a day (round trip) on my Torq. At the moment i'm able to charge the battery only once a day although sometimes the red light starts to appear in the last mile or so of my journey so I guess i'm getting around 20 miles on a charge (give or take a bit of headwind etc). This is using the bike in full power mode.

What are other Torq riders getting?

 

[flecc]

Torq range

Yes, Ian's right there. The Li-ion batteries do recover, the longer they rest the greater the recovery, except when they are nearing the end of charge when it seems they've gone too far to do that. On the other hand, when they're used hard initially from full charge as in hill climbing, they seem to have less range than when the hard work comes later in the journey. There's no doubt that Li-ion has many odd characteristics compared with previous battery types.

I get an average of 15 miles on the torq's Li-ions, though I can get more by putting in loads of effort. Seems to defeat the purpose of having an electric assist bike though, so I no longer bother, just doing only the exercise I want and letting the bike do the rest.

 

[rsscott]

I'm finding that I am getting slightly better range by going easy on the bike at the beginning of the journey. I stick to <= 18mph (3/4 throttle) for the first mile or so and on the return journey also making sure that the battery indicator stays on green during this time.

Having said all that, the last few days the outside temperature has dropped significantly overnight and the battery performance has dropped a little so it looks like I may have to charge up before before returning home again. Otherwise i'd have to drop the speed which I don't really want to do as this was the reason for upgrading to a Torq!

Funnily enough, today I kept the battery warm which helped. Perhaps we need an insulation jacket for the battery?

 

[imellor]

I'll 2nd the odd characteristics of the battery, after my post yesterday, I decided on an experiement.
My local pub is about two miles round trip, so I went to the pub at full speed and didn't pedal at all. I was in the yellow most of the time.
I repeated the same on the return journey which is a steady incline all the way, by the time I got home I was in the red.
It is normally this last incline part that forces the battery in the red after my 14 mile journey, which I take easier and also pedal.
In fairness to the bike for yesterday's 2 miles it was not a "full red" as after stopping for about a minute the indicator moved back to green.

Yes, Ian's right there. The Li-ion batteries do recover, the longer they rest the greater the recovery, except when they are nearing the end of charge when it seems they've gone too far to do that. On the other hand, when they're used hard initially from full charge as in hill climbing, they seem to have less range than when the hard work comes later in the journey. There's no doubt that Li-ion has many odd characteristics compared with previous battery types.

I get an average of 15 miles on the torq's Li-ions, though I can get more by putting in loads of effort. Seems to defeat the purpose of having an electric assist bike though, so I no longer bother, just doing only the exercise I want and letting the bike do the rest.

 

[aroncox]

Hmmm, I have an Ezee Torq Li-ion battery and I get a red light at around 8 or so miles, I haven't gone any further to see when it actually would run out. However I have delimited the speed and go full speed all the way without pedalling too much (pedal on the way home, not on the way to work).

 

[imellor]

So is your trip to work 8 miles there and 8 miles back or 4 miles there and 4 miles back? Are there any hills?

Hmmm, I have an Ezee Torq Li-ion battery and I get a red light at around 8 or so miles, I haven't gone any further to see when it actually would run out. However I have delimited the speed and go full speed all the way without pedalling too much (pedal on the way home, not on the way to work).

 

[Tony Youens]

I commute from Ripley to Nottingham which is around 15 miles (and another 15 going back). I feel that there is still a bit left in the Torq after that but I've not put it to the test. The red light appears briefly on my final hill. I recharge the battery when I arrive at work.

I did try it on the deregulated mode for a short distance but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't make the whole journey.

Of course there are a lot of variables to consider;
There are quite a few hills on my journey.
I pretty much peddle all the time - and make extra effort for hills.
I have two panniers which can vary in weight.
I weigh about 14st 9lbs (it was nearer 15st 9lbs when I started back in July).

If I was 11st 7lbs and lived in Holland (or perhaps Lincolnshire) I'd probably get more distance.

I was hoping a forum such as this would eventually appear. Marvellous.

Best to all,

Tony

 

[aroncox]

It's 8 miles each way, I have a charger at work so I charge the battery twice a day. No big hills, over London Bridge, and the next 10 minutes is up hill all the way, but it's not all that steep (or perhaps it is and i don;t notice because I'm 'cheating' ).

 

[imellor]

That makes me feel better, I thought I had a range problem, however I can do my parents return trip at nearly full speed, with a little peddling and that is 10 miles. I think the two miles+ pub trip is a little distorted due to the climb home.

It's 8 miles each way, I have a charger at work so I charge the battery twice a day. No big hills, over London Bridge, and the next 10 minutes is up hill all the way, but it's not all that steep (or perhaps it is and i don;t notice because I'm 'cheating' ).

