How far can my electric velomobile go - a range test of three different levels of e - assist.

I set out on some test rides to see how far I could ride at three different levels of assist.
I rode until the battery level display started to indicate that the last of the battery was almost depleted.
I expected to be able to ride a little further as the assist level lowered, and that my rides would prove this.
I know that there are many things that affect range, but I figured since most things in each ride would be the same, the rest would not make to much difference.
Five key things that were more or less the same in each ride were as follows:
1. Rider (me),
2. Velomobile (my DFxl),
3. The road surface (same route),
4. Luggage, and
5, Effort put in by me (relaxed effort).
It is very difficult to say how far my e-assist lasts, as there are so many variables. For example in the video I ride 50km at max assist when the battery has been almost depleted, but I rode 92km going the opposite direction on the course (a slow downhill gradient made a difference of 42 km).
Well I hope you enjoy the video, and I hope you put in a comment on what sort of things you think are variables to consider when explaining range of an e-assist to someone.
Thanks for Watching
Marnix Mooiman

[@ac-mu2nw]

Great video. As you say there are a lot of influences on power consumption. What I take from your experiment is that with a bit of care you can ride on a day when you're not 100% physically, and still go somewhere with ease or you can extend your range hugely with moderate effort keeping the wear & tear on the bones to a minimum. The very reason for e-assist. To me the speed is secondary. The whole idea is to get out and enjoy the countryside with a sustainable fitness level over the long-term. I have an e-assist WAW. I remember when you put e-assist on your DF and your comments after. It influenced me to have that option on mine. One can always leave it switched off, but for the days when the head says I'm still 19 but body says no I'm not, it is a game changer. Makes every ride possible. I have a 26.5 ah battery, 250w motor, 9 levels of assist and on a 200km ride of rolling hills using 2 & 4 levels I had 40% left. May get a smaller battery as a reserve, as distances between facilities can be greater here. Next year I'll try your idea, do a trip to the last segment on level 1 & the same again on level 9 & post it on my presently empty channel. Presently it is -37 C this morning so not a whole lot velomobiling going on. Was great to watch your ride. Cheers, Ray

[@kiwi_velonaut]

Hi Ray, thank you for your interedting comment. A 200km trip is quite significant, so I am glad you enjoy having your assist to do that kind of distance.
For me speed is also not a priority. For me it is mostly about staying warm/dry, so -37°C would probably stop me from getting out and about.
Those kind of temperatures seem pretty extreme though, and I won't get them here in NZ where I ride.
I am thinking of going on a ride that is just over 300km, and then the following day or a couple of days later return home. It's only a thought at the moment, but I am preparing for it anyway. Thanks again for leaving a comment, and I hope you have a great new year.
Happy riding
Marnix.

[@DemiGod..]

Have a bafand 250w motor. At a cadence of 70rpm or below, it uses 15 amps, but 5 amps at optimal cadence of 81. So more efficient to go to a higher assistance level if needed to maintain 81 rpm.
I have the motor on an ICE Sprint X 26 Tour trike. After 60 miles I recharge the 36V 15AH battery, at which point it is still showing 2 out of 4 lights worth of charge, running at max assist.

[@RoadWarrior427]

That was really informative and it allows one to understand the capabilities. Great video!

[@hawkinsn31]

Very good video. According to the Velomobile riders I have been watching , wearing the racing hood improves the aerodynamics and you will go further with the hood on.

[@hoekie3652]

It should definitely give people a ballpark figure.
And you're right, lots of variables. Of which the variable of aerodynamics helps a lot, in our case, with Velomobiles.
Happy Holidays! Fijne feestdagen!

[@kiwi_velonaut]

Thanks for the comment Hoekie, yeah, doing this video is inspiring me to try a multi day trip at some stage.
All the best for the new year.

[@hrdtduck]

How about starting a bit earlier in the AM, I too use a E-assisted trike. (but open-air type only small fairing up front) I usually use the mid-level power setting as I have a lot of steep hills. My average speed is about 24mph and I get 30 miles pretty easy. 20Ah battery 1000W Bafang mid-drive motor

[@volvo245]

Adding the Grin CA V3 would cut the guesswork out of this. You can even set how many watts of electric assist for every human watt is given.

