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[Doctorbass]

This weekend i just joined some friend at Durmmondville to a big EV meet and i really had my first "long trip" experience à la Terry Offthegrid 

I really enjoy my fast charging solution with my full charge in about 1h on any J1772 charge station.

Cruising at about 95km/h i had to recharge 4 times to comlete the 405km ( 202km each way)

I used my great Cycle analyst to monitor in real time the targeted Wh per km and adjust my speed to acheive the desired distance at optimum speed until teh next charge station location.

Charging at 6.6kW is really fantastic when you have hundreds of miles to do !!

 My combined average driving/charging speed is about 50km/h

Here is few pics for you guys!:

https://www.facebook.com/stephane.melancon.96/media_set?set=a.10154209664105366.1073741827.616085365&type=1

[nigezero]

Doc

Great work mate, well done. Fantastic to see you stretching the range possibilities.

Given we have way more J series chargers here in Aus and very few Chademo, I'm starting to think high powered on board chargers are a good solution too. Can i assuem that big electronic box standing onthe ground is your 6.6kw charger? What make is it?

[kensiko]

I think I saw you a few seconds, but I was in a Tesla so we couldn't see each other, too bad, next time maybe!

[benswing]

Wow, that's awesome!  The charger is such a small size, too!  Maybe we can go on some longer rides in July when I'm up there. :-)

[protomech]

This is the distance there-and-back for one of the shorter trips I make frequently (in my gas car) .. it'd be nice to replace that by using the Zero.

This particular trip (~120 miles) could be done likely with a single mid-trip charge by riding backroads (~3 hours instead of the normal 2 hours by interstate). Usually it is an overnight trip, so it should be possible to complete with only a single mid trip charge.

That single mid-trip charge would take approximately 7-8 hours with the stock onboard charger, which is unreasonable. A 1 hour charge from DocBass's charger would extend the trip out to 4 hours, which is perhaps reasonable if I'm not in a hurry.

A 2014 S ZF14.2 with a stack of 5 chargers a la Burton's assembly that could charge at 12 kW would be able to do the trip no problem .. likely 2.5 hours in total. Add a fairing and it could probably be done without a mid-trip charge at all.

[Burton]

What is the C rate of our batterires? 2012 / 2013 / 2014?

Would charging them with a near 1C or 1C rate over time degrade their performance?

Protomech are you a vetter fairing candidate now or are you waiting for my range numbers with the stock battery? ^_^ Terry is cutting off his horns this weekend to make a new tail similar to the one I will be creating btw.

[benswing]

I think Terry has charged his 2012 at 1C before and his batteries are still kickin'.  He also keeps his bike at about 50% SOC overnight and only charges fully when he is about to ride.

[protomech]

I have very little inclination towards fabrication .. but I love seeing what other people can do!

My secret hope is that Terry is working with Mr. Vetter for an official streamlined fairing offered by Zero for 2015.

[Burton]

I don't think that is going to happen. Vetter loves the zero platform but he really wants it in a scooter sized / framed package as it is better to be sitting lower and easier to get in and out of when you get older. Even I have been looking at existing scooter frames to see which might lend themselves to an electric conversion via the zero platform.

That said how much would you honestly pay for the vetter fairing delivered to you in a way you could simply bolt it on in an hour or less? Since there are few of us doing this the cost of the fairing is pretty steep but is likely cheaper than getting batteries given what you get in return. I imagine you could pay someone to make a kit containing all the parts you would need prewelded / cut assembled etc but it obviously wouldn't be cheap.

Also a lot of where the front cowl sits depends on where you sit and where your arms are in said position. I am cutting parts off my frame, as is Terry, so we can sit lower and farther back and this would mean our kits wouldn't work for a stock bike. Hence why a scooter platform is best. Put out a 16" tire scooter frame with the 14.2 or 11.0 power pack and I bet you people would buy it.

I might even trade in for it given my range would be even farther with the lower seating position.

[Doctorbass]

What is the C rate of our batterires? 2012 / 2013 / 2014?

Would charging them with a near 1C or 1C rate over time degrade their performance?

Protomech are you a vetter fairing candidate now or are you waiting for my range numbers with the stock battery? ^_^ Terry is cutting off his horns this weekend to make a new tail similar to the one I will be creating btw.

The EIG cells inside all 2012  are rated 1C for charging. So no prob for charging them at 100A for a 120Ah pack . I also monitor the temperature thru the MBB and it never goes above 4-5 degree above ambient. ( 30-35 celsius)

 Terry already cahrged them to 1.2C if i remember

Doc

[aelwero]

I am cutting parts off my frame, as is Terry, so we can sit lower and farther back and this would mean our kits wouldn't work for a stock bike.

I'm considering going this route on my 2012 S...  would love to see pics or get a little more insight into how you guys plan on going about this...  I found a guy that isn't afraid to do the TIG work for me, but I'm still sorting out how it's put together and what my options are for relocating the controller (and possibly creating a little cooling airflow to the heatsink on it) and how to go about fabbing the rear fender and lights...

[Doctorbass]

I am cutting parts off my frame, as is Terry, so we can sit lower and farther back and this would mean our kits wouldn't work for a stock bike.

I'm considering going this route on my 2012 S...  would love to see pics or get a little more insight into how you guys plan on going about this...  I found a guy that isn't afraid to do the TIG work for me, but I'm still sorting out how it's put together and what my options are for relocating the controller (and possibly creating a little cooling airflow to the heatsink on it) and how to go about fabbing the rear fender and lights...

Do a search for Offthegrid and Zero on Facebook 

[benswing]

Just rode 280 miles (448km) today from NYC to Virginia.  It was a 4 state day mostly on highways.  Wishing I could charge at 6.7kW!

[Doctorbass]

The optimum speed to ride the 2012 S at is about 80kmh to get max range is less time. I tested that many times and at 80kmh i can get 125km range easy on the ZF9.

Yeah charging at 6.7kW is AWSOME !! I really like it!

Congrat fo rthat max milleage in a day for your Zero!

My combined most efficient speed is 55km/h ( charging and driving combined) that's like 55km/h forever.. si theoricaly if you dont sleep and take any breakl you could do 24 x 55km =  1320km in a day! with that charger.

I made a software that calculate the optimum speed to drive at that take account of your charging power, batery size and Wh/km graph data of the Zero. if you want i can calcylate your best efficient speed to drive at to get the max km in the less time!

Doc

[benswing]

Thanks for the analysis!  That's one of the reasons I love this forum!

I started out traveling at 60-65mph, but that meant if was cutting it close when arriving at charging stations.  The rest of the day I went 55mph and was getting good range and needed less charging time.