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[mdjak1]

Back in December when Zero did a demo tour event at my local dealer, I had the opportunity to talk with the southeast regional sales manager (I'm not using any employee names here as I have not asked them if I could mention their names)  at length due to my SR not liking the software update the dealer applied that morning.   See the back story and outcome here:  https://www.electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=12264.0

Quick link to photos from trip:  https://imgur.com/a/A7L2NLJ

While talking to regional sales manager, I mentioned that my son lives in the silicon valley and we visit him a few times a year, and that I would love to be able to see the Zero factory.   He told me that it was possible and let him know if I when I was out there next time.   I did just that and yesterday I had the chance to go.

My wife and I spent about 1 hour and 15 minutes with a very long time employee.   I didn't take photos of all the assembly stations as I was asked not to.  But some photos were allowed.  I also tried not to take photos of employees.   

Our first stop was the production line.   They have 3 lines.   One for the SRS bikes, one for the SDS bikes and one for the FX bikes.   The lines are relatively short.  They vary from about 4 stations to perhaps 10 stations.   They used computer controlled torque wrenches in all assembly stations.   Besides dialing in the correct torque, the wrenches can detect whether a bolt is showing signs of cross threading by being too difficult to thread in or too easy to thread in.   It will throw up a flag if such conditions are detected and the bike will then be pulled off the line to be sent to an area for inspection and correction.   

Bikes built for the US have green build sheets and bikes for Europe have pink build sheets attached to them.   All the bikes being built in all lines were pink sheet builds for containers going to Europe.    They have already built most of the 2023 US bikes.   Those are either in warehouses or at dealers.   

We also saw two battery assembly areas.   Those are in their own small building separate from the main assembly building for safety reasons.   Each battery is water tested in a cell that cycles water over the battery to be sure they are waterproof.   The batteries can be fast charged and fast discharged as a stress test on a special machine.    I don't recall if every battery undergoes the stress test or not.   But when they do the fast discharge, we were told the power from the battery is actually fed back to the grid.   

Once each bike is assembled they move on to the dyno room where they are run through a series of tests to be sure they are working correctly.   From there they move on to a final QC area and then on to a shipping area where they are crated for shipping.

We also saw multiple subassembly areas where thing like throttles, levers and wiring are applied to handlebars or wiring and lights applied to tail sections.   They also have a subassembly area where tires are installed on wheels.  Zero is also currently building the motors for the DSR/X in house.   That motor is unique to all their other bikes.   

Zero also has a repair shop where dealers for around the west coast can send bikes that the dealers are unable to repair themselves.   However, Zero is moving to a system of remote regional factory techs that will actually visit the dealers and do repairs at the dealerships.   Aside from eliminating the need to ship bikes, this also allows the regional techs to provide training to the dealer techs.  My own SR was tended to by the eastern region factory tech when my dealer was unable to solve the issue with my SR over the last couple of months.   

We saw various custom bikes such as the two from Huge and one from Deus.  We saw the first Zero called an Electriccross and what I think was an XU.   Finally we saw a room of demo bikes.   Unfortunately, the weather in Northern CA hasn't been great and didn't really lend itself to test rides.  I would have loved to take several of the demo bikes out for a spin through the twisty roads around Scotts Valley. 

There are about a dozen photos in this imgur album:

https://imgur.com/a/A7L2NLJ

In addition to motorcycles, Zero is also supplying powertrains to Polaris for a Ranger model side by side.   

[DonTom]

Besides dialing in the correct torque,

When did Zero start doing that? Every bolt on my two Zeros was way overtightened when new. They were not going by their own specs, not even close.


-Don-  Auburn, CA

[electrictwowheeler]

Thanks for the pics! I'll be going near there in a couple of weeks and it would be fun to stop by for a tour. I'll give them a call.

[Zelidar]

Many thanks for the report and pictures. They didn't wear the Zero uniform for your visit , back in November 2019 I could see on YouTube how they assembled the SR/F (). It is still a manufacturing configuration for a small series, which is also used for very high-end cars. This explains the high price, despite the much lower number of parts in comparison of ICE motorcycles. It all comes down to the price of the battery.

[mdjak1]

Besides dialing in the correct torque,

When did Zero start doing that? Every bolt on my two Zeros was way overtightened when new. They were not going by their own specs, not even close.


-Don-  Auburn, CA

I didn't ask how long they have been doing it but all the Zeros you list in your profile are at least 6 years old.  It could be newer than that.    (see video posted by Zelidar and my response below)

Many thanks for the report and pictures. They didn't wear the Zero uniform for your visit , back in November 2019 I could see on YouTube how they assembled the SR/F (). It is still a manufacturing configuration for a small series, which is also used for very high-end cars. This explains the high price, despite the much lower number of parts in comparison of ICE motorcycles. It all comes down to the price of the battery.

Production line is basically still that way.  What I don't see in that 3 year old video is what DonTom asked about; the computerize torque wrenches that hang from overhead at each station.     

Zero doesn't release sales numbers but I would say they are still a small vehicle manufacturer.   They certainly don't have a fast moving production line but I would bet they are the #1 manufacturer of full size EV motorcycles.   As for price, not only is the battery costly but where they are building them is a pretty costly place too.   Real estate in that area starts at $700k for a 2 bedroom condo with no garage for your motorcycle.

[2020_SRS_Commuter]

Thanks for the tour!
I saved all the pictures.
I wish the CEO wouldn't assert ridiculously unachievable range stats when he's talking about it. Nobody is going 200 miles on a zero on one charge in real life. What an absurd thing to say.
Better to be at least closer to the truth, but play up more positive aspects instead.

[DonTom]

Nobody is going 200 miles on a zero on one charge in real life. What an absurd thing to say.

I agree probably nobody will do it. But it can be done. Just have the Zero with the largest battery and stay at a steady 20 MPH for the entire 200 miles.


We all should know to ignore range claims anyway. We can figure that out by the useable KWH capacity of the battery and a few other details, such as the weight of the vehicle.


For normal mixed riding, use useable KWH times 7 to equal miles of range. Adjust this for conditions. That is the only range spec we need, IMO.


-Don-  Auburn, CA

[Curt]

I didn't ask how long they have been doing it but all the Zeros you list in your profile are at least 6 years old.  It could be newer than that.    (see video posted by Zelidar and my response below)

A few of us enjoyed a factory tour April 28, 2018, and by that time they were using the computerized torque process where supposedly data from every bolt on every bike was logged.

Thanks for sharing your tour. They have quite an operation there, to be making their own batteries and motors.

[zeronimbus]

when i see the photos of the workshop and the mess that reigns there, i'm not surprised that my sr/s breaks down constantly.

in france at present, it is not possible to have a 3 k/w charger to repair mine grrrrrrrrrrr
super bike, but lousy sav

[mdjak1]

when i see the photos of the workshop and the mess that reigns there, i'm not surprised that my sr/s breaks down constantly.

in france at present, it is not possible to have a 3 k/w charger to repair mine grrrrrrrrrrr
super bike, but lousy sav

There was really only 1 photo of a work station/production line (chassis station 01) and it shows shelves filled with parts bins of wrapped parts.   The next two photos are of the dyno room and a partial picture of a station with some bins on the desk.   Neither is really messy.

The room with the bikes are all demo bikes for journalists or bikes that came back from the Demo tour recently.   It is a back room of the sales staff's area.   

Perhaps it isn't a sterile environment but it is far from really messy in my opinion.