Electric Bikes - Bionx pl 350 range?

I am wondering about the range of a bionx pl 350. I would like to use it on a Long Wheelbase Recumbant. I was trying to figure out if it will go as far distance wise at a slow speed as it does at a fast speed. For example. If it will go 23 miles on level 4 at 20 miles an hour will it do the same 23 miles at 10 miles an hour? Do you have to push it with the peddals to 20 mile an hour to get the full range? It says level 1 will get you 62 miles. Would that have to be at 20 mph? Or would the battery last 6 hours just peddling 10 mph in level 1?

Thanks

Hey. I'm glad you posted. :) I hope you read my response to you. I don't have much to add at this time, but some other Bionx users might.

Generally, the slower you travel, the lower your wind resistance. As you go faster, you need an increasing amount of energy to fight wind resistance. For example, to increase and maintain speed from 20 mph up to 25 mph, you need almost double the power. If you're going for economy, the slower the better.

The levels indicate the level of assistance added to your pedaling effort. If you pedal, you will go much farther using level one than using level four, on available battery assist.
On a 25 mile trip using level 2 and towing a tag along bike with my son on it, we weighed in at a hefty 330lbs and the entire trip used about 3 bars on the battery indicator - almost half.
On the way to work I keep it at level 4, for speed, and go about 5 miles in 15 minutes. The round trip uses all but 2 bars on the battery.
Using just the throttle, on level ground, the motor will take you to 19 mph, with no problems. You will slow down considerably on a hill - the steeper the hill and the heavier you are - the slower you go.
I imagine using just the throttle, with no pedaling, on level ground, the range would be something closer to 10-15 miles.
I never checked but I don't think the Bionx throttle is graduated. I think it is either on or off - full power or no power.

First ride on my PL-350 equipped Motobecane Cafe Sprint on Level 4 used a little less than half the battery capacity for about thirteen miles. I had a good headwind for at least half the ride, and the Cafe Sprint is a flatbar road bike with 32x700c Marathon Pluses.

Have fun. If you are interested in removing the speed limiter this is how it's done, if you have not already done so.

The instructions are:
Press and hold the mode and chrono buttons for about three seconds
The display should show four zeros. Use the a-key to change the first numeral to a 3.
Use the mode key to get to the next numeral.
Repeat until the code entered his 3773. At this point, the display should show Max alternating with Speed on the LCD. The number displayed should be 1. Use the g-key to change this to a zero. Use the mode key to get out of the menu. Your maximum speed problems should be a thing of the past.

Here is a list of many of the BionX's codes and what they do.

2001: KM or Miles
2002: Generative braking On or Off
2003: Time Last with Battery
2004: Set Clock
2005: Wheel Size
2006: Programming Brake Sensor (part of generative breaking)
2007: Polarity Throttle (0-5 volts or 5-0 volts)
3771: Wheel Size (different than 2005)
3772: Diagnostic Mode
3773: Speed Limit On or Off
3775: Throttle Max Speed (default is actually off, surprisingly enough)
3776: Speed that Motor will Start (default is 3km, if you set lower..the motor may start running while you are pushing/walking your bike and ride off without you for a bit)
5000: Full System Reset (highly suggest not doing this...doesn't restore the standard defaults, it actually disables just about everything to the lowest settings)
1976: Motor Direction (clockwise or counterclockwise, suggest that you don't change this or your tire will start reversing when the motor kicks in)
1234: Sensor Speed Signal (1 - slow and 5 - fast)
1970: Configuration activation backlight and DCDC automatic
0007: Sensor Signal gain, 0.1 to 4.0 (high means it is more sensitive to your input/more responsive)
0008: Configuration of extra assistance (1.0 to 4.0...I increased this and the system seems to put more assistance per watt of effort I do)
0041: activation of the I2C (not sure what that means)

I weigh 200 Lbs and have the Bionx350 on a Giant comfort bike. I have nerve damage in my left leg, so some days i can use it as assitance, other days it has to do all the work. If i use it 100% hand throttle i get about 3 miles range. If i mix hand throttle and peddling i get about 18 miles, and if i only use at a cruising pace, I have gotten as much as 30 miles out of it. My best run was 30 miles going up and down NYC Hudson river bike path from one end to the other (and by no means is it flat). Interestingly if a descent is fairly matched to a climb, the batteries will be restored to almost where they were before the climb.

One ride i went from The Hudson Bike path, across the Brooklyn bridge. Going up the bridge the batteries took a huge hit, but coming down on the brooklyb side, they were 100% recharged. i came up the manhatten bridge and back to the hudson with some life left in the batteries.

Once you get a feel for the battery pack, and how your bike responds to your riding method, you can manage the charge very well.

The big killer is starting off from a dead stop. I realy love it as hill assist.

The sweet spot seem to be 12 mph.

nipper

Thanks, I used the adjustment to the controller this morning on the way into work. Not really faster, but the annoying on/off surge is gone and that makes a huge difference.

Interestingly if a descent is fairly matched to a climb, the batteries will be restored to almost where they were before the climb.

One ride i went from The Hudson Bike path, across the Brooklyn bridge. Going up the bridge the batteries took a huge hit, but coming down on the brooklyb side, they were 100% recharged. i came up the manhatten bridge and back to the hudson with some life left in the batteries.

nipper

Hey nipper, something sounds fishy about the state of charge (SOC) readings you are getting. I've not heard of any batteries that can take a charge at near the same rate as they will gladly discharge, not without a hit to longevity anyway. That translates into no way regeneration could put the same amount of energy back into the pack on the downhill as was removed on the uphill, unless it's a way long downhill that takes a long, long time.

I'm not saying your report is untrue, I just don't believe what the meter is telling you.

It's a longer downhill ramp then an uphill going from manahttan to brooklyn.


Long island is generally lower then that piece of rock in the river :). But as far as reality and the effect it has on the ride, it puts the battery to full charge, and thats all i care about.

nipper

My experience. I have a Bionx pl 350 mounted on a Burley Koosah long wheel base recumbent. I am a heavy rider 250#+ with a big hill to start the ride. My commute is 9 miles one way. At this time I do not have a charger at work so I do the whole trip on one charge. At the end of day I am usually down to one or two bars of battery life. I have not wanted to completely discharge the battery so I have not ever gone any further than the 18 miles of my commute.

I use level 4 assist to get up the hill and it will knock off two bars of charge in the first 10 min of my ride. I maintain around 12 MPH on the uphill and 18-20 on the rest of the trip. I use level 3 most of the time. Surprisingly I have noticed very little difference in the amount of charge left when I experiment with higher or lower assist levels. One thing to keep in mind is the amount of assist reduces as you approach 20 MPH regardless of what level you select. You can be at level 4 and pedaling fairly hard to maintain speed in a headwind and if you check the amount of assist it might be only 2 bars. This is about the same amount of assist that you would see at level 1 at a slower speed. I actually like this feature and would not want to disable it. I Much of my ride is on an urban commuter bike paths 18-20MPH allows me to fit in with the flow of traffic very nicely.