How far can I go on one battery charge? This is a question asked by almost everyone who wants to buy an ebike or already owns one. And for good reason: the range determines whether you can commute to work relaxed, take spontaneous detours or whether you have to constantly keep an eye on the battery indicator during longer tours.
The good news is that modern ebikes now offer ranges between 40 and well over 200 kilometres. The bad news is that the actual range depends on so many factors that manufacturer specifications often confuse more than they help. Are you riding on flat terrain or in the mountains? Into a headwind or a tailwind? In eco mode or turbo mode? In this blog post, you’ll learn everything you need to know about ebike battery range.
1. How far can I ride my ebike?
2. Finding the right battery for every purpose
3. What affects the range of an ebike battery?
4. Find the right range with the Bosch range calculator
5. Extend your ebike battery range: range extenders, replacement batteries and chargers
6. What do I have to pay attention to when buying an ebike battery?
7. Our ebike battery recommendations
1. How far can I ride my ebike?
Choosing the right battery capacity is one of the most important decisions when buying an ebike. If you choose too small, you will constantly worry about range. If you choose too large, you will pay unnecessary money for capacity you will never need – plus extra weight that you will carry around with you every day. The good news is that by accurately assessing your usage profile, you can quickly find the ideal ebike battery size.
2. Finding the right battery for every purpose
The optimal range for your ebike battery depends directly on your riding behaviour. How, where and for how long do you ride your ebike? Here are our recommendations for common scenarios:
2.1 Commuting and short distances (10 km – 30 km daily)
If you mainly use your ebike for commuting to work and cover between 10 and 30 kilometres a day, an ebike battery with a capacity of 400 watt hours or 500 watt hours is perfectly adequate.
- Recommended battery size: 400 Wh – 500 Wh
- Range 400 Wh: 40 km – 100 km (depending on conditions)
- Range 500 Wh: 60 km – 120 km (depending on conditions)
2.2 Tours and intensive everyday use (day trips 80 km – 120 km)
If you regularly cycle long distances, go on ambitious day trips or frequently cycle in mountainous terrain, you should opt for an ebike with a long range.
- Recommended battery size: 625 Wh – 750 Wh
- Range 625 Wh: 60 km – 160 km
- Range 750 Wh: 75 km – 200 km
2.3 E-mountain biking (off-road tours with lots of elevation gain)
Inclines are range killers. Anyone riding an e-mountain bike needs an ebike with significantly higher battery power than someone who rides on flat terrain.
- Recommended battery size: 625 Wh – 750 Wh (or dual battery system)
- Range 750 Wh in the mountains: 50 km – 100 km with 1,000 – 2,000 metres of elevation gain
2.4 Multi-day ebike trips and long-distance cycling with luggage
If you are going on multi-day tours with luggage, you need maximum ebike range.
- Recommended battery size: 750+ Wh or dual battery
- Dual battery range (1,000+ Wh): 120 km – 250+ km (depending on terrain)
3. What affects the range of an ebike battery?
Why do batteries of identical size sometimes result in such large differences in range? The answer: the range of your ebike depends on a complex interplay of various factors. Some of these you can actively influence, such as the assistance level. Others, however, are beyond your control, such as external conditions like the weather.
3.1 Choice of support level
The selected riding mode is the factor that has the greatest influence on your range. Most ebike systems offer between three and five different modes.
- Eco / Eco+: minimal assistance (approx. 30% – 50% support), maximum range
- Tour: balanced assistance (approx. 60% – 100%), good compromise between range and comfort
- Sport / eMTB: powerful assistance (approx. 120% – 200%), significantly higher consumption
- Auto / Smart: powerful assistance (up to 340%), automatically adjusts assistance to terrain, speed and pedalling force
- Turbo / Boost: maximum assistance (up to 400%), highest energy consumption
Practical tip: Ride in Eco mode on flat sections and only switch to higher modes when riding uphill or into a headwind. This will help you get the most out of your battery. Use Auto or Smart modes when you want to ride in a relaxed manner or focus your attention on the traffic. The system will then automatically select the optimal compromise between assistance and range.
3.2 Body weight and payload
The higher the total load from riders, ebikes and luggage, the more energy the motor needs to assist you when pedalling. This is especially true when accelerating and on inclines. An additional weight of ten kilograms reduces the range by around five to eight percent.
3.3 Route profile and gradients
Inclines are the biggest ‘range killer’. Riding uphill requires many times more energy than riding on flat terrain – even with motor assistance.
- Flat terrain tour (100 km, 200 metres of elevation gain): 500 Wh is easily sufficient.
- Hilly terrain tour (80 km, 800 metres of elevation gain): 500 Wh is just enough
- Alpine tour (60 km, 1,500 metres of elevation gain): 500 Wh is tight, better to have 625+ Wh
Rule of thumb: for every 100 metres of elevation gain, an ebike battery needs between ten and fifteen additional watt hours, depending on the total weight and gradient.
3.4. Riding style and speed
Constant starting and braking, typical in city traffic, consumes significantly more energy than steady driving on country roads or cycle paths. Accelerating from a standstill is particularly energy intensive.
3.5 Air resistance
Air resistance increases with the square of the speed. At 25 km/h, it is already noticeable, and at speeds of more than 30 km/h, it becomes the dominant factor. This plays a particularly important role with speed pedelecs.
3.6 Temperature
Lithium-ion batteries are sensitive to temperature. Cold weather in particular affects them negatively.
