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[radams]

Wait for it... REGEN!

I just got of the phone with Bryan from Zero Motorcycles. I had sent an email asking what the specific differences were between the S and DS and if I could switch my order if I decided to. And instead of simply responding to my email I quickly received a phone call to answer all my questions.

● Ship date - I was told that my bike was scheduled to ship on 8/24/09 for delivery in early September. He thanked me for my patience and assured me that the final delays to tweak the bike have made it much better.

● Specs - I mentioned that I had noticed that the specs for the S had changed on the website (top speed: 55, range: 50) and I asked if these were final. He quickly said that those were not the final specs and they would only go up!

● Zero S vs. DS - I asked what the specific differences there were between the S and DS. It sounds like it's just the rear tire, front wheel & tire, and front fork. I asked if I could get some kind of "conversion kit" to convert my S to a DS, and he said that could be a possibility. Or if I wanted to switch my order to the DS to just let him know.

● Regen! - I'm very excited about this. Bryan mentioned regenerative breaking and I said "oh, is that something you're going to offer down the road?" and he said "no, your bike will have it when it ships". Worst case, if the regen wasn't finalized yet when they shipped my bike they would send a regen add-on kit out to me asap. Since I had never heard anyone mention regen on the Zero S I was curious and asked a lot of questions. It sounds like they haven't decided if it a) it will be integrated into the throttle and would kick in when you let off the throttle (like engine breaking), with a sweet spot so you could free-wheel coast, or b) would be a separate lever on the left side of the handlebar (where the clutch would be on a gas bike or the rear brake on a mountain bike). I think I like the b option better, more control.

Finally, I've had both the Enertia and the Zero S reserved for some time, my thought being that I would simply buy whichever one actually made it to production first. Now that it seems they will both be reaching the market at almost the exact same time, I was torn, which should I buy... However, the exceptional customer support I have received from Zero from the very beginning of this process. From the first phone call within minutes of making my reservation, to a free t-shirt and thank you letter, to the follow up phone calls answering any and all questions I had makes it an easy choice. Zero baby!

Sorry for the long post,

Russ

[Green Caledonian]

Hey Russ,
Thank you for the long post.  It has a lot of great info which I appreciate.  My Zero S ship date is September 15th so it sounds like I will have regen on my bike which is great news.  Hey, was there any mention of why they had dropped the top speed, increased the weight and ditched the fancy headlight?  I don't mind staying to 55 mph if it means better low end torque so I am hoping that this is the case.  Heard anything?

Thanks again for the info.

~GC

[radams]

GC,

I was wondering about the top speed too, but when he said that the specs on the website weren't final and "would only go up"  I figured I would wait and see what the final specs are. (I do hope it's a little higher than 55, even 58 would be ok with me.) But I would assume if they lowered the top speed with a larger rear sprocket, the low end torque would be increased.

I forgot to ask about the increased weight. But if I were to guess, I think it may have heaver duty brakes (the brakes in the more recent pictures look a little beefier than in earlier pictures), larger sprocket? and maybe the new big round headlight is heavier than the previous one?

As far as the headlight, it sounded like the previous headlight may not have worked for both US and Europe, so they switched to a headlight that would work across all markets. He also mentioned that the new headlight was very bright.

Russ

[ultrarnr]

It would be nice to know why the specs went down though. I saw that the front sprocket is now smaller which on one hand would mean faster acceleration. But what are the 0-55 times now? I think Neil mentioned in one of the videos that the Zero S could do 0-60 in about 4 seconds.  Would like to know how it suddenly got 40 pounds heavier. Especially considering the battery weight is the same. The weight really isn't a big deal but the range and the speed are. I am definitly surprised about the regen feature. I think Zero needs to make a decision on final configuration so they can bikes shipped to customers. Constantly trying to change the configuration is going to mean more missed ship dates and more pissed off customers who are tired of being told month after month that their bike will ship next month.

[skadamo]

Great info, thanks! Wonder when we will see an official statement on regen from Zero.

I heard some people were not impressed with the acceleration of the S. CBXMan, mentioned Zero sent him a different rear sprocket to put on the S he has and the bike is a lot faster off the line now. I assume this decreases top speed as it does on ICE bikes.

Brammo has mentioned they are under promising on the Enertia's performance. Maybe Zero is following suit?

The weight of the Zero S jumped 45 lbs the day after the DS was introduced. Had me scratching my head too. Here is my query to the twitosphere for reference...
http://twitter.com/skadamo/statuses/2932159175

[skadamo]

Just heard back from Jeff at Zero. He said the S and DS will NOT have regen. Sounds like he checked with Bryan who said he was misquoted.

Hope this clears things up.