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ALSO TM-B owner drains his bike to 5% and finds assist capped at Level 2
Early Launch Edition owner Aaron Draczynski ran his $4,500 TM-B toward empty to see if the drive-by-wire system would strand him, and he also found a battery drain at rest.
The test
At 5% charge, the $4,500 TM-B was limited to Level 2 assist [1][2]. Early Launch Edition owner Aaron Draczynski reached that point on purpose, because he wanted to see whether ALSO's drive-by-wire system would leave him stranded [1].
His experiment began at 31% battery charge [1]. The bike progressively restricted maximum assist as the battery drained [1].
How assist dropped
Between 23% and 13% charge, the maximum boost dropped from Level 8 to Level 5 as the bike conserved battery [1]. At 10% the bike was limited to Level 4, at 8% to Level 3, and at 5% to Level 2 [1].
The bike has no physical gears, no chain, and no derailleur [1]. It simulates gears with predefined software [1].
The ride home
The limit made hills hard. Even a slight incline made the bike feel permanently stuck in seventh or eighth gear [1]. That made the trip home through his hilly neighborhood a grueling ordeal [1].
The drain at rest
A second problem showed up when the bike sat unused. Left unplugged in a garage at about 70% charge, the bike fell to 40% the following evening and to 18% a day later [1].
The next morning the TM-B displayed a bike issue warning and a prompt to install the battery, even though the battery was installed [1]. Draczynski suspects the bike drains its battery at rest because it searches for a cellular signal that his garage does not have [1].
What the bike promises
The TM-B motor delivers 0.3g acceleration with zero delay from standstill to 28 mph [2]. Its regenerative braking recovers up to 25% of energy [2].
What this means for you
If you ride a TM-B, the bike restricts maximum assist as the battery drains, starting in his test at 31% charge [1]. Expect Level 5 between 23% and 13%, and Level 2 by 5% [1].
If your route has hills, even a slight incline can make the bike feel stuck in seventh or eighth gear at low charge [1]. If you park the bike unplugged, Draczynski's bike lost charge from about 70% to 18% over two days in a garage [1]. He suspects a cellular signal search is the cause [1].
Sources
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