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[vaiarii]

Hello,
I have a Zero SR 2014 with a power tank
Since a few days, my battery capacity seems to be reduced frequently*.
I've got several symptoms:
- a reduced range indicated on the dashboard for a regular home to work drive (93 km versus 120 km before, for the same roads and same driving behavior)
- a reduced time to charge indicated on the dashboard when plugging the onboard charger (5h40  while the SOC is at 24% versus 8h as expected)
- a reduced kWh capacity indicated in the smartphone application while SOC is at 100% (9.89 kWh versus 12  kWh as seen previously and as expected for a 11.4 kW + PT)
- a reduced battery voltage indicated in the smartphone application while SOC is at 100% (115 V versus 116 V as seen previously)

Here after is a screen shot of the datas provided by the app this morning after an overall night charging


*This capacity loss happens frequently, i.e sometimes it recovers the original spec, sometimes it shows reduced spec.

I would like to know what could be done to check the different points listed below
- The onboard charger (because of a reduced battery voltage, the charger might be faulty)
- The power tank connection (that could explain more or less the reduced kWh capacity)
- The battery pack capacity

[remmie]

That sounds suspicoiously like the capacity of the powertank is (sometimes) not taken into account. Perhaps the communication between the powertank and the bike suffers from breakdown now and then. Or the voltages are too far out so the PT contactor does not engage.

my 2014 SR has a reported app capacity of 10.500 kWh (91 Ah) when full

all your reported reductions in capacity, range, charge time etc point to a 20-25% loss which is exactly the capacity of the PT

I think checking your logs if you can spot anything in there is something you can do first.
Secondly you can check the PT connector for corrosion. I remember a thread where the PT connector was corroded because the compartment where it is placed suffers from weather ingress. A bit of contact cleaner on the contacts and adding dielectric grease could solve any problems related to corrosion.

Other thing i've read on the forum before is the firmware of the PT and the bike not being in sync.
Firmware updates are free so that's another thing you can do.

[Richard230]

My 2014S with power tank still shows a full charge capacity of 13.34 kWh on my app.   

[gyrocyclist]

 [>a reduced range indicated on the dashboard for a regular home to work drive (93 km versus 120 km before, for the same roads and same driving behavior)

This likely doesn't address you main problem, but ... after fully charging you should reset the "range" estimate.
You click one button to get to the range, then hold that one (or maybe the other one; sorry, I forget) down for
several seconds, and the indicted range will reset to the factory standard (in my case, for my 2016 SR, it's
something like 155 miles)

[Electric Terry]

I think Remmie nailed it.  I think your powertank isn't connecting.  When you turn on the bike look at the green plug icon charge indicator.  It should flash either once or twice.  Which do you see?

[Fivespeed302]

I don’t have the power tank on my ‘15 SR but I’m having the same symptoms. The range has reduced  to around 35-40 miles and it only takes about 3 hours to charge from 20% to 100%.

I know I need to take it in but I’ve been really busy and every time it goes to the shop it’s in there for a minimum of 2 weeks.  Even the so called 20 minute software update took the entire day. 

Business has really slowed down so maybe I’ll take it in next week and I’ll update everyone then.

[Richard230]

Fivespeed, I am pretty sure that you have a different issue than I do. 

My 2014 Zero, after being very stable for all of its life, suddenly started showing charging issues very quickly once I started following Zero's advice and unplugged the charger cord as soon as the bike stopped charging - which could be entirely coincidental. Before that it spent 3.5 years plugged in 24/7 and charging would always finish at 100% on the display and 13.38 kWh on the app.  But once I started pulling the plug, charging would stop at an indicated 92% and then it would turn itself on automatically and start charging again to show another 2% before turning off for the day.  If I went back to keeping the charger plugged in all of the time, it would keep this up every day, until the charge would reach 98%, at which point it (and I) would finally give up.

It is my semi-educated guess that (in my case) one or more of my cells are charging quicker than the rest, resulting in a spike in voltage as the pack becomes fully charged, causing the charger to shut down.  After a day, the goofy cell(s) have bled off some voltage, and the charger starts up again, charges another 250 watts, before shutting down and repeating the process the following day. I might also add that my bike has never had its firmware updated since it left the factory in December 2013.  My solution to this issue was to give my 2014 Zero S to my daughter, who just rides locally, and buy a new 2018 Zero S. 

I might also add that, other than a noticeable improvement in suspension and braking, the performance of my 2018 is very similar to my 2014 Zero.  Even the range seems similar (even though it claims to have an additional 2 kWh in the battery pack), which I chalk up to Zero being more conservative in the range estimates shown on the display. On my 2014 S, the fun would end just as the battery display reached 0%, but from what I hear now, there is likely another 5 or 10% left in the battery pack as a reserve, once the display reaches 0.

In your case, it is possible that the firmware has either slipped a gear or you have developed some flaky battery cells.  As for your software update taking all day and your shop requiring two weeks to get your bike back to you, that just doesn't sound right.  What it sounds like to me is that the service department doesn't like working on Zero's and is making it tough on their Zero customers in an effort to discourage them in the hopes that they will go elsewhere.    I just had the 600-mile servicing performed on my new Zero, which it took less than two hours and was accomplished while I waited.  This included checking for new software, motor commissioning and Zero updates on their website, as well as performing an additional 35 other physical chassis checks - or so the checklist I was given said.

[Fivespeed302]

I agree, our issues are probably unrelated.  I was referring to the OP.

His problems are the same as mine except for the voltage which I didn’t check. 

[Richard230]

I agree, our issues are probably unrelated.  I was referring to the OP.

His problems are the same as mine except for the voltage which I didn’t check.

The voltage on the 2014 S shows 115 when charged to over 92%.  My recollection is that when the bike was new, voltage was 117 volts after being fully charged to 100%.  My 2018 S shows 116 volts when fully charged.