Print

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

[NEW2elec]

Well as far as I know my 13 battery issue started the 13 recall.  In 2015 Zero's response was nothing short of fantastic.  They shipped it across the country, replaced the battery, and shipped it back with a new charge cord for free.  It's a bigger company now with much more sales.

Also being diplomatic and tip toeing. I had wished, and tried to post it as much as I could, that Zero use a certain company as their supplier for their onboard charges as a solution to the weakest points on the bikes.  I know that didn't happen for reasons that were unknown to me at the time.  I still wish a further look could be taken with a more teamwork approach between the two parties but I understand if that just can't be the case.

Two points on Energica at this time.
First Energica is just a small part of a much bigger Italian company with a guarded reputation for high quality products.  If an issue did pop up I'd expect them to do what is needed to fix it, money be damned (to a degree).
Second their sales numbers are likely about what Zero's were 13-15 so more attention can be given to the bikes that have been sold.
As their numbers get bigger and bigger the ability to hand hold each customer through an issue will become less likely.

[Crissa]

The Yamaha was my spouse's first choice; we ended up with a Ducati because of price.

Get that weight down, Energica, and maybe I can convince my spouse.  ...But they have several years to do it

-Crissa

[DonTom]

Get that weight down, Energica, and maybe I can convince my spouse.  But they have several years to do it

To  me it depends on what they do to reduce the weight.   If the bike becomes less stable or is built cheaper, I would rather have the weight as it is even at the cost of some range.

Since the Energica has a reverse and slow forward, often the weight is less of an issue.

I wish my 1,000 lbs Harley had a reverse!

As is,  the SS9 has such a rock stable feel to it at any speed. I have had it well over 100 MPH a few times.  BTW, I mean as in real speed as on my GPS.  All of my European bikes read around  10 MPH high above 100 MPH.

USA made stuff is a lot more accurate. Zeros and Harley's are usually right on (within 1 MPH of my GPS at freeway speeds).

-Don-  Payson, AZ (RV)

[Crissa]

If she can't pick it up, she isn't buying it.  Doesn't matter how stable it is at speed.  She already had a 600-lb bike, and won't consider another one over 500 now.

-Crissa

[JaimeC]

[Crissa]

Not really applicable in the mountains or when the bike falls on you, but thanks.

-Crissa

[centra12]

A lifetime of experience tells me "Italian" and "Reliable" are rarely used together in the same sentence...

Did Energica also play with the lives and homes of its customers for years although they knew that the battery was not safe?! Only after a few fires that could have been quite different was a buy-back initiated.

[Skidz]

European here, Dutchie to be precise. Been riding my DSR '16 almost every day as commuter, logging about 45kkm (Or 28k miles, whatever floats your boat) of somewhat effortless driving.
Touring is a different thing altogether. I have 3,8kW on-board (1,3kW slow and 2,5kW charge tank) and 3,6kW off-board with a homebrew Mennekes adapter and two 1.8kW PSU's, and I find myself every 180km at the chargepont for at least 40 minutes to get to 80%.

The price for the Zero SR/F with two-phase 12kW AC charging is 23k euro here, and the Energica Eva with 21kW battery and dc CCS is the same.

My bike will be ready for replacement in about 1,5 years, and if this situation stays the same I think it's a no-brainer. The Energica takes me further and charges faster for the same money. Unless she handles like an absolute pig, it's going to be the Energica. I found with my car that CSS fast charging is a game changer, I get in and out of a (super)charger in 15 minutes tops making longer trips a breeze. Too bad Zero stopped the fast-charger path in 2013... CCS is abundant in my part of Europe.

[Crissa]

The lack of build-out for Level 2 charging and the switch to public charging being mostly CCS is also going to change the landscape.

Whole Foods (as an example) are no longer building lots with Level 2 chargers.  Just CCS and CHAdeMO anymore.

This thing where 1-5% of parking spots are energized in some way will just mean more chargers will just be swapped out for the faster instead of more slower chargers.

That said, the fast chargers are more expensive on the bike.  So I understand why Zero has avoided it so far.

-Crissa

[Hans2183]

Not the same price. Vat excluded for energica so in BE it's +21% more expensive than the srf premium.

[enaef]

Yet another opinion:

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

The lack of build-out for Level 2 charging and the switch to public charging being mostly CCS is also going to change the landscape.

CCS density tapers rapidly as you get outside of (say) California, whereas any campground with 220V plugs is capable of a reasonable Level 2 AC charge.

Whole Foods and CCS do go together, though, in terms of the pricing. I've avoided the former, and wouldn't use the latter unless necessary.

[Crissa]

CCS density tapers rapidly as you get outside of (say) California, whereas any campground with 220V plugs is capable of a reasonable Level 2 AC charge.

Existing infrastructure is not predictive of future infrastructure investments, tho.

For everyone to have short-range vehicles, we'd need to be increasing the number of level two chargers... But instead we're getting more fast-chargers because they don't cost all that much more to install.  The majority of the install cost is still the utility and labor and the profit - if any - is in KW.  So that favors future infrastructure being all fast-chargers not slow ones.

-Crissa

[Curt]

The need for CCS depends on long distance travel, but long distance EV bike trips are currently a tiny niche market for die-hards, so...

Fast chargers belong on or near state highways and interstate corridors, while L2 belongs at commute destinations such as homes, schools and office parking lots. Whatever else there is, meh, take it or leave it. The L2 chargers popping up in shopping centers and malls like Valley Fair can be expensive and have limited practicality.

[Crissa]

So L2s at the mall (a destination) are impractical, but L2s belong at destinations.  Fast charging is for long distance travel, but are being installed at grocery stores.

I mean, sure?

-Crissa