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[noyesknifer]

Hi, for the past couple months, the estimated range and SOC for my Zero SR/F has been around half of what it should be.  Today I took a 35 mile freeway ride, and it took me from 100% to 0%. 20 minutes later I keyed the bike on to check the SOC, and the SOC is now 53%.  I have completely drained the battery before and charged it, and seems like the battery capacity is OK based on my killa-watt numbers.  I have the previous firmware version, the one before the firmware that forces you to have the CANYON ride mode.   Don't really want to update the firmware because of that.  Bike is currently out of regular warranty but still under the battery warranty.  Any tips besides taking the bike to the dealer?

[MVetter]

I documented this thoroughly in December of 2020. Zero is aware of it. They have done nothing. This is not new. There is nothing you can do until Zero decides to fix it.

https://youtu.be/CjIXCD2-CdU?t=764

[Ryan]

Same here.

[MVetter]

Just refer to it as Magic Charging. That's the term we coined.

[DonTom]

Just refer to it as Magic Charging. That's the term we coined.

Is this bug only on the SR/F and SR/S?  The same battery on the plain SR doesn't do it?


And what is the "Canyon Ride Mode" ?




-Don-  Auburn, CA

[DonTom]

BTW, shouldn't  Zero be FORCED to recall these bikes? Sounds like it could be very dangerous in some situations.


A few new  Triumph Trophy SEs (TTSE) were rebooting the ECU while on the freeway. Killed the engine.  Only happened to  a very few. Never happened to mine. Triumph recalled mine and every  TTSE they sold in the world and fixed them all, so this problem could not happen again to anybody.  They all get new ECUs and Triumph did NOT make the ECUs.


How can Zero get away without  a recall when it is safely related?


What is the BS at the end of the video that says it is not Zero's fault? Who sold the dangerous bike? 


-Don-  Auburn, CA

[Richard230]

Every time that I hear the term "recall" I am reminded about the entire production of 2012 Zero S/DS models that were recalled by Zero, the owners paid for the bikes and I assume that the recalled bikes were crushed and the parts hopefully recycled somehow. This was because three or four bikes caught on fire when being recharged about four years after they left the factory, as I recall ( ).

So back in the good old days, before Zero became such a big electric motorcycle manufacturer, problem were quickly resolved and recalls were accomplished with dispatch when necessary. Apparently, not so much now? 

[noyesknifer]

The latest SR/F firmware overrides your custom ride mode with a mode called CANYON, and I believe you either can't change anything about the ride mode or you can't increase the max speed past 108 mph.  This issue wouldn't be a big issue if the SR/F didn't limit the power of the bike as SOC decreases.

I have had "magic charging" since I bought the bike, but it was no where near this bad, and it has not corrected itself in months.  Only riding in the city I have 60 mile reported range at full charge, however I can get 120-130 miles riding in the city before it actually depletes all the way. 

[DonTom]

The latest SR/F firmware overrides your custom ride mode with a mode called CANYON, and I believe you either can't change anything about the ride mode or you can't increase the max speed past 108 mph.  This issue wouldn't be a big issue if the SR/F didn't limit the power of the bike as SOC decreases.

Does this mean you no longer have an adjustable custom mode after the update?

I have had "magic charging" since I bought the bike, but it was no where near this bad, and it has not corrected itself in months.  Only riding in the city I have 60 mile reported range at full charge, however I can get 120-130 miles riding in the city before it actually depletes all the way.

If your "magic charging" is getting worse, you could have a bad battery--which is a warranty item.


I say that because my 2017 DS had "magic charging" as well as a very reduced range. Both problems appeared at the same time. It would get some SOC back in just a few minutes.  The other things I would notice is MUCH faster charging to full  and my SOC would raise more often just from regen when going down a hill.


It acted much like the battery was getting smaller, so faster charging to full as well as less range and this was the only time I have seen magic charging on that bike.


Both problems went away totally after a new battery was installed under warranty.


-Don-  Auburn, CA

[noyesknifer]

Ok I made an appointment with my dealer (your favorite dealer Tom, Elk Grove Powersports) and hopefully I get a new battery out of this.  Regarding canyon mode, I believe it overrides your custom mode, and you can change everything about it except the top speed (which I believe is stuck at 108mph), and the name of the mode (so it is always CANYON). 

[lunarx]

If you go to dealer, the 1st thing they'll do is update your FW.
May as well do it yourself.

I found the latest FW seems to have good Range Estimation.
Immediately, after the FW update, Range Estimates were extremely low.
After I charged to 100% (not 95%) and did some efficient riding (to establish a higher range factor) it worked well after that (for all types of riding).
Now my range estimates are surprisingly high, but the bike seems to meet them.

[noyesknifer]

I did an OTA update before taking the bike in.  It didn't change my custom ride mode like I thought it would.  Just got back from the dealer, they did some calibration on the bike, and updated the firmware (now I have canyon as my custom ride mode).  The update did not change the dashboard to the new version, not sure if the dealer has to deliberately update that for that to happen.  Yet to see if I need to take the bike back in, and ask the dealer to contact zero directly

[Auriga]

Yes, the dash update is separate, and a lot of dealers don't know how to/don't do it without Zero helping and a specific request.

[Tony]

The latest SR/F firmware overrides your custom ride mode with a mode called CANYON, and I believe you either can't change anything about the ride mode or you can't increase the max speed past 108 mph.  This issue wouldn't be a big issue if the SR/F didn't limit the power of the bike as SOC decreases.

Does this mean you no longer have an adjustable custom mode after the update?

No, you can still make your own custom mode. Canyon is just the default custom mode now, when you create your own, Canyon will be replaced with that one.

[jotjotde]

Hello from Germany!

Unfortunately I have the same problem with my 2019 SR/F purchased in February.
Battery has only approximately 60% of capacity, with my charger I can get about maximum 7 kWh into it.

Magic charging also happens here. Yesterday put the Zero into the garage with 28 %, after one hour it read 52 % SoC.

Brought it to my dealer 6 weeks ago, they checked with Zero for over a week and decided to replace the battery.
Interestingly, the dealers's 2022 SR/F showroom model does need a new battery as well...

Delivery for the new battery was scheduled for end of May. Phoned my dealer yesterday - he has no clue when it will be delivered.

Pray for me, please, and good luck for everone else.

Jay