 

[imellor]

I have been thinking about putting the speed restrictor link back for a while. I did so this morning and did my 10 mile return trip to my parents with the green light all the way, except for a hill where it went yellow. I certainly noticed the difference with the peddling, when I did pedal I noticed the effort required. It just goes to show how ineffective my peddling was at the higher speed.

I am going to keep the link in for the time being and see what affect it has on range.

Ian

snip

I did try it on the deregulated mode for a short distance but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't make the whole journey.

snip

Tony

 

[Jaytee]

I'm a complete Newbee to e-bikes and have just acquired a Torq. I notice that the indicator occasionally 'spikes' into the red, but returns to green very quickly. This happens mostly under real load going uphill. I'm still trying to get a range check, but I don't think the 25 miles + is really going to be achieved.

I get very bad vibration when using the front brake and the whole fork seems to vibrate. Is this normal or do I need to adjust something?

Also, is it best to completely exhaust the battery occasionally and then recharge, or just top it up as and when?

 

[rsscott]

Hi Jaytee, welcome aboard!

I too had the same vibration upon receipt of the Torq. Basically you have too much play in the headset which needs to be adjusted and tightened. I'll try and upload a photo to outline this over the weekend.

Our resident Guru, Flecc provided me with some useful information on the battery charge/discharge. With his permission, i'll repost it here?

I'm a complete Newbee to e-bikes and have just acquired a Torq. I notice that the indicator occasionally 'spikes' into the red, but returns to green very quickly. This happens mostly under real load going uphill. I'm still trying to get a range check, but I don't think the 25 miles + is really going to be achieved.

I get very bad vibration when using the front brake and the whole fork seems to vibrate. Is this normal or do I need to adjust something?

Also, is it best to completely exhaust the battery occasionally and then recharge, or just top it up as and when?

 

[flecc]

Yes, please do Russ, always copy any of my site information needed. Basically, always charge Li-ions as soon as possible after every little discharge as that makes them last longest. Fully discharging them can lead to substantial loss of capacity each year. NiMh are the other way round, best discharged before charging, but in any event it's best for them to be discharged at least once every few charges, or once a month if only used occasionally. This keeps the cells in balance, not necessary on the Li-ion.

My headstock also needed adjusting when received, but it's also worth checking if the rim is really clean since a film of preservative or dried grease patch can cause juddering too. A solvent will clean the rim sides, meths, iso-propyl alcohol, petrol etc.

 

[imellor]

I have now had the link connected back to the 15mph restricted position and have achieved the following results with the torq, in a varied route with some small hills and bridges. Hopefully this will prove useful to perspective owners:

Pedalling with a reasonable amount of effort, achieved twenty miles and the indicator was only just dropping in to the yellow, so I felt I could of got a few more miles out of the battery, however time was against me.

Not pedalling at all 17.65 miles and the battery was then flat and I had to pedal home.

To compare with my previous results with the link disconnected (unrestricted):

Pedalling 14 miles.
Not Pedalling 10 miles (starting slowly for the first couple of miles).

So the conclusion is that having the speed restriction is a BIG difference to range.I hope this is useful to someone.

Ian

I have been thinking about putting the speed restrictor link back for a while. I did so this morning and did my 10 mile return trip to my parents with the green light all the way, except for a hill where it went yellow. I certainly noticed the difference with the peddling, when I did pedal I noticed the effort required. It just goes to show how ineffective my peddling was at the higher speed.

I am going to keep the link in for the time being and see what affect it has on range.

Ian

 

[flecc]

Thanks for those range checks. I had no doubt that having the limiter in would increase the range, but I'd seen one report of range doubled which I think very unlikely, unless the rider was doing most of the work at those lower speeds. Your checks have confirmed that the increase is more like 30 to 40%, very worthwhile nonetheless.

 

[MIKE]

range

I am currently doing about 15 miles/day return. The bike sometimes goes into the amber, but I am using it on full power not pedelec. I have also disconnected the speed limiter.

 

[oobs]

I had mine with restrictor in place for a couple of months before a bad experience trying to drive the torq through 2 ft of water rather upset the electronics. With the restrictor, I achieved 25 miles before battery 'died'. The new controller I was supplied had restrictor removed. I now have lots of speed but around 10 miles range. I would like to fit a switch to enable 'turbo' or 'economy' mode but would like some reasuurance that this would work!

 

[Tony Youens]

I would like to fit a switch to enable 'turbo' or 'economy' mode but would like some reasuurance that this would work!

This seems the best option and I'm assuming fairly easy to accomplish. Perhaps Flecc can come up with the best option.

Tony

 

[imellor]

I've had a thought:

I might try cutting the finger off a rubber glove and then cable tie it over the speed restrictor link. That way water and dirt will be kept out of the connector, but I hopefully will be able to connect and dis-connect the link through the finger of the glove.

I don't know if anyone has any thoughts on this?

Ian

This seems the best option and I'm assuming fairly easy to accomplish. Perhaps Flecc can come up with the best option.

Tony