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[jotjotde]

Folks, this forum is about sharing experiences which might be helpful for others some day. So here's one from me - it never gets boring with an Energica 

Two days ago I went to my dealer approx. 150 km away for the 45,000 km maintenance. Though I wouldn't have needed charging I nevertheless intended to make a coffee/charging stop.

The first attempt to connect to the charger failed. That happend quite often the last weeks, I think I have not mastered the art of handling the heavy CCS plugs/cables in a manner for everything to work right. So I just tried a second and a third attempt concentrating at the small pin coming up but without paying much attention what actually the screen was showing.
Then I saw the screen was frozen 'Initializing Fast Charging' with the small yellow fault sign in the lower right corner. This message did not go away for one or two minutes and then the normal screen came up again, WHILE THE BIKE SHOULD HAVE BEEN OFF (I had the key in my bag!). I could switch to the Settings Menu and see the fault code (C1003 Unspecified CM Error), but nothing else. With ignition on or off or without key, I could not switch the bike off nor put it into GO modus. Tried resetting several times, which made the screen go black for a minute or so, but the typical relais clacking did not happen and the bike remained as before. So I was stranded.
Called the dealer, but he had no clue what else could be done, so I got the bike picked up and transported the remaining 50 km to the dealer.

There they immediately went looking for the fault, downloaded the bike's data and informed Energica. When it was clear, that there was no quick fix, I got a EGO to drive home again.
Yesterday I returned and got my Ribelle back. My dealer told me, this fault was new to Energica, they think it was probably a once-in-a-million problem, but the Charge Manager should be replaced. Until the spare part is available I could use the bike and if the glitch should appear again use the following workaround.

WORKAROUND: Removing the plug to the CM and re-connecting again. You access this plug by removing the upper left cover. The plug is secured with some kind of screw with a quadratic head, so now I keep Allen key and small pliers with me.
The CM is a black box sitting on top of the inverter, the inverter is the massive silver box on top of the battery with the orange cables coming out (see pic).

Again, I was impressed about how quickly everyone involved tried to find the fault and get me on the road again.


BTW, on my way back I encountered problems attempting DC charging again. On one charger (150 kW with very heavy plug/cable) I failed 8 times or so. After driving to a 50 kW charger nearby the charging went without any problem on the first attempt. So, apparently I need to find a better way to handle those heavy plugs. I already try to hold the cable in a way to keep forces to the socket as low as possilbe, but apparently still not in the right way.
Or is there maybe a loose cable, pin, whatever at the receptable of the plug I could check? I think I remember someone writing about a soldered spot gone bad, but I couldn't find it is spite of searching. Can anyone of you folks help me here?

Secondly, I am questioning if maybe these two problems (failing start of DC charging and the glitch described above) could be interconnencted.

[Pard]

That sounds like an exasperating experience.  Glad is seems to be on the way to resolution.

Very impressive service from your dealer and Energica.

How do you like the EGO compared to the Ribelle?

[jotjotde]

Well, when your means of transport breaks down unexpectedly it's always sh*t. But least I was lucky that I was already on my way to the shop and that everyone was helpful.

Off-Topic:
Aaron will most probably roll his eyes about what I write here  , but this is my opinion.
The EGO appeared to me as a racebike. It's a beautiful. beast! The lower seating is surely much better for high speeds, seating comfort is not bad, but compared to the EGO the Ribelle is a sofa.
What felt very very different to me was the steering. The force you need to apply on the handlebars seemed remarkably higher to get the bike into a corner, probably you have to learn to activate your body weight, shift it more to the corner inside (halfway hanging-off). So handling is totally different and you need a high level of aptitude for the EGO. So, the EGO is no bike for beginners and not very suited for daily traffic. In the end I'll keep my Ribelle 
 

[Specter]

jojo NOT rolling my eyes at all !!  I agree with pretty much everything you said.
The EGO is a RACE bike, it's a lot different handling, you need more force, I think thats because you are down more on the bike, the handlebars are lower, more pressure being applied to the tire due to the weight transferrence being more frontal then the ribelle.  It feels heavier too IMO until you really get it going, say 40 mph or so then it's barely a whisper on the wind

Yes it does take a bit getting used to, and BE CAREFUL around corners, it does not turn as good as a ribelle does, at least mine doesn't, it's blocked pretty shallow but being what mine really is, that is not surprising.  But because of this, you don't have the wiggle room and being you are down crouched on the bike you have less 'oh shit' room should you start tipping the bitch over, your footing is different your balance and your ability to put down, shall I call a 'righting pressure' should it begin to go over, is vastly weaker than the Ribelle.   The R you are straight up and your legs can be like pile drivers holding all to the floor, and a nice and comfy sofa you are riding on.  The ego you are bent over, YOUR center of gravity is way off, YOU don't have as much force to stop a lean as you would with a ribelle, and trying to get the legs down, and you sitting up, ..just be careful.

Because your geometry is hunched over on it, yes you need to be a lot more of a participant in steering the bike.  Lean inputs a lot more to the turn equation.  Handling is totally different just by nature of you being hunched and handle bars way down.

Yah this is probably not a good beginners bike, just for the fact it's HEAVY and handling takes a bit more effort and knowledge, and for traffic, umm F that, it'd be awful being stuck in traffic on the thing.    For a taller person, maybe not so much, but for a shorter person, no, NOT a picnic at all.

Im glad you got your bike back though, or at least a loaner until yours IS back, that is the most re assuring part of it all.  The fact that they just, oh here, here's a loaner until yours is back up, that right there speaks TONS for the customer service and reputation of the company.  I can't think of too many others that would do that.

