E-Bike Range vs Battery Size: What UK Makers Claim

Every e-bike listing quotes a range, and most buyers have no way to tell whether a figure is fair or stretched. So we built a reference point. We took 32 e-bikes sold in the UK, from 12 brands, and recorded two numbers for each straight from the maker’s spec sheet or the official UK retailer: the battery size in watt-hours and the maximum range the seller claims. Dividing one by the other gives a single comparable figure, claimed miles per 100Wh of battery.

This is a study of claims, not a road test. We have not ridden these bikes to measure their range. What the data shows is how generous each claim is compared with the rest of the market, which is exactly what you need when two listings with similar batteries promise very different distances.

The headline findings

E-Bike Review data

Claimed range vs battery size, UK e-bikes

Each point is one e-bike. The dashed line shows the median claim across all bikes. Points above it claim more range per watt-hour than the typical bike; points below are more cautious.

Median claim, all bikes

11.9 mi per 100Wh

Hub-motor bikes

12.0 mi per 100Wh, 23 bikes

Mid-drive bikes

11.9 mi per 100Wh, 9 bikes

Spread

5.4 to 26.4 mi per 100Wh

• Hub motor (23 bikes)
• Mid-drive (9 bikes)
• Median, all bikes: 11.9 mi per 100Wh

Across the whole dataset the median claim is 11.9 miles per 100Wh. On that basis a 500Wh battery would be advertised at around 60 miles, and a 625Wh battery at around 75 miles. The spread is wide, though: the most cautious claim works out at 5.4 miles per 100Wh and the most generous at 26.4, so two bikes with the same battery can be sold on very different promises.

Hub motors vs mid-drives

Motor type makes surprisingly little difference to the claims. The 23 hub-motor bikes claim a median 12.0 miles per 100Wh and the 9 mid-drive bikes claim 11.9. Where the two groups differ is battery size: the median mid-drive bike carries 504Wh against 417Wh for hub-motor bikes, so mid-drives are advertised with longer ranges mainly because they have more battery.

The spread inside each group is far bigger than the gap between them. The most generous claims in the study come from lightweight hub-motor road bikes with small batteries, and the most cautious from a compact folding bike. The mid-drive bikes in this sample are a mix of hybrids, urban bikes, cargo bikes and mountain bikes from established brands, so the comparison says more about how each brand states its range than about motors. Our motors explained guide covers how hub and mid-drive systems differ on the road.

Every bike, ranked by claimed miles per 100Wh

E-Bike Review data

Claimed miles per 100Wh of battery, by bike

The dashed line marks the median across all bikes in the study. A long bar means the maker promises a lot of distance from a modest battery.

Claimed miles per 100WhMedian 11.9

1. Ribble Allroad SL R e Hub 26.4
2. Ribble Allroad E AL Hub 24.9
3. Ribble CGR AL e Hub 24.9
4. Boardman HYB 8.9E+ Mid 23.8
5. Fiido X Hub 19.3
6. Engwe P20 Hub 18.0
7. Fiido Air Hub 17.9
8. Tern Quick Haul D8 Mid 16.3
9. Carrera Crossfire E 2.0 Hub 14.4
10. Fiido C11 Pro Hub 12.9
11. Carrera Vengeance E 2.1 Womens Hub 12.9
12. Fiido D11 Hub 12.8
13. Specialized Turbo Como 4.0 Mid 12.7
14. Specialized Turbo Vado 2 4.0 Mid 12.7
15. Engwe L20 Boost Hub 12.5
16. Engwe EP-2 Boost Hub 12.0
17. Voodoo Zobop-E Mid 11.9
18. Engwe E26 Hub 11.3
19. Fiido C11 Hub 11.2
20. Tern GSD S10 Mid 11.2
21. Specialized Turbo Vado 3 4.0 Mid 11.1
22. Eskute F100 Hub 10.8
23. Carrera Vengeance E 3.0 Hub 10.6
24. Boardman MTX-E 8.6 (2026) Mid 10.6
25. Fiido Titan Hub 10.3
26. Eskute M100+ Hub 9.6
27. Apollo Transport E folding Hub 9.6
28. Pendleton Somerby Electric Hub 9.5
29. DYU C6 Hub 8.3
30. Voodoo Mambo-E Mid 7.9
31. Fiido D3 Pro Hub 7.3
32. Engwe T14 Hub 5.4

How to sanity-check a range claim before you buy

You can run the same test on any listing in a few seconds:

1. Find the battery size in watt-hours. If the listing only gives volts and amp-hours, multiply them together: 36V x 14Ah = 504Wh.
2. Divide the claimed range in miles by the watt-hours, then multiply by 100.
3. Compare the answer with the medians above. A score well above 11.9 does not prove a claim is false, but it does mean the seller is promising more than most of the market for the same battery.

Whatever the score, plan on covering less than the claim in everyday riding. Assist level, hills, headwinds, cold weather and rider weight all reduce range, and our range explained guide shows how much each one costs you. For battery sizes, voltages and replacement costs, see our battery guide.

Method

• Sample: 32 complete e-bikes sold in the UK from 12 brands, covering budget hub-motor bikes and mid-drive bikes. Kids’ bikes, conversion kits and accessories are excluded.
• Sources: each figure comes from the manufacturer’s own product page or spec sheet, or from the brand’s official UK retailer where the brand sells through one. No review sites, marketplaces or Amazon listings were used. Every source link is in the table below.
• Battery: watt-hours as published. Where only volts and amp-hours were published, we multiplied them and marked the row.
• Range: the maximum claimed range. Where a maker gave a range such as “40 to 60 miles”, we used the top figure, because that is the number buyers see. Where a maker published a mile figure we used it; otherwise kilometres were converted at 1.609 km per mile.
• Checked: all spec sheets were read on 28 September 2026. Makers update listings, so a figure may since have changed.
• What we did not do: we did not test range, and we did not adjust for bike weight, tyres, motor or the assist level each maker used for its claim, because most spec sheets do not state it.

Full data

Using this data

You are welcome to use these figures in your own articles or videos. Please credit E-Bike Review and link to this page, e-bikereview.uk/guides/e-bike-range-battery-study/. Each chart above also has a “Cite or link to this chart” option with a ready-made link. If you spot a spec that has changed, tell us through the contact page and we will update the row.