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[Булгаков]

Yeah, here the day has reached 100F / 38C for much of the day. And with high humidity it stays warm at night too. I guess the battery just can't radiate heat quickly enough. My riding today was all between 50-60mph, but mostly 50/55.

[Erasmo]

Perhaps you can increase the heat dissipation while charging? A good airflow on both sides of the battery(perhaps combined with some heatsinks) can waft away a lot of heat.

[togo]

dumping a cup of water on it occasionally might help.

[Erasmo]

A mist from a spraybottle might be better, all the little drops stick on the battery. On the other hand spraybottles don't belong near motorcycles that are charging at high wattage.

[dukecola]

Last weekend I rode 50mi and charged 6.6kw. It was 94 degrees when I arrived. Charged fine. Rode another 50 mi, in the 40-50mph range. Arrive at hotel, it was still 94 degrees. Bike would not charge at 6.6 or with onboard. I did notice battery temp reading in the 150's for a short time while I was riding, but I never got a warning on the dash. I think ibattery was 130 when I tried.  I waited several hours and tried again, no luck.  I thought it may be the hotels charger, but now I'm thinking it was battery temp.  What is the max temp one should initiate a charge?

[Булгаков]

Last weekend I rode 50mi and charged 6.6kw. It was 94 degrees when I arrived. Charged fine. Rode another 50 mi, in the 40-50mph range. Arrive at hotel, it was still 94 degrees. Bike would not charge at 6.6 or with onboard. I did notice battery temp reading in the 150's for a short time while I was riding, but I never got a warning on the dash. I think ibattery was 130 when I tried.  I waited several hours and tried again, no luck.  I thought it may be the hotels charger, but now I'm thinking it was battery temp.  What is the max temp one should initiate a charge?

Battery temperature is your problem -- At either 120 or 122F the bike will stop allowing the charge to happen. 

It also appears to me that sometimes if I try to charge bike, and temperature rises above 122F and the contactor opens, that the bike then will not allow charging to start again until temperature is much lower than 122F -- sometimes 108F or 110F.  But if I stop the charging before it reaches that limit, like at 118F, and let it cool down, then I can resume charging at a lower rate and not spend several hours waiting for it to cool down as long.

South USA in summer is hard for road trips on the Zero. Not many roads between cities where driving at 50MPH (or slower) is possible or safe.

[dukecola]

I thought it was the temp but doesnt make sense 3 hrs later it wouldn't charge.

Last weekend I rode 50mi and charged 6.6kw. It was 94 degrees when I arrived. Charged fine. Rode another 50 mi, in the 40-50mph range. Arrive at hotel, it was still 94 degrees. Bike would not charge at 6.6 or with onboard. I did notice battery temp reading in the 150's for a short time while I was riding, but I never got a warning on the dash. I think ibattery was 130 when I tried.  I waited several hours and tried again, no luck.  I thought it may be the hotels charger, but now I'm thinking it was battery temp.  What is the max temp one should initiate a charge?

Battery temperature is your problem -- At either 120 or 122F the bike will stop allowing the charge to happen. 

It also appears to me that sometimes if I try to charge bike, and temperature rises above 122F and the contactor opens, that the bike then will not allow charging to start again until temperature is much lower than 122F -- sometimes 108F or 110F.  But if I stop the charging before it reaches that limit, like at 118F, and let it cool down, then I can resume charging at a lower rate and not spend several hours waiting for it to cool down as long.

South USA in summer is hard for road trips on the Zero. Not many roads between cities where driving at 50MPH (or slower) is possible or safe.

[Булгаков]

Didn't you say that the battery was 130F when you tried to charge?
That is above the limit for charging, whether it is 3 hrs later or not. What temperature was the battery when you tried to charge again?

[Emtkopan]

I had my Zero outside charging and when I came out to check it, it had stopped charging because of the temperature interlock. Not even riding it. It was charged enough for me to get to work but I can’t charge it now because the battery is too hot.

I’m using the onboard charger but have a diginow on order. Will this help mitigate the hot charging issue while it is parked outside?

[ultrarnr]

Charging faster will heat up your battery more. Have never noticed it with my SR but have with my Eva using DCFC.

[Булгаков]

I basically use the on-board charger only if I want to fully 100% charge bike and leave it plugged in for cells to re-balance.

Otherwise, I use either one of my frame-mounted QuiQ chargers if slow charging at 110V 15A residential outlet, or QuiQ chargers + evtricity quick chargers if I am fast charging. Fast charging heats up the battery enough without also having the heat from the OEM charger right below battery flowing upwards into battery.

Actually, if I want to charge at a full 9.9kW I use the on-board as well as other chargers, but that is rare now.

[Emtkopan]

You need a Battery Cozy.

Ok, what’s a Battery Cozy? When I googled it, I saw some kids riding toys and shoe insoles.

[togo]

Brian T Rice's neoprene project. He's talked about it here and on ZMOG

[MostlyBonkers]

Believe it or not, I've had battery overheating issues with my 2014DS recently here in the UK. I have a 30 mile commute with the first 20 miles on fast roads followed by 10 miles of mixed but mostly slow riding in London.  I arrive at work with the battery cooking nicely around 40-45C and plug it in to charge. After 8 hours I come back and the temp has only dropped to about 35C.  By the time I get home it's up to around 47C and then drops to about 26C overnight. 

One evening I plugged it in to charge and it wouldn't. Fortunately it was fully charged for my ride to work in the morning.  I'm noticing a significant power drop when the battery approaches 40C.  I've had the bike two and a half years, covered 25,000 miles and this is the first time I've had issues with the battery overheating.  In fact the power reduction is so severe that the motor stops overheating and the amber light stops flashing.  My speed gets limited to 70mph and sometimes below.

If anyone at Zero is reading this, you need to implement active battery cooling as a priority. There's no point in people spending thousands of pounds on (still slow but faster) charging solutions only to find they can't ride fast for long distances and charge without having the power hobbled.  My supposed 50+ horsepower bike turns into the equivalent of a 125cc learner bike at best after only a few miles on the motorway!

[Richard230]

Believe it or not, I've had battery overheating issues with my 2014DS recently here in the UK. I have a 30 mile commute with the first 20 miles on fast roads followed by 10 miles of mixed but mostly slow riding in London.  I arrive at work with the battery cooking nicely around 40-45C and plug it in to charge. After 8 hours I come back and the temp has only dropped to about 35C.  By the time I get home it's up to around 47C and then drops to about 26C overnight. 

One evening I plugged it in to charge and it wouldn't. Fortunately it was fully charged for my ride to work in the morning.  I'm noticing a significant power drop when the battery approaches 40C.  I've had the bike two and a half years, covered 25,000 miles and this is the first time I've had issues with the battery overheating.  In fact the power reduction is so severe that the motor stops overheating and the amber light stops flashing.  My speed gets limited to 70mph and sometimes below.

If anyone at Zero is reading this, you need to implement active battery cooling as a priority. There's no point in people spending thousands of pounds on (still slow but faster) charging solutions only to find they can't ride fast for long distances and charge without having the power hobbled.  My supposed 50+ horsepower bike turns into the equivalent of a 125cc learner bike at best after only a few miles on the motorway!

 

I wonder if the temperature sensor is failing?  That sort of change, when there were no problems in the past, doesn't seem right.