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Sx engined bike with 400 integrated battery. Although I pedal a lot I’m not sure 400 is enough for 2 days so, as I had a trek exe with range extender, which worked really well, i bought a powermore 250 extender.
In a nutshell - should have read the manual.
installation - very easy. (Remove 2 bottle cage bolts, bolt on mount, plug in fitting to bike charge socket which needs correct length and correct direction facing cable)
quality - seems great, solid click in to mount, no rattling etc, good cable connection.
Function - grrrr. Should have read the manual. Unlike the trek exe system (that used the extender if it was plugged in, and displayed both battery status, and when the extender was done it swapped to main battery, which I thought was really sensible and practical and worked well for me) the Bosch system equalises the batteries, when the extender is plugged in (it uses the more charged battery till they are equally discharged then draws from both equally), so I have no control over what is used when.
This is irritating because
- I use the extender occasionally so if I knew I was going to not use it for a while I would (if possible/practical) run it down to about 50%(storage level) and then stop using it, much, much easier on the trek.
- when I can’t charge the bike (hotels etc) I would fully use the extender (as it can be carried into the hotel and recharged) before the main integrated battery (which often can’t be recharged) to maximise battery capacity for the next day, I can’t do this (to my knowledge) on the Bosch.
Bosch, if you are reading this, could you add to the app an extender preference for the bike or app controls for the bike, that would let you say something like if the extender is plugged in then use it (and display it) until it is down to minimum and then it either cuts out till you unplug or use the app to swop etc. basically somehow let the user control which battery is used when and know what % each battery is at
I believe it's more efficient to use batteries in tandem than running them down separately so I guess that may have been the compromise they chose?
Can you not just leave the RE fitted but unplugged until the main battery is low, or am I missing something?
Avoiding a totally drained lithium-ion battery does make sense, if less convenient then being able to empty one battery before using the other.
The main battery is integrated so at certain places (hotels, etc etc) it can’t be recharged, the extender is fully transportable (and therefore rechargeable) , so when I’m away and not able to recharge the bike I’d like to fully use the rechargeable extender to preserve the main battery, as that way I’d have more battery left the next day.
*well run the extender down to the safe minimum.
If it works as the OP says I can't see the problem (or indeed difference). On a multi-day trip, after the both batteries get discharged take the removable one to the room and charge it up. Next day and thereafter you're running off the removable 250 one.
If it works as the OP says I can't see the problem (or indeed difference)
Say you use 325Wh of your total 650Wh battery on day 1. If it's using both batteries equally you are left with 200wh in the bike battery and 125 in the powermore at the end of the day. Charge the powermore overnight and you start day 2 with 200 in the main battery and 250 in the powermore, total 450.
If you could set it to use the powermore first you'd have ended day 1 with 0 (ish) in the powermore (so 250 used from that) and 325 left in the bike battery (75 taken from that). Charging the powermore overnight gives you 325+250 = 575 for day 2.
Thats a pretty substantial difference in day 2 capability just because of the way bosch have designed it.
when the extender is plugged in (it uses the more charged battery till they are equally discharged
Which would be the extender if you've charged it in your hotel room.. surely?
Another post confirming that when i buy an ebike it’s going to need a removable battery.
I sympathise with the OP though. It would be easy to make this a better system
Why can't you take the extender in to recharge when at hotels? Surely when it is then plugged back in, it will drain to same level as main battery before main battery is drained at half the speed...no?