[@arnoldanderson1501]

On maximum assist, you are "ghost" peddling. I do it all the time with my recumbent trike. I have a High Voltage BBSHD 72-volt system with a single rear gear 42 tooth sprocket. Even at power level 3, I can exceed 65 kilometers per hour, so I normally use level 1 or 2. It looks good to ghost peddle even though I'm not really accomplishing anything, but people are definitely friendly and wave to me, so it's all good. I normally ride at about 25 to 35 k.p.h. so as not to attract unwanted attention. Be safe out there!

[@kiwi_velonaut]

Does your 72v system have a high rpm limit? With a 42t it sounds like 65kph would be hard for the motor to achieve.

[@samsungw200]

Great video thanks. Would love a velo but can’t afford it so I’m stuck on my e bike :-)

[@Ciupremo]

I can't find info about your motor and battery (wh?)

[@kiwi_velonaut]

Hi Supremo, I use a 350Watt mid drive Bafang motor, I forget what the model is sorry. I had to get it detuned to 300Watt to keep it legal here in New Zealand. It's possible that some of my earlier videos or their descriptions will have more details.
The batteries are 36v, 17Ah (612Wh), DBSREX-HS, lithium ion. I recently got another one from a company here in New Zealand called ( www.converted.co.nz/ )"Converted".
Hopefully this helps, thanks for leaving a comment.

[@Nickle314]

The interesting one for me is the climb, second is getting off the mark.
Lets say you put out 200 watts. What altitude can you expect to climb at a given speed, for a given battery size? ie. overcome the disadvantage.
Second what's the recharge time? So lets say, 4 hours morning, 4 hours afternoon, can you recharge in an hour over a lunch stop?

[@kiwi_velonaut]

Climbing obviously uses the most battery. I rarely have to ride only uphill for four hours, so I would have to figure out the best way to test something like that.
As for charging up batteries during lunch, I couldn't the way I ride currently. I guess if I used the three batteries evenly distributed then I would be able to charge 3 times as fast. I use one battery at a time, so would have to wire the system to take turns on batteries or share the load. Then I could charge three batteries at the same time during a lunch because each battery would have been used a little bit. Hope this helps

[@Nickle314]

@@kiwi_velonaut Thanks
Since I've posted I've been doing some more digging. The scenario is touring with a velomobile. That means you are likely to be more loaded than normal.
50% charge in 1 hour seems achievable. So at leasts that's a boost over lunch.
Flat and downhill, not a problem for obvious reasons.
Boosts for a start are largely irrelevant
It's climbs that are the real issue since its your body, the velo, plus anything else that makes up the wieght that you need to lift.
The energy required is easy. mass * height * g
The work you need to know the rate of climb. I'm still digging.
It was all to get a feel, that if you have a day with 1000 meters of climb, what sort of battery do you need and what sort of boost? eg. 250 watts or do you need more

[@johanneskoedood2235]

dat had ik verwacht dus je hebt een zuinige e motori did expexckt that marnix you have a low energy consumptuion e motor ann pretig kerstfeest voor jou en je familie merry xmass for you and your fammely

[@kiwi_velonaut]

Thank you, you too.

[@franklinbrown7389]

we can't calculate the size of the battery without the voltage and amp hours.

[@kiwi_velonaut]

I use 36v 17Ah battery, hope that helps. Thanks for the comment.

[@ernestmachpro3341]

Heavyweight = big battery.
I bought a recumbent trike Azub Tricon because she weights 18 kgs. Than I can ride it 100% muscular without any problem.

[@warlockboyburns]

An electric velomobile will go around twice as far as an electric road bike or much faster.

[@earlfreeman93]

I notice that you was riding on left side of the road and using metric; may I guess that you live in some place like Australia?

[@kiwi_velonaut]

Pretty close, New Zealand.

[@earlfreeman93]

@@kiwi_velonaut north island or south island?

[@kiwi_velonaut]

@earlfreeman93 I mostly ride around in the North Island, but have also cycled around the upper south island.

[@motooilermotooiler9597]

Cool but i would be veryveryvery worried about idiots in cars being on their phones… being hit in this is just one way ticket.
Great vehicle apart from this.

[@Quesjer1]

As I have done damage repair on these velomobiles for 8 years, and i can truly state the high level of protection that cocoon around you gives. Most of the times, the bike took the impact, only minor effects for the pilot.