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[Stonewolf]

Hopefully this will get sorted shortly but exactly the kind of thing I was worried about as the nearest dealer would be 4 hours minimum away from me.

But I think such issues are rather rare. I have been in enough vehicle forums to realize every vehicle made seems rather unreliable online, regardless of make and model.  It's just that in these forums, we mainly hear about problems. Not many get online to say I have owned my (whatever make and model) for 20 years without a single issue.


I have had one issue with my SS9, the fan for the AC charger crapped out during warranty, plus a weird bug at the same time, but I replaced the fan myself. I often fix stuff myself, even during the warranty periods and at my own cost. That is usually easier than dealing with the shops.



-Don-  Reno, NV

Yeah, people are far more likely to talk about something when they're unhappy and are quiet when they're satisfied. I had two issues with my Ribelle, Energica warrantied them asap and I've had no problems since, despite the problems I'm a very happy customer as a result. That's you you build a strong brand Zero.

[jotjotde]

Good morning!

The dealer's service guy drove 2.5 hours to my place to successfully revive my Ribelle and now he's on his way back.
Unfortunately he could not pinpoint what went wrong, because there was no fault code. The good side is, that after updating/reloading of the firmware the bike is running again.

They tried to contact an Energica Service representative in Germany and even someone in Italy, but could not reach anyone yet (holidays?). But the service guy assured me, they will discuss with Energica what has been the reason for the fault. So I keep my fingers crossed that this was a once-in-a-million incident.

So, up to now, 5 gold stars for the dealer and their service!

[Skidz]

@Jotjotde, good to see you're mobile again!

So, two days ago your bike borked, and today a guy drove to your place and fixed it. Not bad for the service department.... Any @Zero representatives reading this?

[Richard230]

@Jotjotde, good to see you're mobile again!

So, two days ago your bike borked, and today a guy drove to your place and fixed it. Not bad for the service department.... Any @Zero representatives reading this?

When Electric Motorsport (note the dead forum directly above the Energica forum) first started selling their GPR-S models via the internet in 2008 they would actually have one of their staff fly across the country to fix problems with their bikes. But by the time that I bought my GPR-S in 2009, they had given up on that plan (way too expensive) and had transitioned to selling their bikes through independent mom and pop brick and mortar retailers and let them deal with warranty claims (or which there were a lot). It wasn't long before they changed their name, followed by giving up on manufacturing bikes in their "factory" (more like a garage) and resorting to selling you-build-it kits. Now, if they are still in business, they likely just sell electrical components, which was originally their core business.  And so it goes with underfunded startups that think they can make a killing in the EV marketplace.....

BTW, my comments have nothing to do with Energica, but mentioning  Zero did trigger my memory regarding this episode in my EV experience.

[DonTom]

The good side is, that after updating/reloading of the firmware the bike is running again.

I am glad you got that taken care of! So somehow, the software became corrupt. I hope that is something that only very rarely happens.


-Don-  Auburn, CA

[jotjotde]

The good side is, that after updating/reloading of the firmware the bike is running again.

I am glad you got that taken care of! So somehow, the software became corrupt. I hope that is something that only very rarely happens.

Off-topic: For an engineer dealing with mostly mechanical/physical issues, the sudden non-performance of software (working fine up to that moment) is a bit frightening to me.

As you already said, Don: We are driving computers with some mechanics attached. A typical car consists of approx. 10,000 hardware parts, but today needs about a 100 million lines of software code (source: Volkswagen homepage)! For comparison, the software code for Apollo 11 had several 10,000 lines.
Maybe the recently fired CEO of VW should have read this before bragging the would fix VW's software nightmare in a few weeks 


Back to topic: I will keep nagging my dealer to get in touch with Energica about the reason for this sudden failure and surely will keep you posted!

[DonTom]

As you already said, Don: We are driving computers with some mechanics attached. A typical car consists of approx. 10,000 hardware parts, but today needs about a 100 million lines of software code (source: Volkswagen homepage)! For comparison, the software code for Apollo 11 had several 10,000 lines.

When software has been working, what is the typical reason that causes the sudden failure?


-Don-  Auburn, CA

[Richard230]

As you already said, Don: We are driving computers with some mechanics attached. A typical car consists of approx. 10,000 hardware parts, but today needs about a 100 million lines of software code (source: Volkswagen homepage)! For comparison, the software code for Apollo 11 had several 10,000 lines.

When software has been working, what is the typical reason that causes the sudden failure?


-Don-  Auburn, CA

Moisture? A detached wire? Being hit by a cosmic ray? The warranty expired? 

[DonTom]

Moisture? A detached wire? Being hit by a cosmic ray? The warranty expired? 

I wouldn't think any of those things could corrupt Sofware and then a reload fixes it.


Except for the warranty, of course.   They can program in that in advance for it to all fail the day after the warranty expires. 


-Don-  Auburn, CA

[Skidz]

Well, several reasons can be thought of why it suddenly stops working. Most of the time it’s a component failure before the end of life is reached. Electronics don’t always fail spectacularly in a ball of fire and smoke, sometimes a small part dies slowly and takes other parts with it. Could be that a part of the memory containing the firmware got corrupted, and reflashing solved it for now. Like a ssd getting bad memory cells and reinstalling an os fixes it, until it fails again. It should be logged somewhere, i’d hope.

[DonTom]

Well, several reasons can be thought of why it suddenly stops working. Most of the time it’s a component failure before the end of life is reached.

Then only uploading new software will not fix anything.


-Don-  Auburn, CA

[chisquare]

Good morning!

The dealer's service guy drove 2.5 hours to my place to successfully revive my Ribelle and now he's on his way back.
Unfortunately he could not pinpoint what went wrong, because there was no fault code. The good side is, that after updating/reloading of the firmware the bike is running again.

They tried to contact an Energica Service representative in Germany and even someone in Italy, but could not reach anyone yet (holidays?). But the service guy assured me, they will discuss with Energica what has been the reason for the fault. So I keep my fingers crossed that this was a once-in-a-million incident.

So, up to now, 5 gold stars for the dealer and their service!

It's been a while since that incident but could you please describe by which means the tech guy managed to revive your Ribelle? Is it something that can be done by the owner, too, or was it based on special hard- and software?

[jotjotde]

It's been a while since that incident but could you please describe by which means the tech guy managed to revive your Ribelle? Is it something that can be done by the owner, too, or was it based on special hard- and software?

Sorry for answering late.

The service guy connected a diagnosis notebook to via OBD, fired up some Energica app and checked for fault messages and odd data.
Because there was nothing to find he re-uploaded / overwrote what I think was the newest available firmware of the bike getting this via web from an Energica server. So that was nothing a typical owner could do.

Since then I drove nearly 10,000 km without any troubles.

For info: I asked my dealer some days ago if Energica ever got back to him regarding this fault and he denied.
Apparently, faults are not further investigated if they are corrected 'easily'.

[chisquare]

Thanks for the description. The idea of hardware being bricked by software that no longer works always gives me the creeps. I'm happy - for you as well as all of us Energica bike owners - to hear that your Ribelle has been running smoothly since then.

[PWM]

A good diagnostic is to measure the 12VDC at fusebox when bike is depleted to say 20% SOC and again when bike is 100% SOC.  Seems plausible early bikes have a tighter tolerance due to batch characteristics for DC/DC converter element that is buried in the pack and firmware parameter change solved the nuisance shut-down.

Glad to hear about the good customer service by Energica.