Falco e5.3 System Performance Report on Falco eCiti

I had an opportunity to ride Falco eCiti on June 17, and June 18, 2023 from Hancock, MD to Cumberland MD. I had driven up to Hancock the night before from Harrisonburg, VA to join my fellow riders. We did approximately 65 miles on June 17 and 50 miles on June 18. The riding conditions were less than ideal on the rail to trails because of previous day rains with many pit falls awaiting at various spots on the way. The trail had a major interruption on the way because of ongoing repairs that resulted us walking over bikes over steep and unpaved hills resulting a great workout but massive time delays to get to the final destination.  

One of the things I was interested to determine the 4-year old 36V battery range. I was trying to maintain level 2 throughout the ride and see how long did it take for the battery to last. With a new 36V battery I had recorded a 100 mile range before. With this battery I did about 40 miles before I had to switch the battery. For a 4-year old battery, I thought it was a descent performance. Read on to see where I switched the battery.

Potomac River Grill was our breakfast place. As we entered, we were greeted with loud country music. Place was busy and staff was courteous. I am on the right. Sanjeev is no the left and his dad in the middle.

I tried to keep my assist level to 2 throughout the ride.

In an hour of riding, I had consumed about 25% of the battery. It was not great but I could see how the battery was going to perform for the remaining charge. Unfortunately battery discharge is not a linear function. As the charge gets consumed, the miles covered gets reduced at a faster rate. For example, for the remaining 75% of the battery, I could only cover 28 miles.

Taking a break at Stickpile Hill Campsite. I am on the left, Sanjeev is on the right and his dad is in the middle.

Paw Paw tunnel was closed and that added almost 2-3 hours of uphill climb to take the detour. The slopes were steep and very rough. We had to walk the bikes to go over the tunnel.

I could have squeezed more out of the battery, But at Oldtown, MD, I decided to switch the battery to avoid having to switch in the middle of the ride.

Overall, June 17 ride was long and tough. Battery test was promising just to see how the batteries held up over the period of time. Day 2 ride details to be continued…