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[Kocho]

I don't have a Zero, but on my Vectrix I've blown through 2 chargers and just about everyone else I know with a Vectrix has blown the charger at least once. Vectrix has been through at least 8 or so revisions of their chargers (2 generations of them, completely different from each other). I suppose it is not easy to make a reliable charger on a tight budget... On my latest charger I usually run it on a about half its maximum power in hopes to extend its life. That means something like 6 hours of charging from empty (I got about a 9KW battery in my bike), but that's fine for me, I do it overnight usually.

[buutvrij for life]

Yes guys, it's about time Honda's getting started going EV....

[MostlyBonkers]

Poor reliability killed the UK car industry. Come to think of it, it also did for our motorcycle industry too. Zero have already had a few customers walk away due to recurrent issues. I know we're early adopters but I don't see why we should suffer for it, especially when they've had plenty of time to sort this particular issue out.

I feel an email to Zero brewing. Has anyone else contacted them directly on this?

I can't help but think that water has it's part to play too. The charger seems very exposed slung at the bottom of the bike.

It'll be such a shame if Honda come into the market and all the Zero customers immediately jump ship in the hope of better reliability. If you're listening Zero, please learn from history so it does keep on repeating itself!

I feel like Steve McQueen in the Great Escape riding around on the Gladius! It's like a bike from a different era after my last three. Still enjoyable though, it has two wheels after all!

[Lipo423]

I cannot agree more with the comments...

As I mentioned earlier in my case a 2015 demo bike blowed the charger...and then my new SR2014...
It looks like it is a kind of lottery/random...which is not nice...my replaced charger seems to work fine now, I'm just crossing my fingers as I'm in the number of cycles it usually blows up 

My professional experience is mainly in the equipment industry where there are also a lot of electronics control systems involved.
When performing competitors benchmarking, guess what, the Japanese units had either no failures, or very little on the electronic controls (these machines run also with hydraulics pumps, etc...).
Sevcom controllers did also performed pretty well 

Let's hope they have found the right supplier in the last units

[MostlyBonkers]

Thanks Lipo, very interesting. I'm sorry you've had the same trouble too.

[grmarks]

It looks like it is a kind of lottery/random...which is not nice...my replaced charger seems to work fine now, I'm just crossing my fingers as I'm in the number of cycles it usually blows up 

How many charge cycles is that?

[Lipo423]

It is around 8-10 charging cycles (in my experience). From what I have heard in mostly of the cases it blows up in early use
It would be good to know more cases, so all the users pay attention to minimize riding/logistics potential issues

[MostlyBonkers]

Stunthamster got his bike back on Thursday. Hopefully no news is good news on that front.

I've learnt that the replacement chargers are a revision six model. All other models have been classed as obsolete and only revision six is available on the parts ordering system. We don't know if stunthamster got an older model as his first replacement.

Unfortunately there's no news about whether the units in unsold bikes will be replaced before sale. Streetbike said they'd check the revision number on those bikes though. I think the conversation with Zero will continue.  We know that Streetbike would like to be proactive and replace the chargers before sale, so it's down to Zero.

Mine was fixed in less than a week by the way. I get the bike back on Wednesday. I'd go and pick it up myself if it wasn't for having a busy weekend with my kids. It would also depend on Justin being around so I could stop by his for a quick charge too, of course.

In the meantime, the Gladius has been good fun to ride around on, so you could just look forward to that experience a few days after taking delivery of your new Zero. [emoji4]

I don't mean that as a snidy remark either, for me it was a reminder why people like their manual transmissions after I've been riding without a clutch for the best part of a year. I'm looking forward to getting Gladys back though.

[Justin Andrews]

Tom, you are always most welcome to stop by, just let me know when.
Also if I'm not in, the plugs on the side of the house will be switched on, and you are welcome to slow charge from them.

Also, try chatting to these people.
http://www.evbitz.uk/EVBitz.uk/Welcome.html
They are the ones who supplied the Type2 adapter I use for public charging, and the short run public charging cable.

[MostlyBonkers]

Thanks Justin, much appreciated. I'm sorry I didn't make it on pickup day. Getting a lift was a bit more practical on that occasion.

[stunthamster]

Well, bit of an update on my side; had my bike picked up on Thursday, and it's definitely  a charger fault. Street bike are talking it through with Zero to ensure that the part they fitted was the latest generation charger (Which ostensibly should be more fault tolerant than the generation that shipped with the bike). Fingers crossed they should be able to replace it relatively soon as my clients are starting to get a bit peeved at my lack of appearance on site lately.

Interestingly, the fact that the bike identifies itself as a 2013 model in the Zero app has been classified as an App bug by Zero support. To me it's a worrying bug, it either means that the ID that the bike sends has changed since I purchased it, or... well, that's the only thing I can think of since I've replaced my phone, so it's not an app data fault.

[Justin Andrews]

Don't worry, my App shows my bike as a 2013 SR as well.
The app was last updated in september 2014...

[stunthamster]

Just had it confirmed - charger failure, and it's definitely the latest gen charger. New one being shipped over, and the dead one going back to Zero for study. Fingers crossed that's the end of my charging woes...

[MostlyBonkers]

Apologies stunthamster, I thought they had already replaced your second charger and Thursday was the drop-off.

I hope you don't mind me asking: What do you do for a living and how do you manage to use the bike to visit clients? I love it when people manage to mesh motorcycling with their jobs, even if it's just commuting.

Hasn't Streetbike given you a courtesy bike by the way?

It's very disappointing to hear the revision six chargers are also unreliable.  Whilst trying to stay positive about all of this, I would hope that you've just been very unlucky. If the manufacturer had tested the unit more thoroughly it may well have failed before shipping.

It took Streetbike just under a week to turn my bike around. Hopefully they've finished with yours now. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if Andy is planning to drop your bike off after mine tomorrow. I'm expecting to see him late morning. You can get to most places in Suffolk in under 90 minutes from here.

Justin: have you checked the model revision you've got in your bike? Possibly the same that stunthamster got in his bike originally?

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you stunthamster. It sounds like you deserve a break from breakdowns!

[Richard230]

The charger in my December 2013 build 2014 S continues to work perfectly.  But every since I have been reading about these failures, I no longer keep it plugged in all of the time.  Now I pull the plug after the display reads 100% and there is no balancing going on. I don't know if chargers can "wear out", but I don't plan to take a chance and besides my battery pack seems unaffected by not being plugged in for a few days between rides.

What I don't get is what is going on with these failures?  Zero seemed to have had a pretty reliable charger in their 2014 models (at least I can't recall any complaints during that year after the 2014 models were introduced).  Now something has slipped.  Were they trying to cut costs, go for a low-bidder and change manufacturers? I have always been one of these guys that says that is something is working well, don't mess with it.