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[Richard230]

45 degrees outside, 60 or so in my garage. And again, 35 degrees the next day, and no problems. I’m baffled. Has to be a bug. My pack size is 8kWh most days and my range and SOC drop accordingly. But hell, before the pack size bug in firmware 51 and 52, my bike would randomly slow down in the 50s and 60s. 2015 SR battery especially sensitive or flawed?

My question is, I don’t hear anyone else being throttled by cold, unless it’s below freezing and the battery is left outside overnight. When does everyone, if ever, experience performance issues in the cold?

When my Zero has to operate in a temperature below 40 degrees F, I see a significant drop in range. But that is nothing new to EV owners and I believe most EV owners (including ones that own cars) experience that sort of battery performance drop when it is cold.

[nevetsyad]

Does your cut top speed to 70MPH, sometimes more, sometimes less, while at 90% charge?

[Richard230]

Does your cut top speed to 70MPH, sometimes more, sometimes less, while at 90% charge?

Not that I have noticed, but then I rarely go that fast and never when it is cold.

[SRich]

I have noticed this type of slowdown with my 2015 Zero S on particularly cold mornings when the temperature in my garage is down to the low to mid 40's. I live pretty close to the freeway, within about 1/4 mile.   Over the last several weeks on cold mornings I have had the speed limited to around 75 mph while getting on the freeway on the way to work in the morning.  Doesn't seem to happen on my my way home when the bike has been stored in a warmer environment at work while charging.  I figure it must have to do with higher internal resistance of the battery at colder temperatures causing current limiting, but don't know for sure.  It can be a little disconcerting when this happens right as I am trying to overtake slower vehicles. 

[Emtkopan]

Does your cut top speed to 70MPH, sometimes more, sometimes less, while at 90% charge?

One day I had power cut out on me when I was almost home. I pulled to the right, flipped the switch off then on and it worked fine. That was a first for me. I've ridden down to the low 30's without any reduction in power and I usually ride at 80mph up to 88 if needed. The hard thing for me right now is I'm used to riding away from cars for safety but when you are riding slower to save on power, you have to ride with cars or behind them.

[Lenny]

I figure it must have to do with higher internal resistance of the battery at colder temperatures causing current limiting, but don't know for sure.  It can be a little disconcerting when this happens right as I am trying to overtake slower vehicles.

You are right and you can even see that in the logs. You'll see entries "discharge current limited (XX%)". That tells you the percentage the power (=battery current) has been limited to, because of the high voltage sag due to higher internal resistance because of the cold. Right behind that you will read a "MinCell" entry, this one tells you which cell was the weakest and caused the limitation and with what voltage.

The limitation of power is directly related to topspeed, as you need more power the faster you ride.

[Skidz]

Last year, the temp dropped to -5C here and no limit on the discharge rate was noticed. To add insult to injury the bike slept outside so it cooled really fast... Had to charge it right after getting home to avoid the charger refusing to start. The charger once refused to start the charging, because I didn't charge the bike right away but a day later. Had to wait untill the sun warmed the pack a bit... Glad I didn't need the bike right away

[JaimeC]

I always plug in immediately upon getting home.  Also, while the bike sits during the winter, I leave it on the charger despite Zero's latest recommendation otherwise.  When the temperature drops below 40, I'm more likely to use my C650GT for commuting purposes, mostly because of its superior weather protection along with its heated saddle and grips, and enough electrical reserve to power my heated jacket liner.  As I always say:  Gotta pick the best tool for the job at hand.

Yes, I do own a car... but I only use that in REALLY crappy conditions.

[togo]

Good insights, SRich and Lenny, that I didn't see represented in the wiki, so I stubbed out this section:

https://zeromanual.com/index.php/Common_Problems#Weak_power_in_cold_temperatures

I think we need more content in the motorcycle logs area too that explains how to interpret various lines in various scenarios, like Lenny's very cogent explanation here.

[togo]

Last year, the temp dropped to -5C here and no limit on the discharge rate was noticed. To add insult to injury the bike slept outside so it cooled really fast... Had to charge it right after getting home to avoid the charger refusing to start. The charger once refused to start the charging, because I didn't charge the bike right away but a day later. Had to wait untill the sun warmed the pack a bit... Glad I didn't need the bike right away

I think a greenhouse bed warmer, thermostatically controlled, might fix this.  There are lots of them on amazon.

(I'm not a cold weather rider myself these days, but I have a lot of empathy for y'all having lived on the indiana/michigan border many years ago, and lake-effect and snow-sludge and bone-chill live large in my memories)

[Skidz]

Meh, I 'fixed the problem' by buying a new home where I had the free hand in buiding the adjecent garage, so now it includes well isolated outside walls, an isolated garage door and a central heated floor. Didn't get the house for the Zero but it's mighty convenient

[NEW2elec]

I looked on you tube for an old video I saw of a guy whose 13 DS would charge when it got too cold (couldn't find it).  He had a hair dryer on high and warmed the pan and battery for about 5 mins and it would charge.
It was a pain but easiest and cheapest solution for an emergency home charge.