--- title: "ALSO TM-B owner drains his bike to 5% and finds assist capped at Level 2" description: "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…" url: https://cars.skoop.news/someone-ran-rivians-pedal-by-wire-e-bike-out-of-battery-and--56f915/ published: 2026-10-30T07:29:14.799476-04:00 modified: 2026-10-30T07:29:14.799493-04:00 section: "Cars & EVs" publisher: "skoop.news" language: en keywords: ["Level", "Early Launch Edition", "Aaron Draczynski", "TM-B", "ALSO"] hashtags: ["#EarlyLaunchEdition", "#AaronDraczynski", "#Level", "#cars", "#ev"] image: https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9d/Diesel-Rangierlok_RhB_Tm_2-2_115_%28Sch%C3%B6ma%29_in_Ilanz_%282014%29.jpg/1280px-Diesel-Rangierlok_RhB_Tm_2-2_115_%28Sch%C3%B6ma%29_in_Ilanz_%282014%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail --- # 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. Published 2026-10-30 · Updated 2026-10-30 · Cars & EVs, [skoop.news](https://skoop.news/) ## In brief - At 5% charge, the $4,500 TM-B was limited to Level 2 assist [[1]](https://electrek.co/2026/10/29/someone-ran-rivians-pedal-by-wire-e-bike-out-of-battery-and-things-got-weird/) [[2]](https://www.gadgetreview.com/rivians-e-bike-spin-off-is-a-pedal%e2%80%91by%e2%80%91wire-system-that-works-like-a-tesla). - Between 23% and 13% charge, the maximum boost dropped from Level 8 to Level 5 as the bike conserved battery [[1]](https://electrek.co/2026/10/29/someone-ran-rivians-pedal-by-wire-e-bike-out-of-battery-and-things-got-weird/). - The limit made hills hard. Even a slight incline made the bike feel permanently stuck in seventh or eighth gear [[1]](https://electrek.co/2026/10/29/someone-ran-rivians-pedal-by-wire-e-bike-out-of-battery-and-things-got-weird/). ## The test At 5% charge, the $4,500 TM-B was limited to Level 2 assist [[1]](https://electrek.co/2026/10/29/someone-ran-rivians-pedal-by-wire-e-bike-out-of-battery-and-things-got-weird/) [[2]](https://www.gadgetreview.com/rivians-e-bike-spin-off-is-a-pedal%e2%80%91by%e2%80%91wire-system-that-works-like-a-tesla). 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]](https://electrek.co/2026/10/29/someone-ran-rivians-pedal-by-wire-e-bike-out-of-battery-and-things-got-weird/). His experiment began at 31% battery charge [[1]](https://electrek.co/2026/10/29/someone-ran-rivians-pedal-by-wire-e-bike-out-of-battery-and-things-got-weird/). The bike progressively restricted maximum assist as the battery drained [[1]](https://electrek.co/2026/10/29/someone-ran-rivians-pedal-by-wire-e-bike-out-of-battery-and-things-got-weird/). ## How assist dropped Between 23% and 13% charge, the maximum boost dropped from Level 8 to Level 5 as the bike conserved battery [[1]](https://electrek.co/2026/10/29/someone-ran-rivians-pedal-by-wire-e-bike-out-of-battery-and-things-got-weird/). At 10% the bike was limited to Level 4, at 8% to Level 3, and at 5% to Level 2 [[1]](https://electrek.co/2026/10/29/someone-ran-rivians-pedal-by-wire-e-bike-out-of-battery-and-things-got-weird/). The bike has no physical gears, no chain, and no derailleur [[1]](https://electrek.co/2026/10/29/someone-ran-rivians-pedal-by-wire-e-bike-out-of-battery-and-things-got-weird/). It simulates gears with predefined software [[1]](https://electrek.co/2026/10/29/someone-ran-rivians-pedal-by-wire-e-bike-out-of-battery-and-things-got-weird/). ## The ride home The limit made hills hard. Even a slight incline made the bike feel permanently stuck in seventh or eighth gear [[1]](https://electrek.co/2026/10/29/someone-ran-rivians-pedal-by-wire-e-bike-out-of-battery-and-things-got-weird/). That made the trip home through his hilly neighborhood a grueling ordeal [[1]](https://electrek.co/2026/10/29/someone-ran-rivians-pedal-by-wire-e-bike-out-of-battery-and-things-got-weird/). ## 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]](https://electrek.co/2026/10/29/someone-ran-rivians-pedal-by-wire-e-bike-out-of-battery-and-things-got-weird/). 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]](https://electrek.co/2026/10/29/someone-ran-rivians-pedal-by-wire-e-bike-out-of-battery-and-things-got-weird/). Draczynski suspects the bike drains its battery at rest because it searches for a cellular signal that his garage does not have [[1]](https://electrek.co/2026/10/29/someone-ran-rivians-pedal-by-wire-e-bike-out-of-battery-and-things-got-weird/). ## What the bike promises The TM-B motor delivers 0.3g acceleration with zero delay from standstill to 28 mph [[2]](https://www.gadgetreview.com/rivians-e-bike-spin-off-is-a-pedal%e2%80%91by%e2%80%91wire-system-that-works-like-a-tesla). Its regenerative braking recovers up to 25% of energy [[2]](https://www.gadgetreview.com/rivians-e-bike-spin-off-is-a-pedal%e2%80%91by%e2%80%91wire-system-that-works-like-a-tesla). ## 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]](https://electrek.co/2026/10/29/someone-ran-rivians-pedal-by-wire-e-bike-out-of-battery-and-things-got-weird/). Expect Level 5 between 23% and 13%, and Level 2 by 5% [[1]](https://electrek.co/2026/10/29/someone-ran-rivians-pedal-by-wire-e-bike-out-of-battery-and-things-got-weird/). If your route has hills, even a slight incline can make the bike feel stuck in seventh or eighth gear at low charge [[1]](https://electrek.co/2026/10/29/someone-ran-rivians-pedal-by-wire-e-bike-out-of-battery-and-things-got-weird/). If you park the bike unplugged, Draczynski's bike lost charge from about 70% to 18% over two days in a garage [[1]](https://electrek.co/2026/10/29/someone-ran-rivians-pedal-by-wire-e-bike-out-of-battery-and-things-got-weird/). He suspects a cellular signal search is the cause [[1]](https://electrek.co/2026/10/29/someone-ran-rivians-pedal-by-wire-e-bike-out-of-battery-and-things-got-weird/). ## Sources 1. [Someone ran Rivian’s pedal-by-wire e-bike out of battery and things got weird](https://electrek.co/2026/10/29/someone-ran-rivians-pedal-by-wire-e-bike-out-of-battery-and-things-got-weird/) — Electrek 2. [Rivian's E-Bike Spin-off Is a Pedal‑by‑Wire System That Works Like a Tesla - Gadget Review](https://www.gadgetreview.com/rivians-e-bike-spin-off-is-a-pedal%e2%80%91by%e2%80%91wire-system-that-works-like-a-tesla) — Gadget Review Image: Photo: JoachimKohler-HB / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Diesel-Rangierlok_RhB_Tm_2-2_115_(Sch%C3%B6ma)_in_Ilanz_(2014).jpg) --- Written from the sources above and checked twice (rules and an independent model) before publishing. How we work: https://skoop.news/how-we-work/ · Corrections: https://skoop.news/corrections/