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[benswing]

Hey, just wanted to add my data to the pile.  Am really enjoying my 2012 Zero S ZF9!

Rode a 40 mile round trip that is exactly half highway, half local roads, in 35 degree weather and used up 6 bars.  Averaged 70mph on highway and 40 on local roads. 

Haven't had an opportunity to test the limits, but I'm pretty pleased to have no range anxiety getting into NYC from where I live.

[Lipo423]

Lucky guy  I still do not know when I'm getting mine...the European presentation is by chance in Barcelona in the next few days...I cannot wait!
Hopefully before the end of the month.

[jdh2550]

@liveforphysics - congrats to you and everyone at Zero - seems like you've done a great job. 

[Doctorbass]

Real World Riding Range from my experience so far:

70-75 MPH:  34 Miles
At 65 MPH:   39 Miles
At 45 MPH:   55 MPH

So doing some calculations we can get the power demand for driving at those speeds:

70mph during 34 miles is 0.48 hour of run
65mph during 39 miles is 0.6 hour of run
45mph during 55 miles is 1.22 hour of run

battery is 7.9 kWh (nominal capacity wich is probably the usable capacity)

Then:

Spending the entire usable capacity during X hour mean 7.9 / X = the average power in watt

70mph  0.48 hour of run = 15.0kW of power
65mph  0.60 hour of run = 13.2kW of power
45mph  1.22 hour of run =   6.5kW of power.

Interesting... a normal sedan car need around 15kW at 60mph...


Btw... Liveforphysics was the best choice for zero to desing their battery!... Amazing work!

Doc

[cirrus pete]

Hey, just wanted to add my data to the pile.  Am really enjoying my 2012 Zero S ZF9!

Rode a 40 mile round trip that is exactly half highway, half local roads, in 35 degree weather and used up 6 bars.  Averaged 70mph on highway and 40 on local roads. 

Haven't had an opportunity to test the limits, but I'm pretty pleased to have no range anxiety getting into NYC from where I live.

Ben are you in Westchester by any chance? I live in Westchester have a 2011 Zero S (and a 2010 before that).

[oobflyer]

A couple of more Real World Numbers - I rode a little further than usual to work yesterday, so I took advantage of the 70-mile round trip (with a charge at work) to check the range. I rode there at a steady 55 MPH and home at a steady 65 MPH. My tires are fully inflated and I rode with the windshield on - in ECO mode.

At 55 MPH: 53 Miles
At 65 MPH: 46 Miles

Again - these numbers are extrapolated. At 55 MPH I rode 34 miles using 7 bars (34/7 = 4.86 miles/bar x 11 bars = 53 miles). At 65 MPH I rode 25 miles using 6 bars (25/6 = 4.17 miles/bar x 11 bars = 46 miles). Scientific rounding was used in all calculations.

As you can see - these numbers are better than when I first tested the range on the bike. I'm very happy to see the range improving, if not sure exactly why 

[Lipo423]

Good numbers...
With new batteries there is a process call "break in" . As we all know the pack is made up of several cells connected in series & parallel. When new, the cells do not charge up and discharge at the same rate. At any rate, there is some chemical process going on with new cells that cause them to perform differently when new.  Normally the first thing we do when we get any electrical-powered vehicle is to go out and hammer on it, checking the power and range. Unfortunately that is the worse thing you can do. It is recommended to do 5 to 10 cycles of low discharges followed by charging, preferably over night. A low discharge would be drawing 20-30 Ah or riding 7-10 Km, without heavy loads.
Since the cells will discharge at different rates, the first cell to reach the minimum voltage will trigger the detection circuit in the BMS, which shuts off power. The range would be low and we would think we have a bad pack. By doing short cycles the cells have a chance to equalize and not get far out of balance. The BMS has a balancing circuit but it does not have the ability to bring up a cell that is alot lower than the others (there are quite a few cells in each pack). They have to be kept within a certain range of each other. Leaving the battery pack on the charger over night gives the BMS time to equalize the cells.

Once properly broken in, a lithium battery pack will stay in balance if charged after each use and not left for very long periods without charging. In a perfect world Zero would perform the break-in process before shipping the bikes out. That’s a bit challenging due to the time involved & resources required...(this last statement is based in my perception, so it could be totally wrong)

[zap mc]

has the ambient temperature changed as the year has moved on since you first got the bike?

[oobflyer]

Lipo - yes, I'm sure the cell-balancing has something to do with it. The owner's manual doesn't mention anything about initial charging/discharging, but does emphasize that it should be kept plugged-in whenever possible for balancing. I leave it plugged-in all night every night, so maybe it's doing what it's supposed to do.

Zap - the ambient temperature has gone up a bit during the month that I've had the bike, but only a bit. I'm really looking forward to the summmer.

