Poor Battery Range Bosch 750

[Oddy72]

This thread is quite worrying as I’m just about to pull the trigger on a new bike as i was beginning to feel the restriction in range with my 500w battery on my four year old Kenevo, especially riding with mates who have got 650 or 700 batteries who have loads left when I’ve run out and I have to have the indignity of being towed! Today, I rode my Kenevo from Domodosola in Italy to Locarno in Switzerland, a distance of about 48k with about 600m of ascent. I started with 90% as my battery seldom fully charges and finished with about 10%. Although this was all on tarmac and I did pump my tyres up a bit. On the uphill and flat I used a mixture of 30% and 60%, which are my settings for eco and trail. This is with a Brose motor which produces more torque than the Bosch. BTW, my average speed was 23kph Although I’m quite light I’m neither fit or strong.

I may well have a dodgy battery , although I have spoke with Bosch and they say they have had a few complaints about this range and battery drain.
Mine Does drop quite rapid to around 80% mark, I hope this improves with time like my bike shop tells me.
Someone posted that Bosch are dropping an update , but when is anyones guess ?
someone also said , they did 69 miles / km not sure which, he was 100kg in weight. And still had 23% battery - So my latest stats are. Did 41 miles ,26 of these was 6.5 mile commutes to work, so 13 mile a day, I had a total of 41 miles remaining with 19% battery left . Just charged to full now , my ranges are on the image

 

[Hanzzzie]

This thread is quite worrying as I’m just about to pull the trigger on a new bike as i was beginning to feel the restriction in range with my 500w battery on my four year old Kenevo, especially riding with mates who have got 650 or 700 batteries who have loads left when I’ve run out and I have to have the indignity of being towed! Today, I rode my Kenevo from Domodosola in Italy to Locarno in Switzerland, a distance of about 48k with about 600m of ascent. I started with 90% as my battery seldom fully charges and finished with about 10%. Although this was all on tarmac and I did pump my tyres up a bit. On the uphill and flat I used a mixture of 30% and 60%, which are my settings for eco and trail. This is with a Brose motor which produces more torque than the Bosch. BTW, my average speed was 23kph Although I’m quite light I’m neither fit or strong.

As said... i do 60km with 1200hm+ and still have 20-25% left. Mostly ridden on tour+ which is a very good support level on bosch imho.
Lots of battery drainage too comes from too agressive tires is what i see... i had magic mary and big betty on mine which are actually hardcore endurowheels afaik...
I changed em with Nobby nick 2.35's and range improved by alot!!
With the terrain im riding, i would even dare going to 2.4 or 2.6 smart sams

 

[Oddy72]

As said... i do 60km with 1200hm+ and still have 20-25% left. Mostly ridden on tour+ which is a very good support level on bosch imho.
Lots of battery drainage too comes from too agressive tires is what i see... i had magic mary and big betty on mine which are actually hardcore endurowheels afaik...
I changed em with Nobby nick 2.35's and range improved by alot!!
With the terrain im riding, i would even dare going to 2.4 or 2.6 smart sams

I work in miles , so you did 37 miles, maybe mines nots to bad after all, but the battery drain does my head in. Starts to Drop within 1 mile!! Not even that, my tyres are Maxxis recons , so not too sticky in my opinion . I have some more road road tyres as well, so will try them , see if it improves any

 

[Hanzzzie]

I work in miles , so you did 37 miles, maybe mines nots to bad after all, but the battery drain does my head in. Starts to Drop within 1 mile!! Not even that, my tyres are Maxxis recons , so not too sticky in my opinion . I have some more road road tyres as well, so will try them , see if it improves any

True.
My other choice were reckons but i picked up brand new NN's for 40eur which is a steal ofc

 

[Hanzzzie]

As an fyi. Just charged for tomorrow

 

[Marcharry]

View attachment 88062

As an fyi. Just charged for tomorrow

I’m nothing near that Approximately 32km

 

[Hanzzzie]

Did you have 5+ charges yet?

 

[Marcharry]

Did you have 5+ charges yet?

Yes. Still no better

 

[Marcharry]

Did you have 5+ charges yet?

Gone down 2% before I’ve set off riding

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

Gone down 2% before I’ve set off riding

View attachment 88079

How many actual miles do you get full to empty?

 

[Hanzzzie]

Yeaj, think you need to try and completely deplete the battery a few times too...
Mine was chared back from a 35k ride 2d ago. Tomorrow 60k's again... (battery was at 70% btw after that 35km road/xc mixed use)

 

[Marcharry]

UPDATES. When I originally posted this I was very disappointed with the range! however! I’ve just been out for a good ride and surprisingly battery hasn’t done very well! Not sure if it’s anything to do with the amount of charge cycles or the Latest software update? I’ve managed to get 30 miles mostly in EMBT mode. With 40% left! I think it’s fair to say on a full charge I will probably get 45 to 50 miles. I’m happy with that. I didn’t notice the first 10% does drain extremely quickly but it seem to settle once I got into the ride.

