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[Doug S]

Perhaps I'm missing something, but a search for "operating costs" doesn't turn up too much. I thought I'd see if anybody wants to get a topic going.

I was just reading this article: https://autos.yahoo.com/news/life-tesla-model-tires-cost-more-fuel-does-122101181.html;_ylt=AwrTHRjHb2VU.FEAv7hXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEzcjkyY3RhBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMQRjb2xvA2dxMQR2dGlkA1NNRTM5OV8x

A Tesla Model S owner ran come calcs and has discovered he's paying more for tires on his ride than he's paying for "fuel". At 8000 miles I'm not quite to needing new tires, but the tread on the rear is pretty thin and the front isn't too far behind....of course the original rubber on my 2014 SR is junk, but honestly that mileage isn't too far from what I've generally run on my bikes.

Needless to say, I ran some quick calcs and figured that I've probably spent ~$150 on electricity to run the 8000 miles I have so far. (Perhaps I should mention that almost all my miles are freeway-speed miles.) So it seems to me that I'm going to be spending more on tires than fuel, as well. I've burned through about 90% of a rear tire, and 70-80% of a front, so that's probably $200 or so worth of tires, conservatively.

Fortunately I've had exactly $0.00 in other expenses, unless you count the car miles I racked up when I had to drive to work while the bike was in the shop for the recall...one week's worth of miles on the car is the largest expense I've incurred so far.

How's everybody else doing? We hear a lot about the people with chronic problems, they're understandably vocal, but we don't hear much from people like myself that have had few problems if any (knock on wood!).

[Burton]

Most people don't realize the cost of a bike is mostly in maintenance and not fuel yet they are often obsessed with mpg instead of reducing overhead since this is the cost they see most often.

Based on my spread sheets I made to justify the purchase of my bike I can tell you the cost of tires / belt / brakes / etc are always going to be higher than the cost of the "fuel" on either my ICE or Electric bike.

[Richard230]

I am spending about 2 cents a mile running my Zero.  But that doesn't include the cost of tires, as I haven't needed to replace them yet.  I did spend $5 on a pint of brake fluid though, but I changed the fluid myself.  And my yearly insurance premium costs $38.  I haven't received my DMV license renewal yet.  That is likely to be about $200, or so.  No maintenance costs so far.  Most of my after-sales expenses had to do with buying accessories, like a windscreen, rear rack, top box, tank bag, seat bag and saddle bags for the bike.  You got to put your money where it will do the most good.   

[vchampain]

At 6000 kilometers
    - I spent zero on fuel (using public charging spots, they are free and everywhere in Paris)
    - I spent 50 € for small repairs (someone pushed my bike to the ground, had to repair broken plastics - unfortunately same happened to my Triumph, Honda & Kawasaki.
    - I spent a few hours and 100 € bringing the bike back to dealership for glitch/defective or badly mounted belt/insulation issues

In a nutshell : zero cost if you except vandalism and quality issues, which all were solved in the end but made me sweat at lot. Great product, great experience just need to push the customer service to the "zero defect" level - which is not so far away and more a question of organization and dealer management issue.

V

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

At 10,500 miles, I've just replaced the tires ($350 for a set of Metzler Tourance for my DS) and the brake pads have replacements ready but they still have a decent amount of life in them. The belt got its tension set but it was not out of spec at all. I pay $0.09/kWh which at most yields $100 for electricity, and it's probably more like $80 given my average Wh/mile rating.

Aside from one parking ticket, I think that's my total operating cost for the bike. I've certainly farkled it with a windscreen (small range bump from that) and cases, though.

This is pretty much the cheapest, cleanest bike I've ever had to maintain. I should probably wash it sometime!

[Burton]

What is the average watt / mile on a SR.?

I am currently running 172w/mile on my hot rodded S at 60mph with temps under 70 F

This assuming the battery gauge on the app is accurate. I know the milage is not and have adjusted for this in my number.

My tires cost about 120 each and typically last 7-8k for rear and 15-19k for front. (Bt45's)

[Doug S]

Your numbers are just about on the nose with mine, Burton. Last I looked I think my app said 168 W/m. I'll check again and repost if it's changed significantly.

