Adam,
I'm getting very similar numbers for range. My guess is that I won't be taking the bike on rides much longer than 30 miles without starting to break into a cold sweat. Also, the amount of charge left at the end of my commute depends very strongly on how I ride: If I'm late for a meeting and pushing the envelope on the high end as a result, the bars definitely go down a lot faster than if I'm more relaxed and staying at the speed limit all the way in.
The dependence of the bars on throttle position is annoying, but unavoidable given that they use the measured voltage on the battery as a indicator of remaining charge. The way batteries work (all batteries, I believe), the more current you suck out of them, the lower their output voltage. It's a physics thing. So, my guess is that a more accurate determination of battery charge while under load is possible, but it will require a much more sophisticated algorithm to achieve, and this technology is just too new to expect such things, as of yet. Perhaps the new generation of EV cars (like the Nissan Leaf) will have such algorithms built in. For the time being, however, I think the only way to really know the remaining charge on the Zero is to roll off the throttle and then check the bars while the bike is either coasting or at a standstill.
I was pulled over yesterday by a cop at my place of work for riding without a license plate. (I work at the US Dept. of Commerce, and we have our own federal police force over there.) Christy at Zero told me I can ride the bike without plates as long as I carry that little strip of paper that came in the paperwork that identifies the bike and Zero as the dealer. (Here's the direct quote from the email I received from Christy:"You can legally ride your bike right out of the shipping crate. There is a small slip of white paper (was detached from California DMV forms) that says “New Vehicle Dealer Notice Temporary Identification†that is your temporary registration until you register and receive license plates from your DMV in Colorado.") Turns out, that's a load of cr@p. But the cop was nice and didn't issue a citation. (I think he was somewhat intimidated by the challenge of filling in the section of the citation that has the # of cc's for the bike... He kept asking me, "So, how many cc's is it?", or "Is there an equivalent cc rating for the bike?" or "So, how fast can it go," etc...) So, I'm now working with the good folks at the Boulder DMV on registering the DS. Turns out, they still remember the process required to get your bike processed, so I don't think it will end up being quite the ordeal you had to deal with. They also have the same problem with looking up the VIN in their data base, though, as per your suggestion, I did get the new Certificate of Origin from Zero with CPI listed as the manufacturer, so they will be working with Alma at the DMV in Denver over the phone to take care of the details. (My guess is that CPI actually makes the bike over in Taiwan, under license from Zero.)
In the meanwhile, I've got my temporary plates, and I'm back on the road. But, this time legally.
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Topic: inquiry concerning 2010 DS deliveries (Read 1784 times)