Priority Bicycles launched a battery extender for his or her widespread Current e-bike a number of weeks in the past and we have been thrilled after they requested if we needed to take one for a take a look at drive.
The Priority Bicycles Battery Extender doubles the battery capability from the manufacturing unit 500 Wh to a full 1kWh of capability. They achieved this by including a second detachable battery to the bike that mounts right into a customized rear rack. This new battery wires instantly into the bike for a seamless doubling of capability.
Disclaimer: Priority Bicycles offered the Battery Extender to the writer freed from cost for the needs of this overview.
Over the years, I’ve assembled and disassembled tons of of electrical bikes however I used to be nonetheless a bit apprehensive about pulling off manufacturing unit covers to wire in a second battery. Priority Bicycles offers a useful stroll via video depicting all the course of and after watching it, I used to be able to go.
The Battery Extender itself is basically a heavy responsibility rear bike rack designed to carry a detachable 500 watt-hour battery. A pigtail wire extends off the entrance of the rack, making it apparent the place {the electrical} connection should be made. Installing the Battery Extender begins off by putting in this rack onto the bike. That is achieved very like every other rack and is a straightforward matter of screwing within the 4 mounting screws to connect it to the bike body over the rear tire. Pro tip: take away the battery from the meeting by turning the important thing and pulling it to the rear earlier than beginning the set up.
With the Battery Extender securely mounted to the body, it’s time to get it wired up. Removing manufacturing unit covers to play with wiring would possibly sound daunting, however assured by classes gleaned from the set up video, I boldly eliminated the handful of screws overlaying the mid motor meeting.
Wiring the battery into the bike was so simple as promised. I disconnected a single connection inside the bike and plugged one finish of that into the brand new Battery Extender harness. Plugging the one different connection from the brand new harness into the now vacant connection on the bike and similar to that, it was time to place every part again collectively. After placing issues again collectively and including a number of zip ties to safe the brand new wiring in place, I plugged the charger for the bike into the brand new battery pack.
Charging the Battery Extender is straight ahead however might undoubtedly be extra streamlined. It has its personal charging port and should be charged individually from the Current’s built-in battery. It can be good to have the ability to merely plug the bike in as soon as and have each batteries charged, however this configuration does provide some further flexibility. The Battery Extender pack might be unlocked and faraway from the bike and charged by itself which is good for people commuting with the bike or to simply cost the battery up inside a home or condominium.
The Battery Extender additionally has its personal energy swap so you possibly can actually journey round realizing that you’ve a completely charged, electrically disconnected spare battery sitting under your rack within the occasion you want it. It’s nice for peace of thoughts and to know simply how a lot vary you even have left within the built-in battery and additional battery.
Taking the bike out for its first journey, its new heft of the rear finish of the bike took some getting used to. The Battery Extender provides 9 kilos to the bike, most of which is from the brand new battery itself. Adding this weight to the highest of the bike makes it a bit extra high heavy although I discovered this extra noticeable when transferring the bike round manually and didn’t discover it bothersome when using. It is good to have the choice so as to add a second battery because the potential use instances are huge ranging.
Adding a second battery to the again of the Current provides 574 Wh battery to the again of the bike, greater than doubling the electrically-assisted vary you possibly can journey with out having to cost up. A typical journey I do is to journey up into the mountains and again down, for a complete of about 45 miles. That’s sufficient to squeeze nearly each little bit of juice out of the frame-integrated 500Wh battery on the Current and left us with a completely charged Battery Extender. It’s simple to think about desirous to journey farther than a single battery permits although it’s admittedly a bit more durable to truly journey that far.
Alternately, cranking the pedal help from the standard setting of 1 or 2 to a better degree places much less pressure in your legs which additionally lets you journey farther. For instance, in case you’re usually placing in half of the hassle to maneuver the bike on an help degree 2, growing the help from the motor to 4 would possibly minimize that in half, letting you journey farther than your legs would in any other case be capable to.
For those that don’t have easy accessibility to a charger for the bike, it is likely to be good to have sufficient vary on the bike to simply journey it to work or college and again for a whole week and solely cost it on the weekends. It opens up new choices and round these components, we’re large followers of enabling extra folks to make use of extra electrical autos extra of the time.
The Priority Current Battery Extender retails for $799 which incorporates the built-in rear rack. For extra details about the Priority Current Battery Extender or to order one, head over to Priority Bicycles’ web site.
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