May 26,2023

Ebikes' True Range

Now more and more friends around have their own ebikes for daily travel and exercise. One of the advantages of an ebike is that it can reduce the pressure on people's legs and give great power during riding. No matter what terrain you are in, a good ebike can help you smoothly extend the riding distance as well as the feeling of happiness. So then a lot of our concerns about electric bikes point to how far they can ride. But with manufacturers citing wildly different range ratings for seemingly similar ebikes, how can you know what an ebike’s true range is? 

An electric bike’s range basically means how far can it ride on one single charge. There are many aspects that define how far an electric bike can ride.  Surprisingly, most of them have to do with how you ride rather than with the ebike’s specifications.

How far can electric bikes go? Currently, the longest range electric bicycles can reach is 350-400 km on one single charge. Such ebikes are usually powered by 3kW batteries. Standard ebikes with 400-500W batteries would ride up to 100-120 km on one charge. Simple city e-bikes would normally run 50-60 km on a single charge.

1. How to estimate ebike range

To determine an e-bike’s approximate range, you first need to start with the battery capacity. It is usually measured in Watt hours (Wh). Sometimes you’ll see a battery rated in volts and amp hours, such as an e-bike with a 48V 10Ah battery. To convert to Wh, simply multiply the volts by the amp hours. A 48V and 10Ah battery is therefore a 480 Wh battery.

Next, you can calculate effective range by simply dividing the watt hour capacity of the battery by an average efficiency number in Wh/mi (or Wh/km if you prefer kilometers).

Of course, riding efficiency will be affected by factors such as terrain, wind direction, and the rider's own weight, turned to the slightly fuzzy part of the math, since efficiency numbers will vary based on these factors. But speaking generally, most 500-750W throttle e-bikes ridden at an average speed of 20 mph (32 km/h) on only slightly hilly terrain get me around 25 Wh/mi (or 15.6 Wh/km). Thus an e-bike of this style with a 480Wh battery would provide me with around 19 miles of range (480 Wh ÷ 25 Wh/mi = 19.2 miles).

So in general, to experience longer riding distances, you need to choose an electric bike with a powerful battery. Ebikes with good price-performance ratio on the market - a brand Magicycle is recommended here with a 52A, 15Ah battery, which is therefore a 780 Wh battery, far exceeding the level and performance of general electric vehicles. It can even ride a distance of 35-60miles on a single charge.

2. Other factors about ebike range

In addition to learning the calculation method of battery parameters, there are some points that we need to consider, which affect the reference standard of an ebike's mileage. Such as the top speed that the bike can withstand, the width of the tires, and one very important thing - what I want to emphasize: pedal assist.

Pedal assist will always be more efficient. We find that most pedal assist e-bikes ridden around 15 to 18 mph in medium levels of pedal assist will get me around 15 Wh/mi (or 9.4 Wh/km). Thus the same 480Wh battery on a pedal assist e-bike will provide me around 32 miles of range (480 Wh ÷ 15 Wh/mi = 32 miles). Similarly, if it is an electric bike supported by a more efficient battery, with pedal assist, you will get a greater range. The level of pedal assist also shows differences in different models, so we can find this information as much as possible when buying ebikes to calculate its basic riding efficiency. The general electric bicycle pedal assist is about 4-7 levels. Magicycle does a good job at this point with its 7 level pedal assist adding more power to riding.

In addition to the loud brand and attractive appearance, a good e-bike needs the efficiency of its power system and the cycling distance it can support most -- which is also the core quality to test it and the question that every cycling fan pays attention to.

In fact, it is not difficult to explore the real range of ebikes. By calculating the real range of ebikes according to their parameters, each of us can quickly understand our favorite electric bikes clearly, and enjoy a pleasant journey of high-quality long distance.  
 

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