What's your range?

42

Hell yeah! :metal: took that ride after doing a 12 mile hike as well. Legs felt wrekt by the end

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43

I know the feeling. 3 separate rides and I would end every ride at 3.83 v a cell like magic every time.

I just didnā€™t know how it would work with lifepo4 cause like you said they stay quite consistent around 3.3v for a majority of their capacity, and then quickly drop off. How does a voltage checker like yours tell the difference between 3.3v per cell with 80% battery, and 3.3v at 30%? Seems like you wouldnā€™t get a true readingā€¦?
Or is that specifically a calibrated lifepo4 capacity meter (if such a thing exists)

44

Is it just me or does lipo always seem to get better ranges for their mAh ratings?
Somehow you can achieve 15 miles on 5 Ah with lipos, but my battery made of lifepo4 cells is going to do about 10 miles, but with 7.5 Ahā€¦

45

He may also not be charging the pack fully to 3.6 a cell. That would make sence cause then his pack would ride like a charged 12s pack the whole ride
But idk, thatā€™s my guess

46

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47

Depends a ton on riding style, terrain, board, etc. What was your setup?

48

I think in my last range test I got 30km off my 12s 8ah LiPoā€¦ Had some left in the tank too.

49

It is such a meter, but as you noted, the percent indicator is never correct unless it says 0% or 100%. I look at the voltage itself (39.7V for example) and combine that with my knowledge of how far I feel like Iā€™ve gone, and it gives you a pretty good idea of how far you have left. It sits at around 39.5V (3.29V/cell) for an eternity but once it starts to budge you know you have about 40% range left.

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50

Good to know, thanks B!

51

It will be a 14s3p lifepo4 pack, 7ah capacity. Iā€™ll bet based off of peopleā€™s experience along with calculator predictions that it will get me around 9-10 miles (have not fully built it yet, and am still waiting on power supply)
On the other hand, lipo setups running 5 Ah seem to get better ranges which is confusing to me. Maybe lipo builders just like to be more gentile while riding idk

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52

Thank you for this data point. I suspected this is what could be had but wasnā€™t sure. What kind of average speed? Are you a glider / free roller or do you hammer and stop and lot?

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53

possible correlation between experience level in riders and the types of packs they use.

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54

It depends how I ride. If Iā€™m cruising with my sister and sheā€™s on a bike then I usually can get up to 40-50 miles (Davega Est. Range) since itā€™s a very slow ride (usually under 12mph)

If I am riding at my normal pace on a 12s4p 30Q then I usually get 20 miles give or take with a stop and go hard acceleration 25 mph avg with bursts to 35ā€™s. This is single drive 6374 with TB110ā€™s and 16/40 gearing.

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55

Could it also have to do with LiPos often times being overspecced for the kind of Amp draw we are using them for? For example a 5Ah 50C LiPo is rated for 250A, and so if you are only ever drawing 40A from it, thats only 16% of its rated current draw. So it may perform better than a Liion that is rated for 40A that is at 100% of its rated current draw.

Just an idea, I dont have much to back it up.

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56

Theyā€™re also often inexpensive and have a shorter cycle life, but come with connectors on them and can be used with balance chargers conveniently. They make sense for beginning builders.

57

I was more addressing his first question about LiPos appearing to get better range for the same capacity. Not sure why I included you in the quoted section lol sorry

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58

This :point_up_2:

On my MTB I had a range of 18-23km with 12s 8Ah 2 years ago.
Today I have 12s 18Ah and my range is about 25km, if I ride relaxed 30km, and like a girl 35km.

The difference, 2 years ago 50-60 motor amps and afraid of full throttle, today 100 motor amps and loving full throttle.

The range depends on the experience and riding style.

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59

That did cross my mind regarding there ā€œcā€ rating for their peak/constant discharge rates the brands like to brag about.
But then I thought, it couldnā€™t account for a 50% increase in Ah range. (5Ah lipo acts like 7.5+ Ah li-ion)
Who knows. To many factors, variables, maths and bs

60

My thinking is that most cells are only rated on their datasheet for the listed capacity at a certain (very low) discharge rate. So a cell like a LiPo that can handle high discharge better would be more likely to get closer to its rated capacity.

61

right. I was thinking it may be because beginning builders arenā€™t riding as hard.

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