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

UPDATES. When I originally posted this I was very disappointed with the range! however! I’ve just been out for a good ride and surprisingly battery hasn’t done very well! Not sure if it’s anything to do with the amount of charge cycles or the Latest softwareupdate?

What did you manage mileage wise? So still disappointing?
Edit - I see you’ve edited the post, was confusing as you mentioned battery hasn’t done very well but in fact it seems pretty decent!

 

[Marcharry]

What did you manage mileage wise? So still disappointing?

Hi Rob, I’ve just updated my post

 

[Marcharry]

What did you manage mileage wise? So still disappointing?

Just under 3 miles in to ride and 11% battery down… It worried me at first but I just kept on going ….. I’m extremely pleased with the range. Next weekend I will full charge and ride until flat again to see what I get. when I did it before I got around 30 miles on full battery today about 30 miles with 40% left. !
Very interesting I wonder if it’s a software update?

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

Just under 3 miles in to ride and 11% battery down… It worried me at first but I just kept on going ….. I’m extremely pleased with the range. Next weekend I will full charge and ride until flat again to see what I get. when I did it before I got around 30 miles on full battery today about 30 miles with 40% left. !
Very interesting I wonder if it’s a software update?

Possibly, or the system has now had enough rides and data to more accurately predict range. After all, the calculation is just a ‘best guess’ based on the information it has to go on.

The more data it has the better the prediction.

 

[Gyre]

UPDATES. When I originally posted this I was very disappointed with the range! however! I’ve just been out for a good ride and surprisingly battery hasn’t done very well! Not sure if it’s anything to do with the amount of charge cycles or the Latest software update? I’ve managed to get 30 miles mostly in EMBT mode. With 40% left! I think it’s fair to say on a full charge I will probably get 45 to 50 miles. I’m happy with that. I didn’t notice the first 10% does drain extremely quickly but it seem to settle once I got into the ride.

For what it's worth, calculating the amount of charge left in a battery is a bit of art and science. It's possible that the gen 2 and gen 4 use completely different methods that make it difficult to compare apples to apples.

 

[tommygun]

Another update:
Saturday I've made a beautiful and quite demanding trip on the mountains here, I was back with exactly 50% battery left.

Here's the track:

Pereto anello MTB | e-mountain bike ride | Komoot

tommygun went on an outdoor adventure with komoot! Distance: 42.5 km | Duration: 05:27 h

www.komoot.com

Please mind that I had problem with the smartphone recording at the beginning so you should actually consider the same startin/finishing point. The total climb was indeed 1.200m, not 890 as shown in Komoot. The total distance was also 5km-ish more than shown.

Mostly done on eco/tour+/eMTB, used Turbo just a couple of times when the climb was too steep.

Cube Stereo Hybrid 140TM (awesome bike!)

I'm very happy overall

 

[Oddy72]

Another update:
Saturday I've made a beautiful and quite demanding trip on the mountains here, I was back with exactly 50% battery left.

Here's the track:

Pereto anello MTB | e-mountain bike ride | Komoot

tommygun went on an outdoor adventure with komoot! Distance: 42.5 km | Duration: 05:27 h

www.komoot.com

Please mind that I had problem with the smartphone recording at the beginning so you should actually consider the same startin/finishing point. The total climb was indeed 1.200m, not 890 as shown in Komoot. The total distance was also 5km-ish more than shown.

Mostly done on eco/tour+/eMTB, used Turbo just a couple of times when the climb was too steep.

Cube Stereo Hybrid 140TM (awesome bike!)

I'm very happy overall

Can I ask when your bike is 100% fully charged , what are your ranges expected ranges Eco, tour+, EMTB and Turbo ? The highest mine has been in eco is 55miles ! According to the range calculator on Bosch , should be at least 72 miles ?
I’ve done 5 full charges and the ranges don’t seem to get any better

 

[tommygun]

Can I ask when your bike is 100% fully charged , what are your ranges expected ranges Eco, tour+, EMTB and Turbo ? The highest mine has been in eco is 55miles ! According to the range calculator on Bosch , should be at least 72 miles ?
I’ve done 5 full charges and the ranges don’t seem to get any better

Sure, I'll charge it back again at 100% and post the results here, didn't have the time to do it yet.

But I'm pretty sure that it will show a lot less than 55mi in Eco... but I'm also quite convinced now that it actually provides more juice in the real world than it declares on the display.

 

[tommygun]

Wow, it's really adjusting, and for the best!

 

[1oldfart]

Another update:
Saturday I've made a beautiful and quite demanding trip on the mountains here, I was back with exactly 50% battery left.

Here's the track:

Pereto anello MTB | e-mountain bike ride | Komoot

tommygun went on an outdoor adventure with komoot! Distance: 42.5 km | Duration: 05:27 h

www.komoot.com

Please mind that I had problem with the smartphone recording at the beginning so you should actually consider the same startin/finishing point. The total climb was indeed 1.200m, not 890 as shown in Komoot. The total distance was also 5km-ish more than shown.

