Electric bicycles, for the most part, have a battery integrated into the frame. But some others have the battery installed in the rear grill, for example. This happens especially in those who are out for a walk. And it is increasingly common for manufacturers to introduce the option of an accessory to their electric bicycles that, in reality, any cyclist should require as a basic. If you are going to buy an electric bike, and you take my advice, I would recommend that you only buy models that have this.
I’m talking about a range extender. You can call it this way or you can also call it extra battery. In any case, it is a special anchor that allows, in the frame itself, to place an additional battery to the one that already comes from the factory integrated into the frame. More and more electric bicycles are accepting this, and it is essential because the electric bicycle may offer you 100 kilometers of range, for example, but thanks to this accessory you will be able to have more range. In many cases, this range extender or extra battery allows you to double the range. And best of all, this accessory can be worn or not whenever we want. But let’s go into a little more detail.
This is a range extender for electric bicycles, an extra battery that should not be missing in your next purchase
The one you are seeing in the previous photographs is the Orbea Range Extender, but many other manufacturers offer that special anchorage and those extra batteries for their cyclists on their electric bicycles. One of the companies that have recently announced the incorporation of this accessory is Decathlon. And in the specific figures of the French company, in one of its electric bicycles, we can go from the 630 Wh of energy storage capacity that the battery integrated into the chassis has to a total of 1,000 Wh because the range extender has 370 Wh extra of energy storage capacity.
Having a maximum of 1,000 Wh in our electric bicycle will allow us to have many more kilometers of range than if we were to stay exclusively with the 630 Wh that comes in the integrated battery. But the best of all is that at any time we can choose whether to put in the extra battery or not. In this way we can have more range at the cost of greater weight when we are going to do longer routes and, nevertheless, have a contained weight on our bike when we do not need such generous range.
The point is that, in addition, it is possible that when you buy your new electric bicycle you consider that the range provided by the integrated battery is sufficient, but what if you need more in the future? Therefore, the best decision you can make – from my point of view, of course – is to buy an electric bicycle that has this extra battery system. And perhaps during a good time of the useful life of your e-bike, you will not even buy that additional battery, but you will always have the possibility of buying the battery in the future to be able to have more kilometers of range.
This type of electric bicycle, which as we mentioned at the beginning more and more models and from more different manufacturers, has a specific anchorage to be able to hold the battery securely. But it is that they also have a special connection for the electrical system. The extra battery must also be connected to the other battery, and for this, our electric bicycle model must be prepared to accept this accessory from the factory. And if I have convinced you, which I hope so, I recommend that you pay close attention to how much capacity the extra battery offers you the different models in which you may be interested. The more battery capacity you can have, or the faster you can charge the battery, the better.
