I'm looking to get a PL350 and the local dealer has some batteries that have been returned with other kits and are supposedly certified by Bionx as being at least 90%. Since they're offering around a $500 discount on the battery, that seems like a very good deal. How will it work out in practice? Seems great if I can use a battery until it's at 30% or so. Not so good if I can only use it until 80%. Since I know next to nothing about ebikes and batteries, what's the deal? My commute is 30 miles a day so it's going to get a good workout even if I just leave it at 25% assist or even off most of the time.
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I've had a Bionx PL350 for years and the battery has only slightly less range than when it was new. I think you'd be safe with a certified 90% battery. With the discount I'd certainly go for it.
"we must be the change we wish to see in the world"
How much do you use it? My commute is 30 miles r/t so it is going to get a lot of use quickly. Since I do the commute now without an ebike I'm not planning on using the power all that much but it's going to get some use. I understand the big complaint of Bionx folks is the cost of replacing the battery.
You can use the battery until it won't hold a charge at all. You just won't have any range.
On my 350, when the battery was new, I got about 38 miles on a charge - I use level 2 pretty constantly on pretty flat routes. On level 1 it was probably about 50 miles.I weight 190 lbs. So YMMV.
After 5000 miles and a year and a half, the battery was down to 83% capacity as measured by Bionx. So maybe your battery will be down to about 62% after 6000 miles. That's one year if you commute 30 miles a day, 200 days a year.
If you use level 2 like I do, maybe you'll get 23 miles on a charge at 62% battery capacity and you'll have to recharge it at your work site to be able to get home. That's easy enough - I do that a lot on longer trips. Or use level 1 for the trip.
Bionx just told me they will refurbish my battery units with new cells for about $580 ( don't know if they were quoting American or Canadian dollars). So that's another option after you don't have enough juice left in your battery for round-trip commuting without recharging.
I just realize you say you'll only use the assist occasionally. So you might be happy with the battery down to 50% or less.
I've put about 2,000 miles on it.
Are you planning on doing 30 miles between recharges? This will subject the battery to some rather hard use. It would be better to charge at the 15 mile point if you can.
"we must be the change we wish to see in the world"
I had thought I would charge it once a day. Especially since I'm not planning on using it for much of the 30 miles. Is it really better to charge it after 15? That would mean buying a second charger to leave at work. That's over $100. Not a happy camper if I have to buy a second one.
As . sheakspear would say in modern day .
TO HOLD OR NOT TO HOLD ITS ...............CHARGE.. THAT .!!!! IS THE QUESTION WE SHOULD BE ASKING...
having to buy a charger for the other end seems crazy ..fork fork fork out .is all we seen to do
if these are not up to it why don't shops tell up that..
or at least be transparent ..kev
ps av not sleped all nite..moan moan.
Try charging once a day, and see how your battery does. It may be fine most days, but nearly completely discharging only on your rare "lazy" days, or on exceptionally windy days. If you find you have a nearly complete discharge every day, then you might consider that a second charger would significantly reduce the stress on the battery and allow it far longer total life.
That is, with a not too heavy commute where you need to either charge the battery 40% twice a day or 80% once a day, a second charger may not help, but if you have a too heavy commute for the battery, charging it 50% twice a day would probably give the battery much longer life than doing a complete discharge and 100% charge every day. If you do need nearly 100% capacity every day, then a second charger should save you money in the long run.
-- Alan
Ok then, I guess I wait and see how the commute goes. It should only need to be charged once a day though - hopefully I won't come close to draining it completely.
My thinking lately has shifted from buying the 90% Bionx kit to just getting the Trek Valencia+. It isn't all that more expensive really since I'd likely have to pay $150 or so just to have the kit installed properly on my old 7100. I am worried about the cost of a replacement battery but that should be three years down the pike or so. Hopefully I can just have the cells replaced.