Mostly done on eco/tour+/eMTB, used Turbo just a couple of times when the climb was too steep.

Cube Stereo Hybrid 140TM (awesome bike!)

I'm very happy overall

On what tires and how many kilos do you weight?? Thanks

 

[Oddy72]

Wow, it's really adjusting, and for the best!

View attachment 88199

So that equates to 58 miles , Mike says 55 miles on a full charge . I’ve done 5 full charges, how many have you done ? So do you think it’s getting better each time ?
I weight 82 kg and running Maxxis recons

 

[tommygun]

On what tires and how many kilos do you weight?? Thanks

I'm around 80 kg too. I have Maxxis Minion DHF at the rear and Assegai at the front.

I’ve done 5 full charges, how many have you done ? So do you think it’s getting better each time ?

More or less the same here, I've never drained the battery below 40% and I've charged it maybe 5/6 times. My bike has traveled 155 km total.
And yes, it clearly got a lot better with time, when it was brand new the display was giving me less than 50 km (30 mi) on Eco on a full charge.

 

[Oddy72]

I'm around 80 kg too. I have Maxxis Minion DHF at the rear and Assegai at the front.



More or less the same here, I've never drained the battery below 40% and I've charged it maybe 5/6 times. My bike has traveled 155 km total.
And yes, it clearly got a lot better with time, when it was brand new the display was giving me less than 50 km (30 mi) on Eco on a full charge.

Ok thanks , hoping it improves over time . Feel like my old bike with a 500 wh battery , could do more range than this new 750 one

 

[Oddy72]

Gone down 2% before I’ve set off riding

View attachment 88079

Mine did exactly the same , charged to 100% , turned on next day for a ride and “lost 2 % ! Seemed ok after that though, not lost charge after a full 100% . Rangers don’t seem great thou

 

[tommygun]

By the way - and this is a somewhat playful (but-not-really) advice - my life got a LOT easier when I decided, after the latest Bosch sw update, to show the clock instead of the battery percentage indicator in the upper left corner of the display, as you can see in my previous post.

Really, this may seem a silly thing to say, but ditching the battery charge indicator helped me in focusing on more pleasant aspects of riding, without constantly worrying about battery drain and range.
The five (actually ten) LEDs on the left hand controller are more than enough to keep things under control, at the same time they don't have the "anxiety factor" I got from the percentage.

But of course... "your mileage may vary"

 

[Morton027]

17.5 miles yesterday, modes everywhere from Eco to Turbo depending on the steepness of the hill in question. Mixed road and off road.

66% left in the battery, up to 55km range left.

Things are definitely improving.

 

[Swissrider]

Unless I have got this wrong, I always thought that the range calculation was highly dependent on what you have been doing. I am talking about gen 1 Bosch but in any mode the range calculation keeps changing depending on recent gradient. For instance, if I’m going uphill and then get to a long flat section or downhill, the range will increase substantially - can even double. Or, I can be in turbo towards the end of a big ascent and the range shown might only be 5k - probably about 20 to 30k in eco, but if I have a further 50 k to do and the ground turns to flat, I know I’ll make it in eco and I’ll see the range going up, despite using the battery, as the computer works out that I’m using much less battery power than before. So this means that range estimates are based in what the computer thinks your ride is going to involve If one does a reset, the system defaults to a flat ride, so when I turn the system on it might give my range as 60k on eco, because I’ve done quite a lot of hills in the previous ride. On resetting, the eco range on a full charge will be over 100k but I know this is only on a completely flat ride. The system is quite clever, but one needs to know how to interpret it. after 5000k, I think I’ve got it cracked. So, some of these screen shots might be meaningless. To be consistent, the system must be reset. I’m assuming the latest generation system is using a similar algorithm.

 

[Swissrider]

UPDATES. When I originally posted this I was very disappointed with the range! however! I’ve just been out for a good ride and surprisingly battery hasn’t done very well! Not sure if it’s anything to do with the amount of charge cycles or the Latest software update? I’ve managed to get 30 miles mostly in EMBT mode. With 40% left! I think it’s fair to say on a full charge I will probably get 45 to 50 miles. I’m happy with that. I didn’t notice the first 10% does drain extremely quickly but it seem to settle once I got into the ride.

View attachment 88104

View attachment 88105

View attachment 88106

I don’t think it’s either. My experience with the Bosch system is that it calculates the range depending on what you have been doing in the last few kilometres, which is why it keeps changing. If you’ve been going up hill, and using a lot of assistance, the range in all modes will come down. On the other hand, if you have been going down a long descent or al lot of flat, the range will go up. I’ve seen mine double! After a reset the system goes back to a default which I assume is for an average weight person, peddling one the flat. With my four year old 5000k Bosch road bike, this seems to be about 100k in eco. I would hope that if you reset your trip distance the range should be more than this.