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[mistasam]

Hey everybody!  I'm the ridiculously excited new owner of a 2020 Energica Ego (13.4) and decided to ride it 1000km (600 miles) in the first weekend.  Why not??  I'll make this quick.. if you're reading this while charging, it's gotta be a fast read 

I picked up my Ego the same time as a buddy got his Eva 107.. so far, the only Energicas in the country:


Here's my bike:


Ridiculous.  Ok now the route.. we rode from Auckland, around Coromandel at the top, then south to Wellington, but I wanted to focus on this part of the ride in particular:



The real range was 450km (280 miles) and the Goog said that takes 6 hours to ride (lots of small towns to slow down for here).  Anyway, here's what I found:

I spent exactly 2.5 hours charging using DC stations.
I stopped 7 times to charge, although one of those times was only for 7 minutes.
The total battery amount I charged was 43.1kWh
And the total cost was $44.15

Crazy to think that it's basically $1 per kWh in the end, but I guess you pay for that DC speed.

If the nominal battery size is 11.7kWh, let's say that's 3.7 full batteries to cover that distance, which would mean a full charge got me 121km (75 miles) of range.  A good chunk of the time I was riding at 110km/h (70mph) and it was really hilly, so I figure that's about what most people here are getting, right?

Stopping 7 times meant the average distance between stations was 65km (40 miles).. but some of those gaps were longer, some shorter.  It doesn't sound like much if you look at it that way, but most of the riding between chargers took over an hour.

A total charging time of 2.5 hours divided by 3.7 batteries is about 40 minutes for a full charge, although the stations rarely gave me above 70A.

So my question to you guys is.. what riding modes help you get the most out of road trip range?  Do you like using regen, or coasting?  Do lower speeds help with the range, or does the aero on the Ego make it more efficient to ride at a higher speed?  Does the normal 20-80% charging rule apply, or should I try and arrive with less?  More?  Where's the charging speed start ramping down at the top end?

Thanks in advance!  Since you made it this far, here are some more photos from the trip 

[BigPoppa]

First...congratulations on the new bike! I've been following you for awhile, waiting to see if the Strike would eventually live up to the promises. Do you still plan on getting the Strike eventually or is the Ego taking it's place?

I've got a 13kw EsseEsse9 and a 21kw Ribelle on order so here's my experience with my EsseEsse9 after 7500 miles of mostly commuting riding.

My daily commute is 38 miles each way of mostly freeway riding although usually at least half that distance is spent splitting lanes.

I usually charge via 240v AC and charge up to 95% at home and at the office. I typically chew up about 70% of my battery over those 38 miles where my speed varies between the low 30s to 80+.

I've only used the DC charging ability about a half dozen times and the first couple of times I charged to 100%. The rest of the time I usually charge to 80% since the DC charging does start getting progressively slower past 80% plus I've found that when I do need to use DC charging, 80% is sufficient to get me to where I want to go.

I've heard from other Energica owners that regen off gives you the best freeway range but since I spend most of my riding time commuting or in town I leave my regen on high all the time mainly because I really like the added "braking" power provided by the regen.

I also leave my bike in sport mode since I'm a power junkie.

[Kappi]

Congrats to your new bike.

[most]

Congrats - excellent choice!
Brand new or demo bike?
What made you prefer the 13.4kWh over the 21.5kWh battery?

Can’t wait to see plenty of new clips on your channel.

[Crissa]

Aww, the photos didn't load on my iPad.

-Crissa

[mistasam]

Ahhh it didn't work for me either.  Just fixed it, hopefully 

[mistasam]

Congrats - excellent choice!
Brand new or demo bike?
What made you prefer the 13.4kWh over the 21.5kWh battery?

Can’t wait to see plenty of new clips on your channel.

Thanks, most!  I got really lucky and bought a brand new one at a reduced price.  With all the new bikes coming out, the smaller battery ones have become more affordable than Zeros.  That was the main reason for going with the 13.4kWh, but it's also because the infrastructure in New Zealand is insane.  There are DC fast charging stations every 30-40 miles, and on an aggressive sportbike like this, I'm totally fine to stop and stretch ~ every hour.

[mistasam]

I typically chew up about 70% of my battery over those 38 miles where my speed varies between the low 30s to 80+.

Thanks, BigPoppa!  That's great to hear.  It seems really similar to my Zero, so I feel pretty good about it.

[Crissa]

Very pretty!

