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[PaulZero]

Been a while since I posted.  My SR/F has been in for the battery replacement under warranty.  I’m very happy with it given I now get access to 15.4 kWh.  But, it doesn’t allow 12 kW to be delivered to the bike beyond 50% SOC.  then it slowly tails off to 6kW at about 80%.  Capping at 6 through to shutoff.
I am hoping this behaviour is temporary until Zero get confidence in the batteries in the field, but it used to be 40mins to get 10+ kWh into the bike.   Now it’s well over an hour.  🤦

Anyone got any news on this?

Thanks,
Paul.

[princec]

No news, but just saying, my bike's been updated with all the latest FW and it hasn't been sorted yet. I think we may need to pressure Zero into doing something about this. It has rendered the charge tank pretty useless.

Cas

[PaulZero]

I emailed the UK country manager.  I’m not expecting to hear back but if I do I’ll pass on.  I agree, the charge tank is pretty useless. 
I’ve just done a 500mile trip and it appears to be an algorithm based upon SOC…
If SOC < 40% then max power. = 11.8kW
Then it decreases going up the SOC range but very consistently…
40-50 = 10-11kW
50-60 = 9-10kW
60-70 = 8-9kW
80-90 = 7-8kW
90+ = 6kW

It doesn’t seem to matter what SOC I start the charge at or whether the bike is hot or stone cold. 
So I’d hazard an educated guess that this is a deliberate move from Zero to throttle the charge rate going up the SOC range.

Very annoying.    The tour-ability of the bike is severely impaired when the 10%-90% charge time is now about 1.5 hours.  It used to be 45mins.  Mind you that’s with 12.6kWh usable, there’s an extra kWh in the 17.3 pack for sub 2022 models that had the pack replaced.   But still is a noticeable hanging around that my ICE mates aren’t up for. 

Does anyone know if this behaviour is common to 2022+ models and other platform bikes? SR/S and DSR?

Paul.

[peterwarm]

Me too.  Early SRF, new battery.  I've only ever got to 100% charging by using a 2 kW charger and leaving for a few days....  On fast or rapid chargers the charge rate falls down so much that a motorway stop is 2 hours not 45 mins.  I've learnt to dangerously empty the battery as I get full charge rate at low SOC's, but deciding when to leave needs constant monitoring.

Real miss here. Effectively can't use the bike to travel distance unless literally got all day. . For cruising distances, its worse than the old battery with its random SOC (Running out of power? take a  break, allow magic charging! )

Too add to my misery, my cellular doesn't work, the main use I have for it (apart from traceability) is to check charge status when I'm having coffee in comfort. I'm still working on this, but that's another story.

Pete

[MVetter]

There's a very frustrated Dutchman who has been logging the charging behavior of his bike with Rapid Charger with different firmware updates. He makes graphs and spreadsheets.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/zmcowners/posts/7500379610031182/

[PaulZero]

That Facebook post is pretty interesting, the charge curve looks identical to my experience.   I can't help but feel that Zero have put a fixed charge profile into the Firmware - hopefully in an abundance of caution but if the BCB packs are "better" (presumably) than HCM then why on earth are they risking revolt from Charge Tank owners?!?   

Pete - I had my Cellular module stop working, the dealer replaced it under warranty, which took several attempts as they didn't know what they were doing, apparently had to be coded to bike and coordinated with Zero.  When it was replaced it worked for 1 day, then stopped again.   I took it out myself, took the SIM out and cleaned the contacts, put it back together and voila!  It started working again.  Have you tried disconnecting it and taking the SIM out for a clean?

Paul.

[MVetter]

The BCB refers to the 17.3 packs. It stands for Bilateral Cell Box referencing the design and layout of the cells at 28S2P using Farasis P73 cells. The HCM, which may be a made up name I don't know, refers to the 14.4 and older style packs that use 28S4P arrangement with the 32Ah cells. I no longer have any battery contacts at Zero so I can't get answers to these sorts of questions anymore.

[PaulZero]

I noticed a new promotion on the SR and DSR, headlined as "maximise your ride".
https://zeromotorcycles.com/en-gb/maximise-your-ride

Interestingly it includes the 6kW charge tank upgrade... I wonder if it truely is maximised in charging terms beyond 40% SOC?

Does this constitute false advertising??   

Paul.

[Oilcan]

I had the Rapid Charger installed on my DSR/X this past February. All was good until it got hot outside. The battery charging will shutdown when the battery internal temperature reaches 122 degrees f. If I change in the sun after a long ride I  get shutdowns but if the bike is in the shade it will charge all the way up without overheating. This is probably why they have the charging curve the way they do. In the sun the skin temperature of the black battery case reaches 130 degrees easily.