I even ordered the same tire you're using to replace my rear; I've got 8.8k miles on the stock unit. My local place charged me $110 for it.

[Burton]

Doug, what gearing are you using?

My bike has the high speed gearing which is why my miles are off. I was getting about what your getting before adjusting the reported miles.

I love bt45's, great in the rain and snow which is important since I ride year round.

[peter]

I've spent about $1K getting our bike to & from the dealers to resolve multiple problems with our 2012 XU, all under warranty. Bike has <700 miles on it.

Peter

[Doug S]

Doug, what gearing are you using?

My bike has the high speed gearing which is why my miles are off. I was getting about what your getting before adjusting the reported miles.

I love bt45's, great in the rain and snow which is important since I ride year round.

My bike is completely stock, including the gearing, whatever the ratio is for an SR. I've only added the Givi rack/trunk and a Slipstreamer windshield. I keep eyeballing the CHAdeMO port, and would probably have already sprung for it, but I don't know how widespread the incompatibility issue is. My parents live about 90 miles away, my brother lives about 100 miles away, and here in so cali there are lots of stations around, if I knew they would in fact get me where I wanted to go.

Glad to hear you're having good luck with the Battlaxes. I'm not expecting to test the weather capabilities much here in San Diego, but there aren't too many sport-touring tires available in a 140/70-17 rear, the Bridgestones are pretty reasonably priced and I've had good luck with them on other bikes. And hey, even here I do occasionally get caught out in the rain, and it's good to know my tires won't give up on me.

[ultrarnr]

Doug S,

The CHAdeMO connection for the Zero should be available in a few weeks. The system itself is ready to be shipped but there was some mounting brackets that were still being worked on. As far as CHAdeMO charging stations go you can log into plugshare.com and do a local search for just DCFCs. The biggest problems were with Blink systems which do not go below 200 volts and some of the AeroVironment systems which only go down to 100 volts. Nissan Eaton, Fuji, ABB are good to go. Look at the photos to see what kind of charger is there. I recently looked into a potential trip up the east coast and once you get to Baltimore there are DCFCs by Greenlots. Turns out they are made by ABB so they should work. Once I get my CHAdeMO system hooked up on my SR and have the chance to try it out I will post.

[Doug S]

The biggest problems were with Blink systems which do not go below 200 volts and some of the AeroVironment systems which only go down to 100 volts. Nissan Eaton, Fuji, ABB are good to go. Look at the photos to see what kind of charger is there.

Turns out a lot of the CHAdeMO stations around these parts are Blink, so that's not particularly good news. There are a fair number that say they're "Nissan branded", so that might be okay, but most aren't identified by manufacturer -- most just say they're "NRG" and/or "eVgo" stations. Do you know offhand which manufacturer(s) those organizations use and/or if they're compatible? I assume they're sourcing the hardware and not manufacturing their own. The photos on PlugShare are mostly not particularly useful as far as identifying the manufacturer either. Mostly they just show the same branding information.

It is sorely tempting to still take the leap, and spend a few weekends leapfrogging from one to the next, verifying what's compatible without getting out of range of the last compatible station if I find myself forced to turn back. PlugShare does have a very useful comments section, and I could post the information. I might be the tip of the spear, but it's not going to be long before at least a few people could make use of the information...and I could go visit my family without burning dinosaurs.

[ultrarnr]

Doug S,

The eVgo systems are made by Nissan and will work. If you look on Plugshare at Towson, MD, just north of Baltimore there is a Walgreens with a eVgo DCFC. One of the photos actually shows the data plate on the charger and it clearly indicates DC Output is 50-500 volts. Once in awhile there is a useful photo on Plugshare! I looked at a lot of sites with the Greenlots DCFCs and eventually saw a photo that showed ABB on one of the chargers.A quick search of ABB specs and they are good to go.

[Doug S]

The eVgo systems are made by Nissan and will work.

If that's true for all of them, then I could easily get to the OC from San Diego. They're all over the place around here -- but then, if they're not in southern California, they aren't anywhere. It looks like I could even get out to Palm Springs quite safely, or even Big Bear, if slowly for all the recharging stops.

I'm going to have to give a lot of thought to giving myself a nice Christmas gift.