HOW FAR CAN I RIDE WITH MY E-MTB?
THE VARIABLES
THE EXAMINER
Maurice works for FOCUS. He is responsible for social media and our athletes. In social media, people wonder how far they can ride with their e-MTBs. Maurice wants to answer these questions, but there are a lot of variables that influence the reach of the battery. The most important ones: weight, temperature, assist mode and terrain. Quite a challenge. But instead of not answering and being frustrated, Maurice starts an e-MTB field test with his athletes. How do weight, temperature, assist mode and terrain influence the reach of an e-MTB?
Three riders, three very different weights. The riders stay together on a defined test track. They ride in "Eco" mode (lowest support) until the battery of the e-MTB dies. How much does the weight actually change the reach of their e-MTBS?
RIDERS AND E-BIKES
THE E-MTB TEST TRACK
79,8 kg / 106,35 kg / 129,8 kg
MODE: ECO
RIDING IN A GROUP INFLUENCES THE REACH MORE THAN WEIGHT
Riding together influences the reach of your e-MTB more than your weight. If you adapt to the speed of the slowest in your group (in our case also the heaviest), you automatically don't push as hard and your ride is unsteadier. That implies that the engine consumes more energy, because it supports more. That might be the reason why the gap in distance between our riders wasn't as big as their weight difference suggested.
THE FUN RIDING TOGETHER BEATS IT ALL
We still highly recommend to ride in a group, even if you are light weight and strong and might sacrifice a bit of your reach. But the fun riding your e-bikes together beats it all.
EXTEND YOUR GROUP RIDE WITH THE T.E.C. PACK
Your group just can't get enough of riding together? Get T.E.C. packs and double the capacity of your e-MTBs up to 756 Wh.
HOW MUCH FUN IS AN E-MTB?
How does the temperature influence my reach?
One rider, two very different temperatures. We simulate hot and cold conditions in a climate chamber and make one test run each. The test person rides the e-bikes in "Boost" mode (highest support) until the batteries are empty. In which condition does the battery last longer?
THE CLIMATE CHAMBER
The German Aerospace Center (DLR) is based in Stuttgart, Germany and offers a climate chamber to simulate all kinds of temperature and weather conditions. Besides supporting our experiment they do research in aviation, space travel, energy concepts, traffic and digitalization.
RIDER AND E-BIKE
Rider: Ben
Weight: 78 kg
Rider level: Rocky Balboa
Bike: JAM² 9.8 Drifter
Weight: 19,80 kg
Capacity: up to 756 Wh
One rider, two similar bikes in a climate chamber. Two temperatures to ride in: -5 Grad Celsius and 25 Grad Celsius
-5°C / +25°C
MODE: BOOST
The temperature of the battery at the start of your ride influences your reach the most
It is not the outside temperature, but the temperature of the battery at the start of your ride that mostly influences your reach. This is the reason why the reach at +25°C exceeded the reach at -5°C by more than 18 %.
Store and charge your e-bike inside
The battery should not be too cold at the start of your ride. Once you ride your e-MTB, the battery heats up quite quickly, even in cold surroundings. If you can manage to start your ride with a warm battery during winter time, you will not face big losses in your reach.
Ride even longer with the T.E.C. pack
Double your battery capacity with the T.E.C. pack. 756 Wh for all weather conditions. Why did we not use the T.E.C. pack in this test? Well, the climate chamber was only available for one day.
HOW MUCH FUN IS AN E-MTB?
One rider, three similar bikes on a defined test track. One test run with each assist mode: "Eco" (lowest support), "Trail" (mid-level support) and "Boost" (highest support). How far can the athlete ride in each assist mode?
Rider an e-bike
Rider: Fabian Scholz
Weight: 70 kg
Rider level: World's fastest engineer
Bike: FOCUS SAM² 6.9
Travel: 170 mm
Capacity: up to 756 Wh
ECO / TRAIL / BOOST
"Eco" mode almost doubles the reach of "Boost" mode
In our field test, the athlete rode in "Eco" mode nearly twice the distance than in "Boost" mode. But he sacrificed more than 4 km/h of average speed.
Use a smart mix of all modes
"Boost" is the most fun – but use a smart mix of all modes to make the fun last longer.
Don't worry about reach at all and get a T.E.C. pack
If you want to double the reach the easy way – simply install the T.E.C Pack and make it 756 Wh of battery capacity.
HOW MUCH FUN IS AN E-MTB?
One rider, two similar bikes on a defined test track. First test run is going down the gravel road and up the single trail. For the second test run we change the direction and go down the trail and up the gravel road. Each test ride is run in "Boost" mode (highest support). Does it make any difference in reach on which terrain you ride?
GRAVEL DOWN / TRAIL UP vs. TRAIL DOWN / GRAVEL UP
MODE: BOOST
Rider and e-bike
Rider: Olly Wilkins
Weight: 76 kg
Rider level: Lord of loam
Bike: FOCUS SAM² 6.9
Travel: 170 mm
Capacity: up to 756 Wh
The terrain influences your personal impact and therefore your reach
Apparently, in our field test there is no big difference in distance between the two runs. You expect the trail to consum more due to its surface. But it is even the other way around. Up the gravel and down the trail consumed a bit more battery capacity. Why? It is not only the terrain you are riding on, it is also your riding style that influences the reach. Riding up and down a challenging trail requires body work. If you go up a trail, your body works much more than going up a gravel road. That means more work for you, but less work for your engine. If you go down the gravel road you freewheel much more than down the trail. There you keep pushing and pedaling which also consumes battery capacity.
Ride more trails whether up or down
Simply ride more trails. That's what our FOCUS SAM² is made for. It is much more fun and will not affect your reach too much.
Extended trail adventures? Use the T.E.C. pack
If you decide to go for the long haul – just click on the T.E.C Pack and enjoy the 756 Wh of battery capacity.
