Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Curt]

FXS battery size won't increase anytime soon.
- Last increase to 7.2 was recent enough.
- Battery density is maxxed out until one of the new technologies matures. Even SR/F didn't increase battery size -- thus its biggest drawback.
- Full focus has been on SR/F, and will be for some time.
- They might be pondering a dilemma how to converge the old and new platforms (FXS/F?).
- Incremental range increase doesn't make a dent in the FXS's use cases, and won't pay back in sales.

[Curt]

Regarding modular batteries, forget it. My FX came modular (2016), which I greatly appreciated. I occasionally took out the front battery for fun (-42 lb). But as the effort and range issues exceed the fun, I haven't had a battery out more than ~10 times.

In practice, removing batteries is not useful unless you're swapping during a race or stashing FX batteries in an enduro. Who does that (besides Zero employees in rare circumstances?) A more ridiculous scenario is carrying a battery into the office each day, much less two, after paying extra for a modular, extra for an external charger, and extra batteries (as if).

[Curt]

P. S. In my biased view, the FX/FXS are by far the best looking of the bunch. I can't stand to look at the other models. SR/F is a close second.

[valnar]

In practice, removing batteries is not useful unless you're swapping during a race or stashing FX batteries in an enduro. Who does that (besides Zero employees in rare circumstances?) A more ridiculous scenario is carrying a battery into the office each day, much less two, after paying extra for a modular, extra for an external charger, and extra batteries (as if).

For me it would be to remove them at that magical 60% SOC and bring them in the house on those few times a year it gets to 10-0 degrees Fahrenheit.  I'm in Cleveland.

[DonTom]

P. S. In my biased view, the FX/FXS are by far the best looking of the bunch. I can't stand to look at the other models. SR/F is a close second.

IMO, the red SR/F is by far the best looking bike Zero ever made.

However, I still care more about riding it than looking at it.

-Don-  Reno, NV

[munchie33]

It may just have been the battery case that was prettied up. Do we know?

[Curt]

For me it would be to remove them at that magical 60% SOC and bring them in the house on those few times a year it gets to 10-0 degrees Fahrenheit.  I'm in Cleveland.

In subzero weather, I'd plug in right after a long enough ride. The battery cells would be warm from use, and the charging itself would keep them warm, until they got to 100% at which point they would freeze.

My friend had a Shorai lithium battery in his ICE bike. At 10F, it would not start. He'd run the headlights for 5 minutes, and then it would start.

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

It may just have been the battery case that was prettied up. Do we know?

It's more than prettied up, although the cell density seems to be the same.

I have an entire thread on technical information inferred from inspecting the bike and reading the owners manual... here's the most condensed information on the battery pack:
http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=8758.msg75588#msg75588

[gyrocyclist]

FXS battery size won't increase anytime soon.
- Last increase to 7.2 was recent enough.
- Battery density is maxxed out until one of the new technologies matures. Even SR/F didn't increase battery size -- thus its biggest drawback.
- Full focus has been on SR/F, and will be for some time.
- They might be pondering a dilemma how to converge the old and new platforms (FXS/F?).
- Incremental range increase doesn't make a dent in the FXS's use cases, and won't pay back in sales.

Biggest drawback? Nah -- only able to charge with a single J1772 which, at least in the US, means two hour charging time.

[Tino]

If Zero FXS would get an SR/F improvement resulting in an FXS/F that would be huge.
Zero FXS would benefit a lot for several minor improvements, boost in range, power, top speed and rapid Charge time would really make me intrested in buying one.

[Jarrett]

Is there a historical list somewhere of the battery sizes that have been available?

I think I've read:

3.6
5.7
6.5
7.2
13.0
14.4

Are there any others?  Was there something between 7.2 and 13.0 that utilizes the latest battery tech?

 

[madcow]

12.5 (2015) and 11.4 (2014) have been available too (double-brick version of 6.5 and 5.7 respectively) and the tech wasn't too different from the cells now used. It was rather a gradual improvement of cell chemistry and density that resulted in higher density, energy transmission efficency and less heat development (pls correct me, if I'm wrong).

[Jarrett]

I wondered if there was a 9.x battery they could slap into the FX for 2020.

[valnar]

Yeah. The FX doesn’t need 14.4, but something in the 9 range would be good and it’ll still be  relatively lightweight.

[Curt]

There is space overhead with the FX modular's two ZF 3.6 packs, due to the cases and connectors and sliders and brackets. The ZF 7.2 monolith probably could have been ZF 8+, but it must have been simplified to support multiple models. They could do a permanently integrated ZF 9, wider and structural (why does it even need to be rectangular?), but then we're talking about a whole new battery and chassis.