Over the past few months, I've been testing a couple of e-bikes to give you a full long-term report. To be totally transparent, I've had some help from my partner on this one because we thought it would be interesting to tell you whether it's possible for two riders who are approximately a foot different in height to comfortably share an e-bike.
And as a result, we've been riding both together and separately for almost 1,000 miles now. So I have some interesting things to tell you after getting to know these two bikes pretty well, and I will tell you about all of them.
But there's one that stands out head and shoulders above the rest, and it's this: E-bike battery ranges from manufacturers may be more optimistic than truthful.
Will wonders never cease? Next thing, you'll tell me the shocking news that water is wet. I know, I know. To a certain degree, that overly optimistic range estimation is to be expected.
I mean, car manufacturers have done this with MPG estimates, and EV manufacturers have done this with battery ranges. So why shouldn't it also be the case with e-bikes?
And to be fair, there are a number of factors that can legitimately impact battery range on EVs in general. Whether you're going uphill or downhill, if there's a head- or a tailwind, battery capacity (of course) and more can have an impact. With e-bikes, there's also the balance between human power pedaling (and how much your specific model lets you contribute in that way) and power provided by the electric motor.
With so many variables to consider, coming up with a single number that's accurate is difficult at best. But, as with estimated MPG, as a person looking at buying any given e-bike, you'd probably at least hope for a number that's close.
The two bikes we've been testing are the Aventon Aventure.2 and the Ride1Up Revv 1. Both have good points and bad, and I plan to get into those in detail in future pieces. Today, we're discussing real-world battery range, with two adult-size riders putting a bunch of miles on them.
First, we'll talk about the Aventon Aventure.2. The design includes a 15 amp hour battery that fits a number of Aventon models. You can also ride with a spare battery to stay out exploring (or adventuring, even) longer, and all you need to do is use the key that comes with this bike to unlock the battery compartment and switch it out when you run out of juice.
Which, according to Aventon, should be "up to 60 miles."
Folks, I hate to tell you this, but the real-world range we've experienced with the Aventure.2 isn't even close to 60 miles. It's a fun bike to ride, and there are some great things about it, but battery life isn't one of them. And that's with a whole lot of human pedaling, not just riding around with the throttle wide open and relying solely on the motor.
One of the cool (at least, in my opinion) things about the Aventure.2 is that unlike some e-bikes (including the Ride1Up Revv 1), it's geared. So, much like a traditional pedal bike, you can shift gears and experience some resistance as you pedal. The electric motor is there to assist, so you're by no means putting in as much effort as you would on a traditional bicycle.
But it's still something.
This is the bike my partner has primarily been riding, and that's mainly because his 6'2" and rather lanky frame doesn't fit very well on the Revv 1. Since I'm a foot shorter, I get tiny bike duty if we're riding together.
It doesn't appear to be a question of battery age, either. Whether it's the battery the bike came with, or a newer battery that Aventon sent us for extended range testing, the results seem to be the same. With normal neighborhood and trail riding, each Aventon battery seems to last about 37 miles before it reaches zero percent on the dash. And he's managed to find this 37 mile tap-out number multiple times, so it doesn't appear to be a fluke.
That's a full 23 miles less than the "up to 60" that the Aventon website claims.
It's also worth noting that when the battery gets down to 20 percent, it goes into limp mode. Uphill pedaling is much more of a struggle. It's also definitely something to be aware of if your planned route includes highly-trafficked areas, because you're simply not going to be able to throttle out of a bad situation at full speed if you need to.
And while the good part of e-bikes is that you can still pedal even when the battery is in low power mode, the added weight also means that it's more difficult than it would be with a pedal bike.
Ride1Up hedges its bets a little more carefully on its website, advertising a 30- to 60-mile range depending on several factors. The Revv1 ships with either a 15 amp hour or a 20 amp hour battery pack, and a careful check of the one I've been riding shows it to be the 20 amp hour version.
That, in part, helps to explain why it's seemingly had quite a bit more oomph than the Aventure.2 on several rides we've been on. The Revv1 isn't geared, unlike the Aventure.2, but it's consistently continued to have life left in the battery long after the Aventure.2 needs a switch. (Which is good, because I don't have a spare battery for the Revv 1.)
But over the weekend, we took our longest ride yet to explore further than ever before on some trails in the area. It was amazing, and we probably would've gone further if I wasn't worried about running out of battery before we got home.
So we turned around, and that was the best decision we could have made. The Revv1 entered an extremely sluggish limp mode on the very last uphill on our way home. I didn't script any of this, but it sure felt like I could have.
Now, the Aventure.2 and the Revv 1 display their battery levels differently. The Aventure.2 gives a percentage, while the Revv 1 just displays your battery state of charge from one to five bars (with five being the most).
So for that reason, I can't say for sure how close I was to fully hitting zero percent. But I can tell you that I wouldn't have wanted to get there because the Revv1 gets really heavy going up hills when it's in limp mode.
How far did I have to go to hit limp mode? 47 miles. That is, in fact, a lot closer to 60 miles than the Aventure.2 got.
Will I do it again? Absolutely. Give me a full water bottle, snacks, sunscreen, and bug repellant, and I'm out.
Would it be even better if I had a second battery? Of course. There are a lot of great trails around here that require either a) a car + e-bike solution to reach, or b) more battery range than I've currently got if I'm going to ride all the way there and back without running out.
If you're considering an e-bike purchase, I hope this example illustrates that you should probably take manufacturer-estimated ranges with a few grains of salt until you can experience them for yourself.
Keep an eye on your battery meter (however the manufacturer calculates it), and be ready to turn around. Or, alternatively, if you have a good idea of a place that will let you plug in, you can always carry your charger with you and plug in while you take a break. Just be aware that it'll be a lengthy one, because e-bikes are made to charge on standard household outlets, so no fast charging (even medium-fast L2) for you.
