DJI Avinox Settings and Tips: Modes, Boost, Charge Limit and Range

Most of what you can change on a DJI Avinox bike lives in two places: the assist modes on the bike, and the Avinox Ride app. Get those right and you'll ride further, look after the battery and stay on the right side of the law. Here's what DJI says each setting does, and how to get the most from it.

I bought my first e-bike in 2018, when there weren't many of us on them in the Forest of Dean. Motors have come a long way since then, and Avinox puts out a lot of torque. That's brilliant on a climb, and it has a cost, which I'll come to at the end.

The five Avinox assist modes

DJI's FAQ lists five preset modes: Auto, Eco, Trail, Turbo and Boost. The help you get depends on the mode and the gear you're in, and the system has wheel-slip and wheelie suppression built in, which is what you want on a steep, loose climb.

The quickest way to learn them is to ride one climb you know well in each mode and feel the difference. A couple of habits are worth building early:

• Use the least help that keeps you happy on a long day. Bosch, talking about its own system, puts the support level first on its list of things that decide range. That holds for any e-bike.
• Save Boost for the moments that need it. More on that below.

How much torque does Avinox have?

DJI has made three drive units so far: the M1, then the M2 and M2S. The M2S is the most powerful.

Motor	Normal modes	Boost	Peak power
M1	105 Nm	120 Nm	1,000 W (750 W before software update v1.2)
M2	110 Nm	125 Nm	1,100 W
M2S	130 Nm	150 Nm	1,500 W with the FP700 or RS800 battery; 1,300 W with the FS600 or FS800

The torque and peak power figures are DJI's own, from its FAQ. Rated power is 250 W on every Avinox unit.

For a sense of scale, Shimano's EP801 is quoted at 85 Nm by the same press source. ebike-mtb.com's M2S test lists up to 800% support factor, and DJI claims the M2S is more efficient too, at about 84.5% against roughly 82% for the M1.

Boost: 60 seconds of full torque

DJI's drive unit page puts Boost at up to 60 seconds of 150 Nm on the M2S, aimed at "navigating challenging obstacles and complicated uphill climbs". So think of it as a tool for the hardest minute of a climb, not a mode to sit in.

Here's what modern e-bike torque means in the Forest of Dean. More and more riders self-shuttle the downhill runs at the Cycle Centre: they ride back up the push-up track, same as everyone else, instead of pushing or paying for the uplift. On a modern e-bike in turbo, it's about 45 seconds to the first stage and about another minute to the top. I've timed it. With about 110 m of drop, a perfect day is about 12 runs: back to the start, have lunch, charge up, do it all again. My downhill and uplift guide has the runs.

Every one of those climbs is a big dose of torque through the chain and cassette. Twelve of them in a day adds up.

Range: battery size and what drains it

The first Avinox bikes came with an 800 Wh battery or a smaller 600 Wh one. The M2S generation added a 700 Wh battery built with 4680 cells.

How far any of them take you depends on how you ride. Bosch's list of what decides range is a good one for any e-bike: the support level, how you ride, air resistance, the rider's weight, tyre pressure and the terrain. A few things you control:

• The mode. Eco on the fire-road drag, the higher modes where you need them.
• Tyre pressure. It's on Bosch's list, and it takes a minute to check before a ride.
• Cold. Bosch says cold weather reduces battery performance, and below 0 °C it recommends bringing the battery into a heated room and letting it reach room temperature before you ride. DJI gives Avinox a normal operating range of -10 to 40 °C.

Charge limit, charging times and temperatures

In the Avinox Ride app you can set a charge limit of 100, 95, 80 or 70%. Charge to full for a big day out. When the bike's going to sit between rides, a lower cap means the battery isn't parked at full for days. For long-term storage, DJI's manual goes further: take the battery out of the frame and keep it at about 30% charge, which DJI says prevents ageing and over-discharge.

Charge between 0 and 40 °C. A garage below freezing is outside that range, so bring the battery in over winter.

Charging times depend on the charger and the battery. DJI's FAQ gives these times from empty to 80% (the FS600 and FS800 figures are for its 508 W, round-port charger):

Battery	0 to 80%
FS600	1 h 42 min
FS800	1 h 45 min
FP700	1 h 16 min

On that charger, DJI puts a full charge of the FS600 or FS800 at about 2 hours 23 to 2 hours 28 minutes. ebike-mtb.com's test of the Avinox system had the standard charger filling an 800 Wh battery in around 6 hours, and the High Performance Charger in around 3. So check which charger came with your bike before you plan a lunchtime top-up.

Keep the firmware up to date

Firmware updates come through the Avinox Ride app. DJI's FAQ asks owners on firmware older than V00.11.03.04 to update there.

It's worth doing. On the M1, software update v1.2 raised peak power from 750 to 1,000 watts. If you've bought a used Avinox bike, update it first, and check again every six months or so.

What you can't change, and shouldn't try

Some things aren't settings, and DJI is clear about them:

• The speed limit. Avinox gives no way to remove it, and top speed has to follow local regulations.
• The drive system. Any modification voids the warranty and may break the law, and only official Avinox parts work with it.
• Range extenders. Third-party ones aren't compatible. One can make the system malfunction, voids the warranty and could be a fire hazard.
• A damaged battery. If it's swollen, damaged or showing an error, stop using it and don't charge it. Take it to your dealer.

Motor bolts and anything inside the motor or battery are dealer work. My Avinox maintenance guide covers what you can do yourself, and the battery care guide goes deeper on charging and storage.

Is all that torque worth it over a lightweight motor? I think so, and I've made the case in full power vs lightweight. For real-world range, including a day of self-shuttling at BikePark Wales, see how far an e-MTB goes on one charge.

All that torque has a cost

Up to 150 Nm through a chain, plus the weight of an e-bike, wears parts out faster than most riders expect. The Plus1 Garage starts an e-bike chain at 540 miles against 900 for a normal bike. Ride mostly in the wet on drip lube and that drops to about 300 miles. It starts an e-bike's cassette at 1,620 miles, rear pads at 350 and a rear tyre at 310.

Leave a worn chain on and it wears out the cogs and chainrings with it, and a cassette costs far more than a chain. My chain wear guide shows how to measure it.

The Garage only knows what you tell it: type in the miles off the display now and then, and it reminds you when a part's due. Every number is a best guess, built from the part makers' guidance and adjusted for e-bikes, so when you've checked a part and it's fine, tell it, or set where the part is in its life.