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[Hyperious]

I have a 2011 XU that's going through a total rebuild. I picked it up as a project bike from a friend that was moving out of state. He had wanted to get it up and running as well, but just couldn't find the time. It's been remotored and doesn't have batteries currently.

Current mods are as follows;

• Golden motor 15Kw replacement
• Goldenmotor 72V 300A controller
• regeared chain for 5:1 ratio gearing
• whole new 12v side
• new Brembo brakes and rotors
• Cycleanalyst primary display

My question now is what cells should I look at for building a pack. Obviously it needs to be rated in the 250-300A capable region. I've been looking at maybe cells from Nissan Leaf packs, but it looks like wiring up a BMS to those would be a nightmare. My biggest desire for the project is to get the thing running around the 15-20kw area with onboard charging.

Thanks for any help. Pics will come tomorrow morning (2AM here and don't want to wake the family)

[Hyperious]

pics as promised







 

[brokinspokes78]

Nice, did you have to use any spacers, or did the new brakes bolt right up?

[Hyperious]

I'd have to ask my friend that I got this from. IIRC it was literally one of the first things he did after buying the bike.

[honey_badger]

Hi there,

I just rebuilt the battery of my 2011 Zero XU using nissan leaf cells.

The BMS  wiring and cell connection is super easy compared to other batteries (18650 or pouches with tabs).

The bike is quite small and spaces are a bit odd so you might need to do a few mods to make everything fit. I didn't have to touch or modify the frame but it took me some thinking and trial/error to fit 7 modules. Except from the battery, the rest of the bike is original and like new (bike had 30km on it when I bought it 3 months ago) and I want to keep it that way.

Some pics:

[cenesdelavega]

Can you give more details? Thanks, Roger

[ZNRL]

Nice thread. What is the range using the Nissan batteries? 
Please give us more details.
 I'd like to increase the range on a 2011 MX, currently it has a new updated stock battery but if it was double the range, it would be nicer..  I'm getting about an hours worth, 14 miles I think.. Used a Garmin GPS to track it.
Max speed is about 25mph to 30mph on sandy desert trails, nothing crazy.

Bought used to ease into my first electric enduro, working on making it street legal for trails, everything is working, fun in the desert, I'm hooked.

[honey_badger]

I didn't really have the time to test the range on the bike as I got extremely busy with work and now winter is here (-25C at the moment). I couldn't even "estimate" the range as the Zero battery indicator must be set on the capacity of the original pack and does not reflect the actual SOC of the Nissan Leaf cells. For example the display would indicate two bars left (20% capacity remaining) after some use but then after turning off and on the bike it would indicate 80% capacity remaining.

I built myself a gauge to see the battery pack voltage (see pic attached) and have a better idea of the actual SOC.

[ZNRL]

What BMS and charger did you use for the Nissan batteries?
Did you bypass the zero brain and use something else like a Cycle Analyst with the Alltrax controller?

My goal is to double the range for trail riding..

Thanks

[honey_badger]

Hi ZNRL,

I left everything original (original BMS and original Charger) on the bike except the battery. I had to re-wire the Nissan Leaf battery cells exactly the same way the original zero battery was wired to the bms, so I suggest taking your time marking all the wiring if you change the battery. I am quite happy with the results as bypassing the internal Zero controller or "brain" would have meant more work to rewire everything, more parts to be added and bought, loosing the original display and some safety features.

I would strongly suggest to consider 18650 (or the new standard 20700 if available) cells for an off road bike as you can easily fit them into the original battery box (no engineering/making external or additional battery boxes). I choose Nissan Leaf cells as I live in Canada and I was lucky to find a supplier that would ship the cells to me at reasonable cost. 18650 cells would have doubled my cost for the same capacity but the job would have been cleaner.

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

Hi ZNRL,

I left everything original (original BMS and original Charger) on the bike except the battery. I had to re-wire the Nissan Leaf battery cells exactly the same way the original zero battery was wired to the bms, so I suggest taking your time marking all the wiring if you change the battery. I am quite happy with the results as bypassing the internal Zero controller or "brain" would have meant more work to rewire everything, more parts to be added and bought, loosing the original display and some safety features.

I would strongly suggest to consider 18650 (or the new standard 20700 if available) cells for an off road bike as you can easily fit them into the original battery box (no engineering/making external or additional battery boxes). I choose Nissan Leaf cells as I live in Canada and I was lucky to find a supplier that would ship the cells to me at reasonable cost. 18650 cells would have doubled my cost for the same capacity but the job would have been cleaner.

Word is that 18650 cells have a much lower discharge rate limit that could be exceeded on a Zero. Anyone following this advice should look into the matter carefully.

[honey_badger]

Hi ZNRL,

I left everything original (original BMS and original Charger) on the bike except the battery. I had to re-wire the Nissan Leaf battery cells exactly the same way the original zero battery was wired to the bms, so I suggest taking your time marking all the wiring if you change the battery. I am quite happy with the results as bypassing the internal Zero controller or "brain" would have meant more work to rewire everything, more parts to be added and bought, loosing the original display and some safety features.

I would strongly suggest to consider 18650 (or the new standard 20700 if available) cells for an off road bike as you can easily fit them into the original battery box (no engineering/making external or additional battery boxes). I choose Nissan Leaf cells as I live in Canada and I was lucky to find a supplier that would ship the cells to me at reasonable cost. 18650 cells would have doubled my cost for the same capacity but the job would have been cleaner.

Word is that 18650 cells have a much lower discharge rate limit that could be exceeded on a Zero. Anyone following this advice should look into the matter carefully.

True. When working on a project one should always assemble/engineer according to the requirements for power, torque, capacity, discharge, charge etc... Only a few 18650 cells models will satisfy the specs to withstand the discharge rate of a 2011 zero mx/xu but it's still possible to do. I would have gone that way if I were able to find the right 18650 cells at reasonable price.   I should have clarified better on my previous reply. This bike is not my first build/fix/rebuild.

[MrDude_1]

What makes you think the leaf modules are hard to wire? they're 2cell modules, with both posts and center-tap easily connected... I use them in my gokart.

[Mattbastard]

How many of them leaf cells could you fit in the original aluminum battery box?  I've been interested in this, and from the looks of things you made 5 fit (with the other two under the seat). 

[honey_badger]

How many of them leaf cells could you fit in the original aluminum battery box?  I've been interested in this, and from the looks of things you made 5 fit (with the other two under the seat).

Five modules in the box but they will not fit in the original one. I had to rebuild the box entirely for the modules to fit. The other two modules are under the seat/above back wheel.