So you love your electric bicycle, but wouldn’t it be nice if you could go just a bit farther on a charge? Ebike batteries are constantly being improved as new technology is developed, but it seems that no matter how far you can go, a little more ebike range is always better.
The good news is that there are a number of simple things you can do to improve your ebike range and eek out every last electron from your battery. While you can always upgrade parts on your electric bicycle to increase your range, simple riding behavioral changes can also have a huge impact on your ebike’s range and give you the best bang for your buck!
1. Go easy on the throttle
I know, it’s fun to twist the throttle all the way back and fly off into the sunset, or just tear away from the traffic light. But each time you accelerate you are using comparatively way more energy than just standard cruising. If you have a CycleAnalyst or other watt meter, you’ll see that cruising on flat ground might pull 5 or 10 amps, while accelerating can easily max you out at your controller’s limit, often 20 or 30 amps.
Instead of going full throttle when you want to accelerate, try to ease into the throttle and accelerate a bit slower. By taking a few seconds longer to get up to speed, you keep the amount of power used by your battery much lower. This not only leaves more energy in the battery for a longer ride, it also helps keep the battery cooler, which lets it use that same energy more efficiently. And better efficiency = better ebike range.
Check out my article about how you can increase your ebike range just by keeping your battery cool.
2. Try to pedal while you accelerate
Because acceleration is the heaviest single use of battery power on your electric bicycle, if you pedal for even a few seconds as you accelerate you can cut your energy usage during that phase by as much as half. That translates to some pretty big energy savings, especially if you are riding in a lot of stop and go traffic.
A lot of people get addicted to the throttle and don’t like to pedal, but think of it as a few seconds of free exercise that also extends your ebike range (and keeps you from having to pedal later when your battery runs down).
3. Coasting drastically increases your ebike range
When you know you’ll be coming to a stop ahead, such as before a traffic light or stop sign, let off the throttle in advance and coast to the stop. Riding full throttle until the moment you start braking is wasting precious battery energy. You have to come to a stop anyways, why not save your energy by cutting the throttle an extra 50 yards ahead of your stop?
It might add a few more seconds to your total trip time, but if you can’t live without those three or four seconds, perhaps your ebike range isn’t your biggest worry in life.
4. Slow down a bit (and enjoy life)
If you aren’t in a hurry and you aren’t trying to keep up with traffic for safety reasons, try slowing down just a tad. Even a couple miles per hour will make a significant decrease in the amount of energy you are using to maintain that speed.
Energy use vs speed isn’t linear, so dropping your speed by just 5% is actually saving a good deal more than 5% of your energy. In other words, slowing down a couple miles per hour can have a big affect on your ebike range.
5. Keep your tires pumped up
Tires that are kept at their maximum air pressure rating have less rolling resistance, meaning your battery wastes less energy getting you moving. I’m still trying to find a study of bicycle tire pressure vs energy usage, but similar studies conducted using car tires have consistently indicated an increase in range of about 3%.
If this data holds true for bicycles as well, that means if you have a current ebike range of 30 kilometers, keeping your tires maxed out could add an entire kilometer to your range. Who wouldn’t take an extra kilometer for free?
6. Use regenerative braking if your ebike has it
Renegerative braking on an electric bicycle is only possible with direct drive (gearless) hub motors, but if you have it, make sure you use it. And make sure you use it smart by braking ahead of time as you come up to red lights or stops signs so that the majority of braking can be done with the motor. To do this, only squeeze the brake lever enough to activate the regenerative braking and not enough to apply your brake pads to the rim or disc. Keep in mind this is only for when you have time to brake leisurely. If you need to stop quickly, of course make liberal use of your brakes!
On my bike I can get as much as 5% energy savings with regenerative braking. This means whatever my ebike range would have been, I can go 5% farther thanks to my regenerative braking gains.
7. Keep your battery fully charged whenever possible
Lithium batteries, like any battery, will obviously get the most range when they are completely topped off at 100% charge. You aren’t going to go as far on half a tank, so to speak.
Some people get by with just charging their battery once a week if they are only making short trips throughout the week. The problem with this method is that the battery sits in a partially discharged state for much of its life. This means that if you suddenly want (or need) to make a long trip, you could be in trouble.
My rule of thumb is “if you used your bike that day, charge it that night”.
When I come home from a ride, my battery generally goes right on the charger. This also helps me not forget to charge the night before and end up waking to a mostly discharged battery in the morning. That feeling isn’t the worst thing in the world, but it’s close.
8. Keep a second, smaller charger on your ebike
I like to use a powerful charger with a big cooling fan at home (even though my wife hates the noisy fan…) but I sometimes take a smaller charger with me if I know I’ll be out somewhere with a place to charge after a long trip. This just helps me keep my battery topped off. Even putting 10-20% back into your battery during the day will help keep the health of your battery up, not to mention adding 10-20% to your ebike’s range.
All of these tips should help you increase the range of your electric bike without breaking the bank. If you have the money and really want to increase your ebike’s range, there is no substitute for a second battery!
