Riding an e-bike without a battery – is that possible?
In principle, it is of course possible to continue riding with a discharged battery or to use the e-bike with a removed battery. The question is – does it make sense?
On average, you can achieve about 60 – 80 km range with an e-bike battery, depending on the model. Several factors play a role: the weight of the rider and the bike, headwind, gradient and road condition, power of the motor and transmission, etc.
If the battery is empty, you can continue to ride without assistance. The bike can still be pedalled and only a certain percentage is lost to the motor’s gearbox when pedalling. With a newer model and good gears, this is no problem. Only when going uphill does the weight of the e-bike become noticeable. An e-mountain bike weighs about 24 kg including the battery. The battery itself weighs around 3 kg. If you want to ride the bike without the battery, you should remove the battery (if possible) to save the said 3 kg of weight.
Tip: Even a small amount of motor support has a big effect. It is best to take the battery with you and set it to the lowest level. In most cases this is the Eco mode. This saves a lot of battery power and makes driving fun again. Driving on the lowest setting is comparable to driving without a drive.
Preventing the motor from recuperating
When the battery stops providing support while riding, pedalling uses some of the energy to charge the battery (the motor recuperates). This makes pedalling more difficult. If, on the other hand, you switch off the motor, pedalling also becomes easier. So when riding without battery support, always switch off the motor.
Further routes should be well planned to avoid an empty battery. If you like to ride long distances, e.g. when bikepacking, you can invest in an additional battery and thus extend the range enormously.
Most e-bikes have many different modes from Turbo to Eco. Shift down a gear and extend the battery life enormously. The exact range can be calculated with our range calculator.
There are now many e-bike filling stations throughout Europe where you can recharge your batteries.
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