Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[ctrlburn]

When going out of town I park mine at my parent's house - my dad or one of my brothers takes it from there, or my sister-in-law.

Or another rider I know.

(I've had a couple co-workers turn it down.
(I presume because a good mid-westerner declines anything when first offered.))

By loaning it out I build an unofficial plugshare network of my own, I've got a mental map of half a couple stops in the area I could leave my bike overnight to charge and possibly leave on an ICE to get home.  (not that I have yet)

But when I can't find anyone - I leave it plugged in.  Though I wouldn't hesitate to leave it unplugged at anything over 50%.

[Kocho]

I'd be hesitant to leave it plugged-in for extended periods of time when unused, especially in a public place. I'm more worried about someone doing something silly with the electric cord, or some spike on the grid frying the bike's electronics, or the charger failing and causing a circuit breaker to trip and disrupt other users while the owner is away for 2 weeks. While I have not seen reports of fires with the Zeros while charging due to some failure, I've seen them for some other electric bikes. Why increase your chances of any of that happening if you don't have to??? There is simply no justification for risking these things when the bike is perfectly capable of spending a few weeks unplugged, given a sufficient initial charge. Other than convenience, I have not seen 1 reason that plugging the bike all the time is better than keeping it unplugged and charging only when needed (of course, proper care near low SoC and high SoC applies, and if what's that is unclear to the user, then by all means, keep it plugged in to be on the safe side). For those citing the user manual as the gospel - I'm pretty sure what's in there is adequate advice for the average Joe who does not need to be bothered to think about the bike's SoC or could forget it unplugged for months and kill the battery from over-discharging. Not necessarily the best advice for any one given situation though...

EDIT: I got some regulated power supplies at home, mainly for use with computers and other home electronics. They have relays to control spikes in the circuit that the filtering can't handle, so when they work I can hear them. I quite often hear them kick-in, so the grid power is less than perfect and could potentially damage sensitive electronics, including the Zero. I certainly would not want to have the Zero plugged-in during a lightning storm nearby. And keeping the bike plugged in at all times greatly increases the chance that it will be plugged in when the electricity cuts off or spikes back on during a storm, stressing the power supply on the bike unnecessarily...
 

Great. That guide explains really well why leaving the bike plugged in all the time might not be perfect in theory but is nothing to worry about.

[MostlyBonkers]

There is far too much anxiety around this whole subject. When I was obsessing about buying a Zero, I did a fair bit of research into batteries and wrote a long article on this forum.  My motivation was to reduce that anxiety and sate my curiosity.

Did I succeed? I'm not so sure because the debate keeps rumbling along. I can add one new thought I've had though:

Remember that the charging circuit is only active for as long as it needs to be. Once the battery is charged and balanced, the contactor opens which isolates the battery. The charger is switched off and there is no current draw, with the exception of the display on the dash. I don't know what that consumes, but it's likely to be very close to nothing. About the same as a bedside alarm clock? Probably less because those have brighter displays.

I think that should help put minds to rest about leaving the bike plugged in. Most of the time, most of the electronics are switched off. It's like leaving a television on standby. I don't worry about spikes in the power supply with my telly and many other pieces of equipment that are left plugged in all the time. They last for decades that way without any surge protection.

If you need to store your bike for months, then by all means follow the advice about leaving it at 40-50 SoC. Otherwise, just don't worry about it. Please. Life is too short and this isn't something you need to worry about.

[Doug S]

There is far too much anxiety around this whole subject.

I couldn't agree more. Eleven days? Pfft. Plug it in, don't plug it in, have a great trip.

[Richard230]

All I care about is that my bike is fully charged when I am ready to ride.  Since I ride it several times a week, I put it on the charger for a couple of days until it shows 100%, then pull the plug and it will be ready to go on the next ride whenever I am.