Hi Lenny. Welcome to the forum. Glad you're interested in a Zero and in fast charging. As far as using a supercharger right now, I wouldn't consider that an option in a reasonable time frame. I wish I could say different as I use one and love it, but there are issues that I am aware of with the relationship between the manufacturer and Diginow where some failed chargers early on are not being warrantied and built to be stronger. I don't understand why this can't be solved and this relationship repaired as it's a great product. Many times engineers who can come up with incredible products, unfortunately do not make the best communicators, either with customers or manufacturers, and this is my guess although I might be wrong. Hopefully this can be fixed as fast charging is wonderful.
Although for now I am recommending anyone wanting to charge quickly with a Zero to contact Hollywood Electrics and use their Elcon fast charge kit that can go inside either side or a top case or to get the Zero ChargeTank.
As far as fast charging and battery life. A recent test by Farasis comparing degradation of cells with the control sample being a 1C charge, 1C discharge cycle test, and comparing it to a 2C charge (30 minutes full charge) 2C discharge cycle test. I forget how many cycles, I want to say 500 but can't remember. Anyway the results may surprise you.
The 2C charge/discharge test showed lower degradation than the 1C cells!!!!
The conclusion to this is that charging speed has literally a microscopic influence on cycle life. The largest things affecting cycle life is simply heat, calendar life and time spent at a high state of charge.
Charging fast will create heat, and heat will degrade a battery faster, and this is why we have heard somewhere that fast charging is not good for batteries. Charging fast does increase the voltage potential difference between anode and cathode which also decreases cycle life, but charging fast from 0-50% SOC has a lower potential difference than simply sitting at 100% SOC anyway.
The reason that measured immediately after the tests that the 2C cells had less degradation than the 1C cells is thought to be that the 2C test was completed faster, significantly faster. And so at the end of the 1C test the capacity had shown more degradation simply due to more calendar life. These cells were held at a constant temperature from cooling as a 2C charge/discharge cycle will definitely heat the cells rapidly and that will cause degradation.
But also keep in mind that this degradation is measured to many significant figures. After a year it is likely to measure less than one tenth of one percent perhaps. Never noticeable to the user.
So the fact is if you want maximum battery life, in the summer, try your best to keep it parked out of the sun, and if you want to go to extremes, don't keep it at 100% for long times. But I don't want to get into an argument on this thread. Zero recommends keeping it plugged in at all times when not being ridden, and I will agree that is fine to do, and doing so will maintain that your pack will remain the capacity percentages over the time frame they state and warranty it if it were not to. The reason being, is because the risk of having a small current leak perhaps from corrosion or self discharge from the BMS over many years could perhaps run the battery empty and cause it to become a brick (can't charge it again). The risk of this is higher to Zero than the risk of degradation due to 5 years sitting at a high state of charge (which measurably is very very little anyway).
The best thing you can do with your Zero? Use it every day as hard as you want to! There is very little you can do that will cause any more degradation to the battery than simply just calendar life, especially at a high state of charge. But we are talking many many years before you would ever be able to measure it without highly precise engineering equipment. Really it's not worth worrying about. Just ride it and plug it in every night. If you rode it and it is above 60 or 70 percent, personally I don't bother plugging it in at night, but mostly because I'm lazy. I let Charger out to go pee at 4:30 AM and plug it in then, by 7:30 AM its usually at 90-95% and I unplug and go. But consider me sort of nuts and obsessive. I can't really explain why I do this, and there is no reason for anyone else to do so. Some that understand batteries might kinda get it, but its not worth explaining.
Ok last thing about batteries and charging. The 2C charge shouldn't be sustained all the way to 100% capacity. Solid lithium plating on the anode can occur charging too fat at too high a state of charge, and once that happens it won't ever reverse back into solution. Over a long period of time doing this many times, the solid lithium will choose to place itself on top of already existing solid lithium instead of somewhere else. Much like stalagmites in caverns from dripping water with minerals, or icicles forming from the edge of a roof in winter, dendrites can form to be long enough to pierce and short circuit the cell. Right now Farasis doesn't actually allow over 1C at all. Although I would guess that will change eventually. We might get faster charging capable, but lower than 1C charging at very low temperatures, or at high states of charge. For instance right now technically you can charge at 1C right up to 100%, or when the battery is 1 degree above freezing. I predict one day that will change but maybe not.
Almost all EV car companies allow 2C-3C charging with DC fast chargers up to about 50% and then taper to where above 80% you charge about as fast using a level 2 charger. Also most electric vehicles only charge to 80%. To get them to charge to 100% you have to manually configure it to do so each time you charge. Or unplug after 80% and plug back in to get to 100%. Perhaps one day the onboard charger on a Zero will have multiple setting to allow you to leave the bike plugged in and have it remain at 80%, but if it were to drop to 79% after many weeks of self discharge, will charge itself back to 80% and hold it there. and then at 5 AM or when ever you set with the app that you need it, will charge to 100% by the time you leave for work! How awesome would that be! Wishful thinking, maybe in 5 or 10 years perhaps. Totally not important compared to the work it would take to do that.
Anyway, final concluding thought: Just go buy a 2015 or 2016 Zero, or perhaps in a few weeks a 2017 Zero, ride it hard, ride it often, and if you are someone that likes to travel or go places on a motorcycle that are far away, get some fast chargers from Hollywood Electrics and use them as often as you want and don't worry about anything except going to new places each weekend on your Zero and enjoying the fact you are one of the first to be able to experience this amazing technology. One day all motorcycles will be electric except for those in museums, but until then you can be on the cutting edge and look back one day years from now and be able to tell your friends and kids that you were a pioneer.
Charge on my friends! - Terry
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Topic: Questions on FastCharging / DigiNow Supercharger (Read 31326 times)