[Richard230]

So I finally gave my 2012 ZF9 S the workout that I bought the bike for. I rode it the 38.4 miles from my home in Pacifica, across the Golden Gate Bridge, to my daughter house located in Marin County, in the town of Fairfax.  Going there in the morning, the temperature was in the high 40's and I had the bike in "Eco" mode. I kept up with traffic in the slow lane and adhered to the speed limit. About 1/4 of my riding was on the freeway at 60 mph and the rest was on collector streets or two-lane State highways, at around 40 mph.

I took my Kill A Watt meter along with me and completely recharged my pack at my daughter's home, which took about 4.5 hours and used 3.95 kWh. When I returned home, via the exact same route as I had taken in the morning, the temperature was in the high 60's and I had the bike in "Sport" mode. Upon recharging the pack, it only took 3.65 kWh.  I have no idea why the power consumption was less in "Sport" mode on the way home, unless 20 degrees warmer made the difference. 

I ran a little calculation to determine my travel cost.  I used 7.6 kWh for the round trip. My power costs (including all taxes and random other charges) amounts to $ 0.137 per kWh. That means that my 76.8 mile trip cost me $1.04 in power consumption.  If I had ridden my Triumph, which gets 42 mpg on 89 octane fuel, the trip would have cost me $8.21, based upon yesterday's fuel price of $4.49 per gallon at my local gas station.  That is a pretty significant difference in traveling cost and when you factor in the almost nonexistent maintenance costs (if you can get past the initial purchase price), you really can save a lot of money riding electric.   

[manlytom]

Great savings. And even an excuse to stay until fully charged. Cannot be beaten. 

[emotofreak]

So I finally gave my 2012 ZF9 S the workout that I bought the bike for. I rode it the 38.4 miles from my home in Pacifica, across the Golden Gate Bridge, to my daughter house located in Marin County, in the town of Fairfax.  Going there in the morning, the temperature was in the high 40's and I had the bike in "Eco" mode. I kept up with traffic in the slow lane and adhered to the speed limit. About 1/4 of my riding was on the freeway at 60 mph and the rest was on collector streets or two-lane State highways, at around 40 mph.

I took my Kill A Watt meter along with me and completely recharged my pack at my daughter's home, which took about 4.5 hours and used 3.95 kWh. When I returned home, via the exact same route as I had taken in the morning, the temperature was in the high 60's and I had the bike in "Sport" mode. Upon recharging the pack, it only took 3.65 kWh.  I have no idea why the power consumption was less in "Sport" mode on the way home, unless 20 degrees warmer made the difference. 

I ran a little calculation to determine my travel cost.  I used 7.6 kWh for the round trip. My power costs (including all taxes and random other charges) amounts to $ 0.137 per kWh. That means that my 76.8 mile trip cost me $1.04 in power consumption.  If I had ridden my Triumph, which gets 42 mpg on 89 octane fuel, the trip would have cost me $8.21, based upon yesterday's fuel price of $4.49 per gallon at my local gas station.  That is a pretty significant difference in traveling cost and when you factor in the almost nonexistent maintenance costs (if you can get past the initial purchase price), you really can save a lot of money riding electric.   

So you could have made it both ways with a 10% reserve A 76 mile trip is nothing to sneeze at. Sounds like you could have gotten around 85miles.

[Richard230]

That would be my estimate also, elmotofreak.  I think 80 miles is a good estimate for the maximum range. But that only works for a specific route, such as a commute to work, visiting relatives, riding to Alice's Restaurant on a weekend, or some other such repeatable route. But it all depends upon winds, hills and the speeds that you ride.  When going somewhere "iffy", I would certainly take it easy on the throttle and the route until I got a feel for the power consumption for the trip.  This is no real problem for someone that understands the limits of the technology, but for a rider who is just out for fun and can't control their right wrist, their range might vary more than they would expect.   

[craigq]

FWIW the MIC UDDS test outlines battery preconditioning prior to the actual dynamometer testing, consisting of a number of charge/discharge cycles if the manufacturer determines that it is required to obtain "maximum energy storage capacity". Perhaps Zero's battery packs require this preconditioning, but they don't carry it out at the factory ?

[Richard230]

I would be surprised if they did. That would take a lot of time at a factory which is trying to get the new bikes out to all of the dealers and customers as soon as possible.  It seems to me that letting the customer perform any "conditioning" by running the bike around should work OK.  Most people that just bought a new EV (of any type) would likely take it easy for the first few rides, until they got a feel for the bike's performance and range. By then any "conditioning" should have been accomplished.  (Keeping in mind that I know nothing about the need for the new Zero Li-ion battery pack to require conditioning before it delivers maximum performance.)