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[Richard230]

Protomech spotted the charger used by Zero in their 2012 street models: http://www.delta-q.com/products/QuiQ-dci.shtml

If this isn't the charger it is an exact duplicate. Just flip the picture of the charger in the PDF file over and there you go.

I when I charge my bike after a ride I hook it up to a Kill A Watt meter.  The meter shows the power drawn from the wall outlet.  I find the meter reading kind of interesting. When I first plug in, I typically see about 7.38 amps (at 121 volts), a couple of hours later, I see just slightly over 8 amps. It hangs around that number until the bulk charging is completed, when the power drops to 7 watts, where it stays as long as the charger is plugged in.

I find it interesting that the charger draw is a little less than Zero's specifications and it would appear that the charging time to replenish a depleted battery pack would be increased accordingly.

And that got me thinking.  I wonder if I could purchase a second charger (an announced Zero accessory) and plug it into the same wall outlet?  Could my nominal 15 amp circuit handle 16 amps if I made sure that nothing else was hooked up to the circuit at the same time?

[protomech]

I asked Harlan about this a few months ago and he indicated that it worked okay.

I think one of two things would happen:

1. Sooner or later you'd trip a breaker. Not really dangerous, but might be a bit disappointed if it tripped 30 minutes into a 3 hour charge.
2. It'd be just fine.

Since the quick chargers aren't really a portable setup, you'd probably just install them at home. Might as well run a second circuit or upgrade to 20A service.

[trikester]

A lot of modern home wall outlets are 12ga, 20 amp, circuits so you should be OK. You can easilly check the rating on the breaker to the outlet you are planning to use.

[Doctorbass]

With my electric bike, My Giant DH comp, i'm using a 1500W 48V adjustable meanwell power supply. The output i get until CC-CV is 1700W DC out... that's charging pretty fast my lipo!

The PF is 0.99 and it draw 18A from the outlet... yes.. a normal 15A outlet with 15A breaker... sometime it trip.. sometime not... i know i'll have to upgrade it as well... i'm in the p^roject of adding a subpannel in my garage lab. i already have the 6/3 industrial 3 conductor + ground  cable. will be perfect for up to 10kW charging station

Meanwell are cheap and really conpact and powerfull charging solution! the RSP-1500 is 432$ brand new and sometime 200$ on ebay

My coming zero 2011 will need 58V CC-CV so i'll add some 5V 30A arthesyn dc-dc converter in serie to boost the voltage at 5V/step  because the meanwell itself can only do 56V max... maybe i'll find the internal resistor that is limiting the potentiometer adjustment range and tweak it to gain +2V and will not need the dc-dc..

I wonder if the zero.. 2011 or 2012 can charge at 1C rate ?.. ex a 70Ah could charge at 70A ? without reducing their life or blowing the bms due to reverse current flow...?

Luke any idea?

Doc

[protomech]

Zero's specs indicate the ZF3 XU and X (2.6 kwh) can charge with 2x 1kw chargers and the ZF6 S and DS (5.3 kwh) can charge with 4x 1kw chargers. That's a 0.75C charge rate.

I'd be interested to hear as well if a faster charge rate is supported.

[Harlan]

Battery spec is 0.5C but take that for what its worth

[Doctorbass]

Hmm so it would be 2h recommanded minimum...

Doc

[Harlan]

Doc, the 2011 batteries are different, they can handle higher charging current.

[oobflyer]

I was told that I would get my high-speed charger in "February", but I haven't heard anything about it since I got my bike (1 month ago). I sent an email today to the dealership to see if I can get some updated info.

[Lipo423]

Hello there,

In principle Zero has planned -for 2012 models as far as I know- that you can charge the bike installing a SAE J1772 connector in your bike and using it in a proper charging power station (I live in Barcelona and that is something the government is working on, today you may charge any electrical vehicle for free in regular stations (not J1772) here until 2014...is not a bad deal, is it?).
I will tell you how it works as soon as I get my ZF9...they are not available in Spain yet.

If it is done as planned you could charge the bike in 20min...(the system bypass the std. charger)

[protomech]

Lipo, a J1772 inlet just provides for communication between the bike and the charging station as well as supplies contacts for the 240V AC supply to the bike. The on-board charger on the bike converts AC power to DC power at the desired voltage and current levels to charge the battery.

Per the Delta-Q QuiQ's specifications, it can draw at most 5A from 240V AC. It doesn't care whether you're getting the 240V AC straight from the wall (for spain and euro countries that supply 240V) or from the J1772 inlet. Even though the wall can usually supply 15A and J1772 can usually supply 30A or more, the onboard charger can't use more.

The 2011 bikes had an optional J1772 inlet, and supposedly the 2012 bike will have that option as well.

Per Harlan above the fastest you would want to charge the batteries anyhow is 2 hours (0.5C).

I expect Zero will build J1772 standard and a faster onboard charger next year to compete with the Empulse. Supposing the Empulse is out by then, of course : P

[Lipo423]

Thanks Protomech,

That was actually what I said, and I was told that the dealer is working with the government to get "Zero" adapted-specific stations...which sounds nice.
Don't know the way they will achieve this, as practically they should make voltage Zero-specific chargers + being compatible with Zero BMS protocol...

In any case quick charging will degradate battery life (with today's Lithium available chemistries)

[protomech]

Interesting.

I think Tesla has the best shot at pushing vehicle-specific chargers through - they've sold 2500 roadsters (mostly in cali), have preorders for 8000 model S.. and I don't think they have a good shot, just the best one. I don't know how many bikes zero has sold or how many of them are in spain.

A 7.9 kwh pack needs around 24 kw to do a bulk charge in 20 minutes, or 350 amps at 70v. 3-4 inch diameter cable.

[Lipo423]

I agree...

So far they have sold none, I was told I have been one of the first ones in ordering one

Will let you guys know how it goes...

[emotofreak]

The only "supported" way to charge a zero faster is to use more delta q chargers. The J1772 is basically just a glorified dryer plug and doesn't enable the delta q's to charge any faster or to bypass them in any way. Now, if/when Chademo takes off in the US like it has everywhere else, we should be able to charge at whatever the cells will support. Up to 60kw anyways If you had a 10KWH Nano-Tech battery, you could do a 100% recharge in 10 minutes!