-Crissa

[SBK74]

Very nice bike, welcome in the Energica community.  In your situation (just like us in NL), you can really plan your charging stops. I reckon, stay mostly in the 20-80 SOC area, as charging speed tapers >80%.  Regen; I select often medium on road trips. High I use when driving more agressively, but high gets annoying at times. The 120km range average is very plausible. The setting on power does not affect range directly, but in order not to waste energy at accelerating you could consider normal or rain.

The Ego is the most efficient Energica out there, followed closely by Eva and then EsseEsse9. So you could allow yourself some higher speeds than the Eva. I did a road trip to Germany with a friend, him driving the exact spec Eva 107 as of your pics. I was leaning over the tank of my Esse, left hand on my back, driving with a silk right hand, to be able to match his economy. BTW he has now a Ribelle and says that the bigger (Esse) luggage reduces efficiency. Well, he has the 21,5 battery so no complaining…

In the Netherlands, some of us are preparing for a public  1000 km/24h challenge, would be nice to follow.

 

[Sklith]

Congrats, mistasam!

When using DCFC, I always try to keep my Soc between 5% and 80% to get the overall highest speed, starting at 20% just adds to the overall stops you make. Sucks to see that it's so expensive to use fast charging in your country! I hope they some day go towards cost per kWh than minute over there.

I typically keep my regen on high since it really does a great job of slowing the bike down with the added benefit of putting energy back into the battery. When I'm highway riding, I use cruise control.

Riding mode makes no difference in energy consumption to me since my wrist decides that.

Even though the Ego is very efficient on the highway compared to other electric bikes, it still has to pull us meat bags along. That being said, our energicas charge so fast it's best to ride at higher speeds as long as DCFC options are plentiful in the area. Where I live, I have to stick to the main highways or else I'll be stuck at 3kW AC charging. I pray it doesn't stay this way for long!

[most]

One difference I‘m sure you noticed by now: The Zeros apply the set regen level always to the full extend. Meaning: Apply the brakes, and the full brake-regen setting kicks in. Or: Close the throttle, and the full throttle-regen setting kicks in. I found it hard to drive really fast AND smooth because of the ‘digital’ regen setting ON or OFF. It does not really allow a smooth line. 

With Energica, you do not have the regen settings for brake and throttle separate, but on one HUGE advantage for me is you can control the level of regen with closing the throttle.

Let me know if you notice the difference😉

[mistasam]

Thanks, everybody!  Yep, I've definitely noticed the smoothness of regen and wayyy more control of it with the throttle.  I love it!

That's a good point about getting down to a lower SOC.. I was stopping around 30% just because I was still new to the bike and wasn't sure how far to push it.  But then that makes it more expensive.  Here it's 25 cents per kWh and 25 cents per minute.. so it would make a huge difference to stop charging at 80%, speed-wise and also financially!  I guess I need to shift my whole charging range back to start at a lower SOC.  Thanks for the tips 

And a "1,000km in 24 hours" trip makes my butt hurt just thinking about it, but I'm excited to watch you guys.

[Crissa]

The trick to smooth regen on a Zero is DonTom's method:  Apply the brake before rolling off the throttle to feather the regen between the plus of the throttle and the minus of the braking regen.

It's not easy, but it is simple.

-Crissa

[octopusenvy]

I'm the buddy! Yep great short write up Sam, I really enjoyed our too-short roadtrip, and looking forward to the next (we live at opposite ends of the island, about 13hrs apart)!

Sam got more 'touring' time than I did, as while we were riding together it was wet, very winding (Coromandel), and often dark! Once I got a bit of straight hwy riding at constant speed, which is not common in NZ, I found cruise control awesomely efficient. It was more efficient than my years of practice on the old SR and custom electric (both now gone in favour of the Eva107 2020).

I was averaging about 120km per charge, but also we are in winter now. So theoretically (and hopefully) range will increase in summer. It should also be said that fluctuations on the throttle increase inefficiencies, so where we all ride makes a difference. I've seen enough on the forum to know that a backpack or a bag on the tail is better for aero, or at least less worse than side bags too. We can both also say that lots of rain is no problem for these bikes! It was a wet wknd, but we found some good weather too. I'll add a pic or two, but won't do a write-up since Sam already has? Or maybe I should write up the beginning since this was part2 where we'd split up to go to our respective homes?

Although heavily in the shadow of Sam-wise, I'll be the 'other hobbit' that doesn't get a lead role, but still puts in the kms