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[arno]

Hello together,
my name is arno, i am 54 years old  and  living near karlsruhe in Germany. That is at the border of the black forrest.
Last year i rode my first electric bike, a zero s 2013 for 2 days.
I rent it from our local electric mobility dealer in karlsruhe (www.orangebc.com) and i was so embraced that i ordered a Zero SR . All my friends called me crazy, so much money,  but i think it is worth this price.

In europe delivery will start at end of May so i have to wait a few month.
The area is ideal for regen braking , we have a lot of hills here.

Hope to read a lot of zero SR till may and i am happy about every youtube video (thanks to GNU here) to shorten the witing time for me :-))

[NoiseBoy]

Welcome to the quiet revolution Arno.  Renting a Zero seems like a cool way to try one out for a longer period before buying.  Its a shame more dealers don't offer extended test rides.

I will hopefully join you and upgrade to an SR eventually but probably not until next year when I have paid the finance on my 2012 S.

[Joerg]

Hello Arno,

my story was pretty much the same: After a test ride of 40 minutes on a Zero S last July I rented the bike for a weekend in October. And was so impressed that I ordered the SR. Now I am waiting for the delivery next month.

Since I live on the other Side of the Black Forest near Lake Constance, maybe we can share some charging experiences of South-West Germany.

By the way: The reactions of my friends are usually quite similar ...

Joerg

[protomech]

Love seeing more German users sign up : )

EVs have met with relatively limited success in Germany. I think that may be partly due to a lack of government incentives, partly due to the German highway system which exacerbates limited range and low speed charging limitations, and partly due to the lack of EVs from the German manufacturers.

I think we'll see an uptick in Germany in the next year or two as Tesla rolls out their Supercharger system and BMW and VW roll out their EVs with fast-charge capabilities. EVs are a natural fit for wind power storage, I'd love to see German utilities roll out V2G systems as well.

Renting is a great way to cut through the BS (on both sides) and figure out if a bike will work for you. Wish more dealers in the US would do this.

[Richard230]

I am still waiting to see BMW's e-scooter on my dealer's showroom floor and going for a test ride.  I want to see if their years of engineering and development will make it any better than what Zero has produced in much less time and (no doubt) spending a lot less money to do so.     So far I have bought four electric motorcycles since I bought my last IC BMW motorcycle - and I think my dealer know it, as I ride down there on my latest Zero occasionally.      I keep telling them that if BMW had come out with a fully developed and well performing electric motorcycle like Zero has, I would have bought one from them.  But no such luck.  BMW still thinks the water is too cold for them to jump in and go swimming.   

[Joerg]

Protomech, I think you are right. The "famous" German manufacturers seem to wake up so slowly ...

Tesla's approach to build up a Supercharger network on their own costs is amazing - and that has definitely changed my view on electric cars. That infrastructure allows long distance trips with high speed which a lot of people need, I guess. So when I order a new car in two years I will really consider buying a Tesla - there are no alternatives in the high-end EV market to American products right now, I guess.

I have seen the BMW C Evolution scooter on a trade fair in January. For the price of a Zero S 11.4 you get a big vehicle (more tahn 260 kg, I think) with less performance in every respect. So you might consider it a good deal anyway since the price per kilogram of the BMW scooter is much lower than the price for a kilogram of the Zero ...

Regarding V2G: Are there any solutions to connect a Zero to a DC-AC converter to use the battery to power your home? Or maybe you can use the 100 V DC directly to power some 115 V AC devices - that would be difficult for 230 V in Europe.

[protomech]

Not easily. There is a 12V DC/DC onboard the Zero, but it is limited to 400W maximum (for 2012, I assume similar for 2013-2014).

Your best bet would be a larger inverter directly connected to the battery bus.

Nissan and others have demonstrated V2G capabilities using the CHAdeMO protocol. I'm curious whether Zero's CHAdeMO implementation supports V2G.

Note that the Nichicon charger can transfer power at 6 kW in either direction, and costs "only" $4600 (yen -> USD). For EV cars which are starting to come with 6 kW onboard chargers as standard, the charge rate is not particularly fast, but for bikes this might be a little more attractive.

[NoiseBoy]

With out climate becoming increasingly 'violent', and set to continue if you have read the UN report. Power cuts will become increasingly common.  It makes a lot of sense to have your EV available as a backup power source.

Here in Jersey we had some of the most reliable power in the world for decades, but this past year we have had 4 or 5 outages of up to 3 hours due to continuous high winds damaging overhead power lines in france, which we import most of our power from.

[Burton]

OT / RANT START:
I always find it funny when AGW comes into the picture.

If we as a people simply planted trees we wouldn't be able to bring CO2 into the argument. It likely wouldn't be enough though as our 'agriculture' practices create deserts in places with lower humidity which does affect our climate.

Sadly not many people are doing anything about it. I am on a 5 year plan to set up demonstration a site to show what can be done with really sustainable agriculture practices. And when I say sustainable I don't mean the fuzzy feel good catchword I see all these 'green' do-nothing-lemmings posting about or using to sell their product. By sustainable I mean a system capable of reproducing itself without external input over it's own lifetime while producing a surplus.

OT / RANT END

NoiseBZoy, Jersey is an island which makes me wonder why your power would go out if winds blew lines down in France as I imagine your power goes under the water correct? Maybe they shut the grid down when they have problems? idk.

Also you mention 4 or 5 outages up to 3 hours, in the states we have had power outages last 2 or 3 weeks in some areas.  I am close enough to a military base my power doesn't go out for long. That stated when I build my new place in a couple years it is going to be off-grid as possible and have it's own battery backup system as well as micro-hydro if the property allows.

[Richard230]

Our (underground-transmitted) power has been pretty reliable lately.    But can anyone spare any water?  It seems to all be ending up in Oregon and Washington. 

[arno]

Hello all,
waiting for my sr i have spend some time to install my new "petrol station" for the bike.
2 outlets 220 volts 10 amps and one outlet 3 phases 32 amps for what ever will come.
Of course including a fault current circuit breaker and a digital electric meter with power display.
Maybe i buy a electro car in a few years but in germany you get no advancement from the government. Sad but one the other side you feel like a real pioneer :-))

Attached is a photo of my new "power socket for men"

arno from black forrest

[kensiko]

Neat!

[pdm]

Very nice arno!

I'm trying to buy a Zero FX from HD-Performance in Hamburg, but they are very slow at communicating, so I'm having second thoughts if I should pick another dealer. I live in Denmark, so Hamburg is the closest dealer, but I'm thinking about trying etropolis in Bremen instead.

But I will get a Zero one way or the other. They are "cheap" when imported to Denmark, as we pay 180% additional taxes on normal vehicles, but nothing on electric vehicles, so they seem "cheap"

/pdm

[kensiko]

180% taxes 

[pdm]

180% taxes 

Yup, so when people in the US pay $10.000 for an ICE vehicle, it costs us $28.000