Originally Posted by
vermontcathy
I don't get this. It's flat. It's a bicycle with multiple gears. You downshift a little and just plug along. If the bike only had one gear, ok maybe you could say people "have to" use the motor. But if you are in good enough shape to ride a regular bike up a slight incline (even if you're kind of slow doing it), you should be able to pedal this heavier bike on flats. Sure, if there is a very strong headwind, that might change things, but I'd think that's the exception, not the norm.
It might be an exception in YOUR neck of the woods, but it's NOT the exception in many places. Generally, Vermont has pretty sedate winds unless you're near the crest of hills.
There is no real way to tell when the battery is depleted 75%. Usually, at the very end of my commute, I say to myself, "Yeah, the motor seems to have a little less pep than at the beginning of the ride" but it is NOT totally drained. So I refuse to accept that I'm destroying my battery by using it this much.
No, there isn't any visual indication, but one can always check the voltage levels on the batteries. We still have excellent voltage on the batteries because we've been caring for them. I'll report on their levels again in a few months. Only time will tell whether your significantly shortening the life of your batteries, but I think the odds are quite high that you are.