How We Test Electric Bikes

"The goal of our Range Test is to determine how far an e-bike can travel on a single charge of its battery in real-world conditions. This test consists of two separate evaluations which we perform on the local paved trail system in our home city of St. George, Utah. For each test, we pedal a fully-charged e-bike until its battery expires."

"On bikes with cadence sensors, we use relaxed pedaling to ensure that the motor's power is not overtaken by our test rider's effort. When dealing with torque sensors, we adapt our effort to the sensor and motor. In low assist levels, we pedal consistently but casually, while in high assist levels, our pedaling may range from relaxed to active, depending on how the motor behaves and how we expect an average consumer to pedal the bike."

The Range Test measures how far an e-bike can travel on a single battery charge under real-world conditions. Two evaluations are performed on the local paved trail system in St. George, Utah, pedaling a fully charged e-bike until the battery expires. One test uses the highest PAS setting for faster speeds and quicker battery drain; the other uses the lowest useful PAS to maximize distance. The testing adapts to sensor type: relaxed pedaling on cadence-sensor bikes and variable effort on torque-sensor bikes. Distance, average speed, elevation gain, and elapsed time are recorded. Results produce realistic minimum and maximum ranges and serve to compare manufacturer claims, acknowledging many influencing variables.

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