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[Crissa]

Well, a battery remains cheaper than a replacement bike.

-Crissa

[wavelet]

Thanks, those were very interesting insides that I didn't have so far. Very useful!

So, it means that it is indeed possible to swap an old battery for a newer generation and that has already happened. It's very comforting to know that.
Again: I'm not worried about the longetivity of the battery itself. I drive electric cars for 4 years and know that this is not an issue.
I just wanted to know whether there is potentially a path to an upgrade in case one day, e.g., a 20 kWh battery is available.

Thanks again for all the replies.

While I'm not a Zero owner, I very much doubt there will ever be a supported upgrade path. There isn't one in car BEVs, even when it's technically possible: The Leaf's batteries from the original 24kWh through the 30kWh and the 40kWh one on the 2nd-gen have the exact same form factor & interfaces, and Nissan won't sell a Leaf battery except to an  owner, and only the exact same one as currently in the car, upon proof that it's defective or seriously degraded: This is because of the global battery shortage.
It's not worth a BEV manufacturer's while to provide a battery upgrade path when they'd make a lot more money by selling that same battery in a new vehicle.

Also, replacement of car BEV packs is  rare; there's mostly consensus the original battery will remain the lifetime of the car (as it slowly degrades, it'll just be repurposed as a shorter-range vehicle). 
This is even more true of BEV motorcycles, where AFAIK the battery makes up a higher % of component costs than it does in BEV cars.

It's also not going to be worth it economically to the motorcycle owner. If within the warranty period, replacing a fully working battery means throwing away a large investment (esp. since AFAIR, a non-warranty replacement (e.g., accident) is typically only guaranteed for a year); by the time the 5-year period is over, the bike itself is only worth half as much as it was when new, and the owner is unlikely to recoup the investment.

[Crissa]

There are third-party batteries for Leafs now.

And we've only had a couple years of Zeros aging out of the battery warranty.  We don't know what the future will hold.  My battery is quite strong, but a new bike would cost more than a battery, still.  If we look at replacement cost, anyhow.

-Crissa

[JaimeC]

It's also not going to be worth it economically to the motorcycle owner. If within the warranty period, replacing a fully working battery means throwing away a large investment (esp. since AFAIR, a non-warranty replacement (e.g., accident) is typically only guaranteed for a year); by the time the 5-year period is over, the bike itself is only worth half as much as it was when new, and the owner is unlikely to recoup the investment.

Anyone who buys a vehicle thinking it's some kind of "investment" needs his head examined.  The exception being buying a rare collector's item which you never plan on riding in the first place.

[sharagan]

I would not reject the possibility of a battery upgrade for the future. For example KTM is doing this with their Freeride e models. They were originally sold with a 2.6kWh battery and made a newer revision of the bike with a 3.9 kWh battery with the possibility for the owners of the previous version to buy the new battery as it is backwards compatible.

[T.S. Zarathustra]

Battery replacement has been done. There are few blogs and Youtube videos about homemade replacements, I remember Leaf cells being used in at least one case. Zero can sell you a battery, but it's expensive. Cheaper than new bike, but new bike would have less wear and tear.
I would imagine many of the old bikes have been parted out. I've seen some number of motors and parts on Ebay. The rest are probably sitting in garages somewhere, with a bad battery, but since it's not worth much in that state, the owner has dreams of getting it working again.
There are companies that will rebuild battery packs but they are also expensive.
Wouldn't it be nice if there was a battery standard that could be easily fit into packages that would fit various vehicles. I'm talking about system of inexpensive modules, with electronics (BMS), that could easily be connected/configured into various setups.

[ESokoloff]

It's also not going to be worth it economically to the motorcycle owner. If within the warranty period, replacing a fully working battery means throwing away a large investment (esp. since AFAIR, a non-warranty replacement (e.g., accident) is typically only guaranteed for a year); by the time the 5-year period is over, the bike itself is only worth half as much as it was when new, and the owner is unlikely to recoup the investment.

Anyone who buys a vehicle thinking it's some kind of "investment" needs his head examined.  The exception being buying a rare collector's item which you never plan on riding in the first place.

I disagree (tho won’t argue the head examination much)
When I debated about going electric I looked at the “INVESTMENT” aspect & determined that the price premium of EV would easily be offset by my ability to charge at work. 
In fact the majority of the total purchase price will be absorbed by the time I retire in a few years.

Reminds me of an ad Zero put out several years ago.



 

[Crissa]

Haha.  Commute time and 'for us' is why my spouse bought a motorcycle!

Our last motorcycle lived with us for twenty years.  If my Zero makes it that far, it'll have replaced 80,000 miles.

-Crissa

[ESokoloff]

Haha.  Commute time and 'for us' is why my spouse bought a motorcycle!

.................

 

It’s a great ad but the part of it I was referring to is 1:02-1:15.
“Zero..... No oil changes & I can plug in at work.
This baby’s actually going to pay for its self”.

EV purchases CAN be an investment now & as the price drops WILL become an investment (vs ICE) for more & more.