OH, and since you DO have an EGO now,  psst....go ahead, get on the highway one of these nights, or early sunday morning, light to zero traffic, roads nice, sun coming out, you are already bent over in a race pisition, it'd be a shame to waste all the effort you put into getting into that stance to begin with    open her up!   BTW life is very different 'down there' too.  Your line of sight is VASTLY different when you are crunched behind a windshield .vs. sitting up like a dogs dick bobbing on top of the bike.  Turning IS different, since you ARE hunched over and hugging the bike, your lean is more important???  now.  Use your knees, body weight, foot weight on the pegs, vs using your handlebars if you can.

Being hunched, things cam come up at you, or at least 'appear' to come at you a lot quicker than when you are sitting straight up and have more of a top down view on it.  So be mindful of this, when you are riding more spirited... yes that corner can come up rather quickly when youre eyes are closer to the pavement!

Aaron

[jotjotde]

Hey Aaron, thanks for sharing this! I can see you're totally in love with your bike 

Good to know that my guesses were correct. TBH I had not much opportunity to test the EGO and I was reluctant to really let it rip bc she was not a bike for sale from the shop but from the boss's son (what says a lot about the dealer's commitment to customer service).


Coming back to the original topic of this post - does anyone have any information about the charge plug receptable and whether there is maybe a disaligned connection or something?
I have no clue how it looks underneath the plastic cover, how it's fixed etc. Before trying to have a look by myself I would like to get some feedback if anyone did that already.

[Specter]

Energica can get very tempermental about the actual plug where it plugs into the bike.  It has to be absolutely FLUSH FLAT on it or it won't initiate properly and you really won't get any solid reason either, just that spinning fuck you puck before it might eventually time out.

Sometimes after the failed charge attempt it gets quirky and does not want to fully reset until you key the bike off and on again to fully reset it's 'logic' to a brand new state.  yah Ive seen some pretty annoying behavior on BOTH my bikes on fast charge.

THe plug is HEAVY,. especially at public chargers,  that cable puts some torque on it.  Try to keep a loop of the wire on top of the seat or at least so it's not just plugged in with that  huge honking wire just dangling over the side with all the weight on the cable plug.

Plug it in very snug into the bike, give it a good shake while you are plugging it in, pushing up and down on it, not so much side to side, pushing down fairly hard.   Often time you will feel a little 'click' when that last micro switch finally does engage,  telling the charger, YES we ARE fully plugged in, now gimme the juice!    Don't confuse this with the 'twang' you may hear if you press hard, as that metal plate that the plug is on, can flex and bow a bit and you can hear that when pressing on it.   TBH I am kind of surprised, given how tight the Energica is on the plug inserting, and how hard you have to push sometimes to get that bitch TO seat properly, that there is not a bit more support there for the plug head.

WHen plugging in, try to hold the cable up,like above your head?  or at least take some of the side load off the plug head so it's not trying to pull it back down over the side of the bike with the weight.  I find that when it's not loaded, or side loaded with cable weight, the plug wants to go in easier a lot of times.    Another thing i have done is,  turn bike off,  plug the cable in HARD make sure it is seated hard and fully.  THEN turn the bike on,letitdo it's reboot thing and get the im ready to go screen,  THEN initialize the charge.  It should do its protocol, you should see on the bike screen, initializing, and see on the charger that is initializing too.  this is a good sign.  then you may see power start to flow on the charger a moment before you hear the main relay kick in on your bike and it starts to actually charge.

One thing to remember.  that cable has to be totally FLUSH to charge,  if you wiggle it when it is charging or even after you clicked that  switchand itsees that switch come open again (from the wiggle) that may throw a fault and not let you start / restart the charge.  You may not get any indication either that, THIS is why it won't charge, maybe just eventually get a time out, or undefined fault error.  Set the plug,don't F with it once it's set, start the charge and it should work.

I know this sounds like a lot of bullshit, but once you get the hang of it,  it's really not that bad, just a few things to keep in mind when plugging in to get a GOOD  plug in and a good first shot at the charge.

I really need to make a video or something of this.

Aaron

[jotjotde]

Aaron, again thanks for taking the time to answer.

It's good to know that I am not the only one having these troubles. What irks me is, that last year I hadn't this issue. Because of a three month hiatus due to foul weather, I apparently unlearned what I had done right then 
So, plugging in the right way seems to be the key. Avoiding any angles, inserting it in one swift go. Grabbing the cable in a way to avoid forces to the side. Let's see if I can manage that in the future.

Moreover, next time when I am going to DC charge, I will orient the bike with the tail toward the charger so the cable will pull toward the tail more than toward the front - I have the feeling that this might help.

[Specter]

If you can get the pull / weight of the cable to try to help lift up on the cable, like circle it around the top of the plug or angle it the other way that it wants to lay when trying to hang to the ground on it's way back to the charger etc, that can help a lot.

Ive put the cable over my shoulder at times,holding the plug, plug it in that way you got both hands on the plug, giving it a good solid firm push in and wiggle as you are doing so to make sure it makes it all the way down and into the plug.  Once you learn how to take the pressure off of it so you are not fighting 15 lbs of cable trying to get it plugged in solidly it's really quite easy.

As soon as I am able to walk properly again I will have to make a video of this to share.
Its kind of like riding a bike,  words are nice,  SEEING a video a lot nicer, and of course doing it yourself, the best.

Aaron