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[Richard230]

The previous decade of Zero motorcycles without 12-volt batteries is evidence they are not actually necessary on an E-bike. I read on this site that at some point recently Zero even added the always-on 12-volt line to the OBDII connector, and that is on an SR without a 12-volt battery. Whether they did that by leaving the main DC-DC converter active at all times or setup a dedicated little buck switch mode power supply, I don't know. I can say that the draw on the main battery pack is irrelevant. On its face, I'd say that choice to use a 12-volt battery is borderline retarded, but I would actually like to see Zero's reasoning behind it because I'm sure they didn't just do it on a whim.

Does Zero still use a DC-DC converter on the SR models? If not, that would explain the use of a 12V battery. But if they still do, such as to recharge the accessory battery, then perhaps they are using a low power output DC-DC that is less expensive than the 500W version like I have in my bike. 

I bet that a small 12V battery is a lot less expensive than a big $365 (retail) 500W DC-DC converter.  BTW, as I recall the earlier Gen 2 models used a 300W converter and I would expect that even smaller ones are not to hard to source. I also would not be surprised if Zero feels that they need a 12V lithium battery to power the ABS braking system should the bike's power die at speed on the roadway. Stranger things have happened in the past. 

[rgutt]

Does Zero still use a DC-DC converter on the SR models? If not, that would explain the use of a 12V battery. But if they still do, such as to recharge the accessory battery, then perhaps they are using a low power output DC-DC that is less expensive than the 500W version like I have in my bike. 

I bet that a small 12V battery is a lot less expensive than a big $365 (retail) 500W DC-DC converter.  BTW, as I recall the earlier Gen 2 models used a 300W converter and I would expect that even smaller ones are not to hard to source. I also would not be surprised if Zero feels that they need a 12V lithium battery to power the ABS braking system should the bike's power die at speed on the roadway. Stranger things have happened in the past. 

According to the unofficial manual, the later model SRs (at least up to 2021) got a 500W DC-DC converter. For the models with ABS, it's claimed the ABS pump uses the headroom provided by the 500W over the older 300W variant.