Micah,
I have an Evelo Aurora, 250w, Panasonic 36v, 17ah, with a Tonaro mid drive motor, 15 amp controller and a Nuvinci 360 rear cv hub. This company was the only one I found that offered the throttle only, pedal assist, no assist with a mid drive motor, Nuvinci hub, Rock Shock suspension and up to a 60 mile range with the battery upgrade!!!!! for 2500.00 after discount, retail 3500. I love the bike! I have been looking and researching on how to increase the speed and power for quite some time to no avail! I contacted Tonaro in China and they wouldn’t tell me how. I came upon your video on You Tube in my quest. I live in Brenham Tx and ride here as well as Austin and surrounding areas, Very Hilly!!! There are some areas that I just don’t have enough power. In addition to this as a result of researching how to “Tune” ebikes, my expectations for more power have increased. You are indicating that more battery and an upgrade on the controller can achieve this to some degree. Evelo started offering a 5oow motor 48v, 14.5ah upgrade after I made my purchase. I am suspecting it may be the same motor with a controller upgrade along with the battery. The motor gearbox pedal assembly bolt onto the frame as 1 unit. My thinking is to change out the controller and add to the battery or change out and upgrade, to 750 or 1000 the motor with another bolt on combo and battery upgrade. Would you be able to advise me on how to get this accomplished? I understand that the legal cruising speed is 20 mph, however, I would like the option of going 30 to 40 mph, off road of course, or in the event of an emergency. Your input and assistance is greatly appreciated!
Best regards,
Larryd
Hey Larry,
Unfortunately I think you’ll have to lower your expectations a bit. A 250W motor will never get you to 30 or 40 mph. You need at least 750W to get to 30 mph on an efficient bicycle setup. However, you can still eek some more speed and range out of that motor. It can surely handle 48V, though you need to check if the controller can handle it. For the hills you’re talking about, 48V will help. It gives you (theoretically) both 30% more power and 30% more speed, though you’re likely to see a bit less due to inefficiencies. The bummer is that you’ve got to buy a new battery (and likely controller) if you don’t feel comfortable opening up your battery and adding cells (and voiding the warranty in the process).
Hello. I just got here for the first time. I am 63, retired, live in rural southern Arizona (desert), where there are still places with greater than 30 miles between services. It was obvious that if I needed to recharge an e-bike out in the desert, I might simply”Self-Rescue/Self-Charge” the 36 volt battery coupled to an onboard charger, with a portable camping generator of 120 V, 1000 watts (800 continuous) while I read a book or take a nap. (HF sells these little 2 stroke generators fairly cheap, and they will easily fit a rear luggage rack.)
Is it possible to extend my range by running the generator into the charger while also travelling under battery power? 120V into the 36 Volt battery recharger (which does use 120V input) at first blush seems no different than this laptop I am using to communicate which has an internal battery but is charging/running simultaneously. I don’t see/hear of anyone running such a combination e-bike. The 2 stroke generator has a nominal run time of 5 hours. I could simply pedal home with a dead battery, but I am not getting any younger!
I don’t see why that wouldn’t work, good luck!
I just got a 800 watt 36v aotema brushless hub motor. With new lead acid batteries only going 8 to 10 mph and pedaling with the motor I can only go 3 to 4 miles before the batteries are almost dead. I had a 500 watt 36v and I got 18 miles at 8 t0 10 mph. Would changing the controller to a lower out put give me more mile range. I’m not really into speed. I live in a flat part of central Florida.
Yes, a controller with a lower power output will definitely increase range. More power eats battery much faster. Without any big hills in central Florida, you’d benefit from a somewhat lower power controller that would save more battery and boost your range.
That being said, 3-4 miles on new lead acid batteries doesn’t seem very far. If those are 5AH bricks, then that might be reasonable, but with common 10 or 12AH bricks, that is some fairly poor performance and I would suspect that there is some other inefficiency somewhere robbing you of battery power.
Lastly, and this is the most expensive option, but upgrading to a lithium battery will save weight and give you a better quality battery, both of which increase range.
Hey Florida863,
Greetings from zip code 32119!
Problem one is no mention of amphour rate of your pack.
Two is power corrupts, more power corrupts more!
Running wide open I pull almost 10Amps, at 16mph, if I back off to 12mph
I draw 5-6A! 4mph less is almost double the range!!!!
I suggest an inline ammeter, learn good habits, like pedal till you’re going 5-10mph etc, help it when you can, etc.
If you need help adding this etc, hit me up.
Hey Micah- I bought your DIY E-Bike Ebook yesterday and found it very helpful. I am a 64 years old 330 lb man and own an under-used Electra Townie with internal gears that I would like to convert to electric. I was thinking something like a Banang BBS02 mid-drive system would be a good choice to maximize hill-climbing capability taking advantage of the gearing. However in your Ebook you seemed to dismiss the “older” mid-drive technology and chose to discuss using a hub motor design for your first e-bike conversion. I am curious as to what your current thinking might be regarding how I should proceed with the Townie and heavy duty load. Thanks in advance for your help.
Ed Johnson
Cary, NC. USA
Hi Ed, thanks for the kind words about my book. The Electra Townie is a great bicycle and I’ve seen a number of people convert them with a Bafang BBS02 mid drive. In my book, I dismissed some of the older mid drive systems that were known to be inefficient and unreliable. However, I’m almost finished with an update to my book which will cover some new mid drives including the Bafang BBS02, which is a great option for mid drive conversions. It is decently strong, though the user still has to be careful about shifting to make sure they keep it in an efficient gear (i.e. not trying to climb hills in the highest gear). It’s also a great option for people that want to do some pedaling too, instead of just letting the motor do all of the work.