Temperature effect:
- 20 °C – 25 °C: 100% battery performance
- 10 °C – 15 °C: approx. 95% battery performance
- 0 °C – 5 °C: approx. 80% – 85% battery performance
- below 0 °C: approx. 70% – 75% battery performance (even less at -10 °C)
This means that on winter tours with outside temperatures below freezing, ebike batteries lose between 15 percent and 25 percent of their range due to the cold alone – in addition to all other factors.
Why is that?
At low temperatures, the chemical processes in the battery slow down. The internal resistance increases and the available power decreases. You can find out more about battery care in winter in our blog post “Why does the range of an ebike battery drop in winter?”.
Other factors that influence the range:
- Terrain/topography
- Road surface (asphalt vs. gravel)
- Selected gear and appropriate assistance for the terrain
- Tyre pressure
- Riding type
- Seating position
- Clothing (wind resistance)
An ebike can assist you on routes ranging from 40 kilometres to more than 200 kilometres, depending on battery size and riding conditions. A model with a 500 watt-hour battery will easily take you 120 kilometres on flat terrain in eco mode. The same battery capacity may only be enough for 50 kilometres in the Alps in turbo mode. The difference is huge – which is precisely why general manufacturer specifications are often unhelpful.
Important to know: The range does not decrease linearly with the battery level. Within the last 20 percent of the battery charge, many systems automatically reduce the maximum assistance to conserve the battery. So it’s better to plan for a little buffer.
Ranges by battery size and manufacturer
🔋 Ebike battery range calculator
Range overview by manufacturer: Bosch, Shimano, Yamaha, Giant, TQ and Mahle
*** Please note that the calculated data are only estimates and approximations. As the exact results depend heavily on individual usage and external influences, the actual result may vary. We therefore accept no liability for the accuracy of the values determined.
4. Find the right range with the Bosch range calculator
Despite all the complexity, there are helpful tools that allow you to accurately estimate the battery performance of your ebike. These include, for example, the Bosch Range Assistant. This free online tool calculates the expected range of your ebike based on your individual parameters – and does so much more accurately than any general information.
5. Extend your ebike battery range: range extenders, replacement batteries and chargers
Sometimes even the largest battery is not enough – for example, on multi-day tours, Alpine crossings or when you simply want maximum flexibility. In these cases, there are various ways to extend the range of your ebike beyond the standard battery capacity.
Dual battery systems and range extenders
A dual battery system allows two batteries to be used simultaneously on an ebike. Both batteries are discharged in parallel and, depending on their size, can double the range.
Bosch DualBattery
- Two Bosch batteries combined (e.g. 2× Bosch PowerTube 625 Wh = 1,250 Wh | 2x Bosch PowerPack 800 Wh = 1,600 Wh)
- Both batteries are automatically discharged in parallel
- Range: up to 250+ kilometres under optimal conditions
- Ideal for emountain bikes, ecargo bikes, touring ebikes
Range Extender
A range extender is a small additional battery that is attached directly to the ebike or connected via an adapter to increase the capacity of the main battery.
- Capacity: usually 200 – 500 Wh, depending on the manufacturer and model
- How it works: it supports the main battery automatically or at the touch of a button when needed
- Range: additional 50 – 150 km, depending on riding style, terrain and assistance level
- Flexibility: easy to retrofit, often portable for use on the go
Practical tip: particularly useful for day trips or weekend tours where a second battery cannot be installed.
Range extenders for common ebike systems
Spare and second battery
Alternatively, there is the classic solution. This means simply taking a second battery with you to swap out.
Here’s how it works:
- Use up the first battery or alternatively use it down to 20% – 30%.
- Take the second battery out of your rucksack or bag.
- Swap the batteries, which takes approx. 30 – 60 seconds.
- Continue riding at full capacity.
Replacement and spare batteries for common ebike systems
6. What do I have to pay attention to when buying an ebike battery?
Battery capacity vs weight
More capacity means more weight – that is physically unavoidable.
Charging time is reduced by around 30 to 40 percent with a fast charger that charges at a charging current of six amps. A 625 Wh battery can then be fully charged in around three to three and a half hours.
Good to know:
- Most systems charge very quickly up to 80 percent (approx. 2 – 3 hours for 625 Wh).
- Charging the last 20 percent often takes longer.
- Charging to 80 percent is often sufficient; it does not always have to be 100 percent.
7. Our ebike battery recommendations
The higher the quotient of the number of watt hours and the weight of an ebike battery, the more efficiently it works. For you, this means optimum range in relation to the respective capacity. These batteries currently offer the highest energy density on the market:
Yamaha Simplo-Intube battery 630 Wh
- Manufacturer: Yamaha
- Capacity: 630 Wh
- Weight: approx. 3.8 kg
- Energy density: 166 Wh/kg
- Battery type: Yamaha Simplo-Intube battery
Giant EnergyPak Smart Integrated 625
- Manufacturer: Giant
- Capacity: 625 Wh
- Weight: approx. 3.6 kg
- Energy density: 174 Wh/kg
- Range extender compatible
Bosch PowerTube 750
- Manufacturer: Bosch
- Capacity: 750 Wh
- Weight: approx. 4.4 kg
- Energy density: 170 Wh/kg
Pictures: Bosch eBike Systems; KTM Sportmotorcycle GmbH; MAHLE GmbH; Shimano Europe B.V.; TQ-Systems GmbH; Elektrofahrrad24.de; Yamaha Motor Europe N.V.