40-80km. There are a lot of factors that come into play to determine the exact range of a battery: 

• Hills are bad, flat is good - It consumes more power to constantly go up & down than driving on a flat surface.

• Stops are bad, speed is good - It consumes more power to constantly stop and accelerate again (for example at red lights in a city).

• Cold is bad - Li-On batteries lose capacity quicker in a colder environment (same as if you used your smartphone on ski slopes before).

• Heavy is bad - rider’s + accessory weight has a big effect on range.

• Standstill is bad - If you don’t use your bike for 10 days in a row, it will have consumed 5-10% of battery while on standby, meaning 5-10% less range. 

• Time and usage are bad - Batteries slowly lose capacity over time, just like your iPhone which doesn’t last one full day on a charge anymore after a few months/years. The exact rate of degradation depends on many factors as well: how often you use the bike, how you store the battery, the maximum & minimum % at which you charge it, etc.

To make the analogy with a car: you will consume more gas (and get less range) if you are driving in a city vs. cruising at 90 km/h, if you are climbing the Alps vs. driving in flat Netherlands, if air conditioning is on... The reasons behind this are slightly different with a Li-On battery, but it’s the same idea.

Side note: autonomy is expected to be slightly lower on C1+ bikes than C2 or C3 with the same battery, because the assistance settings are more aggressive on Cowboy 1, which uses more battery. We haven’t tested this thoroughly, though. We should communicate that the C2/3 battery has 40% more capacity than the C1 battery, meaning a customer can expect 40% more range.

Side note 2: the "worse case" is expected to be worse on C4 than it was on previous models (due to higher torque at low speeds). This will be particularly visible in the cold conditions linked with the winter season where the first bikes are delivered. 

For now, same battery with slightly different color and coating. 

Note that the new battery is more very sensitive to finger smudges and scratches (not much that can be done about it, this is normal). Coating was changed to match the color of the frame better.

Docking should be much better, connector should be in a much better position. Less BIT 14/15 and battery disconnection issues expected.

Battery life in general is described as the number of charge cycles it takes to arrive at 70% of the original battery capacity. For COWBOY this is 500 cycles, meaning up to 35.000 km (500*70) before hitting this 70%, assuming you discharge the battery fully before recharging it - which isn't the recommended approach.

To maximise the battery's expected lifetime: 

• Avoid completely discharging your battery and charging your battery. For example, charging from 10 to 90% every time will multiply battery life by 10 (but obviously diminish autonomy by 20%).

• Store the battery in a dry environment between 10 and 25°C, avoiding direct sunlight on the shell.

Cleaning the battery should always be done with something dry, no water! If using a simple cloth is not enough, use rubbing alcohol. 

Cowboy 2/3/4: 

• Continuous green : no battery plugged in OR battery full

• Continuous red: Battery charging

• NO LED = charger not properly plugged in or faulty

Cowboy 1: 

• Blinking green : no battery plugged in or a protection is activated (needs to disconnect battery and wall plug for 10 seconds to reset the protection)

• Continuous red: battery charging

• Continuous green: battery charged

• No LED: not plugged in

• Blinking red: error while charging the battery

What's the solution? 

• We can add a plastic spacer of 0.8 mm in thickness behind the battery connector on the bike side, on battery connectors in good condition (both on the bike and the battery side). 

• This spacer should move the connector just enough to improve the docking so that the battery is far less likely to disconnect slightly when plugged into the bike. 

• This solution is only possible on Cowboy 3, Cowboy 2 (even if less likely to be needed) and now sometimes on Cowboy 4 (also less likely as we already installed one in the production line but can still happen). 

• This spacer is now preinstalled on all bikes produced since July 1st, 2021.

Which issues can be solved this way?

This solution is expected to solve problems with the docking of the battery.

These issues will mostly be: 

• (Most Likely) Battery Disconnection While Riding, ie. the bike shuts off on its own, mostly on bumps. It could also be linked to bikes turning on on their own (ie. the battery disconnects then reconnects in such a way that manual unlock gets triggered).

• Modbus down linked with Assistance Failure; -1% SoC (so no battery charge information in the app) and -1.00 km trip distance in our back-end. 

