Range with Yamaha motor

[Mdoodles]

Hi everyone, I have been trying several ebikes last Friday. That is in the view of commuting to work daily. It is a longish one, 15 miles each way with roughly 5-600 feet up and down.

By some margin, the one with the Yamaha motor (pw-se) is the bike I preferred because of the double front derailleur, which allows to go above the assisted speed of 15.5mph without having to put in a crazy cadence. That was in contrast to the bosh based bikes: a Cube with an active line plus and a Scott with the cx motor. The latter is impressive in acceleration so that one is pretty fast up to the 15-16 mph... to be stuck there because the motor drag kicks in perceptibly. It is less of a problem with the ALP based cube, but because of the relatively small front derailleur there is also a ceiling of sorts, especially on downhills. So in a Bosh-only world my preference would clearly be towards an ALP bike. I also know that I would not have range issues, that from lurking in various threads here

Before I pull the trigger -it is two grand after all- I would like to know if any of you has had any range issues with the bike I am coveting, a Haybike sduro trekking 6.0, it has the Yamaha pw-se motor and a 500wh battery. I do know about the fact that it hinges a lot on how it is used and how much the motor is put to work. It is more major impediments or testimonies to that effect that I am looking for as in never being able to pass the 25mile mark even on super-eco mode.. Again, it would be 30 miles with 1000 feet in elevation. I am reasonably fit for my age (early 50s) and weigh 90 kg.

Hope this makes some sense

M.

 

[soundwave]

i can go about 25 miles going at this speed with a 500w batt in turbo+dongle. in tour today i got about 15 miles per bar out of 5 bars.

 

[Fat Rat]

Hi welcome
You shouldn't have any issues with your commute at all

 

[Mdoodles]

Thanks both of you, that sounds hopeful, to say the least.

M.

 

[georgehenry]

Can you charge it at work?

 

[Mdoodles]

Georgehenry, yes I could, but would rather avoid that... carrying the charger around.

 

[Benjahmin]

I think you have to bear in mind that battery capacity is not like a petrol tank. That is to say that you do not get the same 'oomph' from the latter part of capacity as the first part. Hot off the charger the battery will be at 42v at, 3 bars, it will be at about 38v, so will deliver less power. Not generally a problem and is still usable, but at the end of a long working day on a windy ride home, you may wish you'd charged at work.

 

[Fat Rat]

I think you have to bear in mind that battery capacity is not like a petrol tank. That is to say that you do not get the same 'oomph' from the latter part of capacity as the first part. Hot off the charger the battery will be at 42v at, 3 bars, it will be at about 38v, so will deliver less power. Not generally a problem and is still usable, but at the end of a long working day on a windy ride home, you may wish you'd charged at work.

That's interesting and something I have not noticed with the 3 Bosch cx drives I've owned or the current Shimano e8000 I own now and at least once a week I get in a 60-70mile constant ride and would have noticed by now
What drives are you noticing this on ?

 

[Mdoodles]

Benjahmin, thanks for the heads up. Will bear that in mind as the return leg is against the prevailing winds which can quite strong around here (West Fife - Edinburgh - West Fife).

M.

 

[vfr400]

It seems that a lot of people are getting problems with Yamaha batteries, which are very expensive to replace and the cheap options to repair or replace also seem to give problems. Bosch batteries are cheaper and there are possibilities to repair them.

 

[Mdoodles]

Hey thanks, I am (sort of) aware of the issue with yamaha and third party replacement problem by lurking around here which is why I was keen to get the range right.

M.

 

[chris_n]

I regularly do 50 km with 2 to 3 thousand metres of climbing with 800Wh of battery using the top 2 power levels for climbing (mine is only 4 power levels not the 5 that the newer ones have, the top power level on the 5 power ones eats the battery ). I have about 20 to 30% of battery remaining after a ride like this. The Yamaha system removes the top power level when the battery gets down to 10% and the last km back to the apartment being a 200m climb at between 10 and 14% gradient I avoid that like the plague.
You should have no problem with your commute with only 1000ft of climbing.

 

[Mdoodles]

Cool thanks for that, I pulled the trigger (as in: deciding on the purchase) and will report back. Thanks all for your replies.

M.

 

[Jayfdee]

OK, you have already decided on your purchase.
I have an Haibike with a 500Wh battery, today I did 40 miles and 2500ft of climb, I finished OK, but definitely noticed the reduced power near the end. The range meter was still showing 14 miles on eco, 2 bars.
I still get range anxiety, and would really like to be able to do a 50 miler over very hilly terrain, but this takes much careful planning and battery conservation management.

 

[Vandazler]

I’d recommend you look at a low mileage used Bosch motor Haibike so you aren’t worried about the warranty if you fit a dongle which in my opinion is a must. The depreciation of new hardtail is steep as I found out losing a grand in 8 months On my first Cube hybrid hardtail. I recommend the Bosch over the Yamaha because the battery is just better in every respect. I now have a three year old full suss Haibike xduro thats done 1500 miles and the battery still does around 30 miles on hilly terrain using all the power modes pretty freely. Hope my two‘pennith helps.

 

[Jayfdee]

I’d recommend you look at a low mileage used Bosch motor Haibike so you aren’t worried about the warranty if you fit a dongle which in my opinion is a must. The depreciation of new hardtail is steep as I found out losing a grand in 8 months On my first Cube hybrid hardtail. I recommend the Bosch over the Yamaha because the battery is just better in every respect. I now have a three year old full suss Haibike xduro thats done 1500 miles and the battery still does around 30 miles on hilly terrain using all the power modes pretty freely. Hope my two‘pennith helps.

Thanks, I prefer to stay legal, so a Dongle is out.
I am impressed with my Haibike, full suss, and Yamaha, I will report back when I have done a few thousand miles.

 

[soundwave]

some dealers will fit and sell dongles and honour the warranty, if the motor is still in its 2 year warranty you can send it to a shop in Germany that will take over the warranty and get it replaced tho you will have to pay postage there and back.

my motor is from 2014 and had a dongle ever since, the motor inside is clean as new

 

[Mdoodles]

OK, you have already decided on your purchase.
I have an Haibike with a 500Wh battery, today I did 40 miles and 2500ft of climb, I finished OK, but definitely noticed the reduced power near the end. The range meter was still showing 14 miles on eco, 2 bars.
I still get range anxiety, and would really like to be able to do a 50 miler over very hilly terrain, but this takes much careful planning and battery conservation management.

As a matter of fact, I did not purchase the Haibike in the end as it was out of stock. I went instead down the kit route (48V TSDZ2 from woosh which I fitted on my existing bike, a GIant 26 incher MTB) and very happy with it (and the 1k pounds I saved with that forced choice). I am commuting with it and can do a return journey (14 miles each way) on a single charge and the maximum assist level. I also can do 3 legs (but only just). I found that tires properly pumped up do help *a lot* with the range.