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Author Topic: Motorcycle.com reviews the charge tank DS  (Read 956 times)

Richard230

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Motorcycle.com reviews the charge tank DS
« on: September 02, 2016, 04:56:37 AM »

Here is their review. Pretty positive, other than they complained about its weight and lack of range:

http://www.motorcycle.com/manufacturer/zero/2016-zero-dsr-10th-anniversary-edition-review.html
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Richard's motorcycle collection:  2018 16.6 kWh Zero S, 2009 BMW F650GS, 2020 KTM 390 Duke, 2002 Yamaha FZ1 (FZS1000N) and a 1978 Honda Kick 'N Go Senior.

domingo3

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Re: Motorcycle.com reviews the charge tank DS
« Reply #1 on: September 02, 2016, 06:47:54 AM »

Quote
Using the bike’s ECO mode slows acceleration enough that you barely keep up with the automobiles, and I only used it long enough to learn to avoid it.

  I know moto journalists often lean towards supersport performance, but I still found this statement a little surprising.  I've never ridden a DSR, but in the other models, although I could definitely feel a difference between ECO and Sport mode, the bike would still walk away from any car that wasn't trying to race you.

  Also it was interesting to me that the biggest ding in the scores was for "appearance/quality", but I didn't see any mention of the criticisms other than "great personality".
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Richard230

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Re: Motorcycle.com reviews the charge tank DS
« Reply #2 on: September 02, 2016, 08:40:11 PM »

It was also unfortunate that they apparently didn't try out the "charge tank" feature.
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Richard's motorcycle collection:  2018 16.6 kWh Zero S, 2009 BMW F650GS, 2020 KTM 390 Duke, 2002 Yamaha FZ1 (FZS1000N) and a 1978 Honda Kick 'N Go Senior.

Shadow

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Re: Motorcycle.com reviews the charge tank DS
« Reply #3 on: September 03, 2016, 06:07:39 AM »

It was also unfortunate that they apparently didn't try out the "charge tank" feature.

Agree. A fairer comparison would be versus other electric 2-wheeled vehicles that had Level 2 charging capability.
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MostlyBonkers

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Re: Motorcycle.com reviews the charge tank DS
« Reply #4 on: September 03, 2016, 03:30:19 PM »

Range and charging are still the sticking points, I see.

By now it should be crystal clear to Zero that rapid charging capability is absolutely key to increasing adoption. Cost too.

More range is always good, but they do manage this every year and I think they're doing the best they can with that.

I wonder if the real problem with fast charging is heat. I doubt that the 1C charge rate can be broken without active cooling of the cells. Especially after the cells are already warm from the highway.

We've also seen that fast charging isn't cheap. It may take a few more years before the heat and cost problems are solved. Both big problems which only time and economies of scale will help solve.
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protomech

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Re: Motorcycle.com reviews the charge tank DS
« Reply #5 on: September 04, 2016, 08:47:57 AM »

Range and charging are still the sticking points, I see.

By now it should be crystal clear to Zero that rapid charging capability is absolutely key to increasing adoption. Cost too.

More range is always good, but they do manage this every year and I think they're doing the best they can with that.

I wonder if the real problem with fast charging is heat. I doubt that the 1C charge rate can be broken without active cooling of the cells. Especially after the cells are already warm from the highway.

I don't think heat generated while riding will be a huge issue.

Assuming Zero builds a 6 brick bike with ~150 miles highway range - detailed elsewhere - then highway discharge is about 0.5C. That's similar to 50-55 mph riding on a four brick bike .. not terribly taxing, and perhaps even sheds heat at most temperatures.

And charging a 174 Ah pack at 250A ("100" kW CCS / CHAdeMO) is 1.4C. That gives a 10-80% charge time of about 30 minutes for 100 miles of riding.

Compare to a Nissan LEAF, which uses forced-air cooling only. Highway riding is close to 1C discharge, and CHAdeMO quick charge (125A into 60 Ah pack) is close to 2C. INL determined that quick charging a Nissan LEAF daily had little detriment to pack capacity; question is, how well will Zero's chemistry perform?
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