• Bit 14-15 / BATT TICKING (see below) -> July 2021 update: First try to solve the problem with the usual steps (charge the battery and confirm the LED turns red). Install the spacer (+change battery & connector if needed, see below) as a second stage solution, i.e. if there is a repeat BIT 14-15 / BATT TICKING appearing regularly, especially on Cowboy 3. The Cowboy CS team can easily check for this BIT 14-15 / BATT TICKING, feel free to sync with them.

If you see multiple of the above happening, that increases the need for a spacer. 😊

A good tip is to ask the customer to test the bike while "forcing" the docking to get better. We can do this by pushing the battery closer to the front of the bike, either with his hands, with a few rubber bands or with cable clamps. If the issue is (mostly) gone, we probably should add the battery connector spacer.

These problems with mostly occur on Cowboy 3, where the docking was weakened by the theft-proof design of the locking tongue. It could also happen on Cowboy 2 but it should be much less likely.

Note that in theory, there are no negative side effects on adding the spacer when it's not strictly needed. Yet we should try to only use it when needed, to avoid unnecessary costs and repeat repairs.

• • Models impacted: All models with the latest battery design (C1+, C2, C3). Linked to a specific batch of batteries, produced H2 2020.

  • Symptoms:

    • On a brand new bike: 

      1. Customer can activate his bike (after unplugging it once to remove the deep sleep mode), and unlock it. He will typically see a 35-36% SoC.

      2. The first time he tries to charge it, the LED turns green within a few seconds, then the battery won't charge/uncharge anymore. If the customer tries to unlock the bike, he will usually get a "Battery Disconnected or not plugged in" message in the app.

    • This issue can also happen on bikes that aren't brand new. In that case, look out for the combination of: 

      1. LED turning to green within a few seconds, despite the battery not being full.

      2. No power provided from the battery anymore - "Battery Disconnected or not plugged in" message often displayed in the app.

      3. Not a zombie - At least one trip done in the last 30 days (see Battery - Battery Can't Be Recharged: "Zombie Battery", Old(/New) Bike for more detail)

  • Root cause: A protection (called "pwrsave") activates itself within the battery. This is linked to a component failure from the BMS. 

  • Countermeasure: ship new battery and get battery back. Issue should be fixed for good on the current spare batteries.

Issue: Battery charge not shown in the app, sometimes combined with assistance failure when the issue is present. 
In the back-end, we see a -1.0% battery state of charge on some/all trips, usually with a Modbus Down error message. 

Root Cause and solution: No communication with the battery is off, which can be due to: 

• If the issue is intermittent: a poor connection between the battery and the bike (due to dirt at the connector, or battery micro-disconnections). We can attempt a battery spacer installation on C2/3. 

• If the issue is permanent: probably a battery replacement required. 

Merger of 3 old tags: 

• Light - Rear - Rear Light Doesn't Work While Bike is On

• Battery - Rear Light Stays On When Battery is Disconnected

• Light - Rear - Rear Light Stays On When Battery is Connected (Bike or Charger)

Models impacted: all

Symptom: The rear light doesn't work as it should. This issue can take different forms: 

1. The rear light remains OFF while the front light turns on normally

2. The rear light remains ON, either when the bike is locked, when the battery is charging or outside the bike competely.

Root cause: Broken component on the rear light, which prevents it from working correctly. 

Countermeasure: Arrange for a new battery to be shipped to the customer

Preferred interaction: Parts shipment

• • Models affected: all bikes with the latest battery (C1+, C2, C3)

  • Symptom: Slight chemical/burn smell from the battery when removing from the bike or from the charger

  • Root cause: This is pretty normal, it's mostly linked to a bit of humidity drying out inside the connectors. As long as the smell is light and can't be detected from >20 cm, this should be fine.
    Our battery supplier inspected a battery we had recovered over this, they confirmed that its function is 100% ok and there is no safety risk.

  • Countermeasure: 

    • Inform the customer that this is normal

• • When can it happen: When the battery is below 0 degrees.

  • Countermeasure: warm the battery up, then plug it into the charger. The LED should turn red.