ElectricMotorcycleForum.com
Makes And Models => Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2013+ => Topic started by: SonOfAnakin on July 26, 2021, 11:31:59 PM
-
Hi folks,
While I am still waiting to successfully order a charge tank for my SR I am planning for the electrical work in the garage to put in a level 2 charger. I ordered the charge tank from AF1 but they refunded it saying that Zero is not accepting orders with delivery addresses outside California. Waiting to hear what that is all about. I'll be in Cali in a couple of weeks so I'm hoping that with facilitate a backup plan.
Meanwhile, I'm having a 50amp circuit run to my garage and am shopping for a charger. There are lots on Amazon. It seems my best bet is a 32 amp charger. Do folks have experience with any of them? Any recommendations?
-
That's weird. AF1 is usually a really straight shooter. I wonder if Zero ran out of stock?
-Crissa
-
I'm thinking of doing the same thing. Putting in a 14-50 outlet and getting ready for whatever my EV future may be.
I found this one with some YT reviews (Grizzl-E Avalanche Edition B, Level 2 EV Charger, NEMA 14-50 Plug, 24 ft. Cable). It's made in Canada and has a very nice heavy gauge charging cord. This model can't connect to smart devices like a phone or an Alexia type thing but it seems to be made super durable and they say can even be mounted outside. It's good for 40 amps and 11kw so will max out for an automotive EV as well.
One negitive is the plug that goes to the wall outlet is only like 2 feet long. It will need to be mounted near the plug.
The closer I get to pulling the trigger the more I may shop around but this one looks to be made for the long haul.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/402794776420?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-213727-13078-0&mkcid=2&itemid=402794776420&targetid=4581183927179148&device=c&mktype=&googleloc=&poi=&campaignid=418233787&mkgroupid=1241348861725295&rlsatarget=pla-4581183927179148&abcId=9300542&merchantid=51291&msclkid=3a8c0b38c120153d84726bc781b55652
-
Most public L2 stations are 32A, and most EVs take at least 32A. I also installed a NEMA 14-50 in the garage. Looking to the future, I maxed out the 50A circuit with a 40A charger. It's the JuiceBox 40 Pro $650 with Wi-Fi and smart assistant support. It's pretty nice and theoretically portable. To tell the truth, I rarely access it remotely or use the app. I just plug in the car and use the car's own charging scheduling instead of the charger's.
-
It's good for 40 amps and 11kw so will max out for an automotive EV as well.
The description says 10 kW and even that number is higher than what it really is. 240 V x 40 Amps = 9.6 kW.
With that said, the unit provides the maximum power a NEMA 14-50 outlet can provide. It's plenty for an electric motorcycle and also more than most electric cars can accept. It still can't provide the full 11.5 kW that I get from my Tesla wall connector, though. That is only possible with a hardwired connection which can be seen as a downside.
Anyway, thanks for the link. If you are okay with 9.6 kW it is a very inexpensive yet sturdy L2 wall connector.
-
Most public L2 stations are 32A, and most EVs take at least 32A. I also installed a NEMA 14-50 in the garage. Looking to the future, I maxed out the 50A circuit with a 40A charger. It's the JuiceBox 40 Pro $650 with Wi-Fi and smart assistant support. It's pretty nice and theoretically portable. To tell the truth, I rarely access it remotely or use the app. I just plug in the car and use the car's own charging scheduling instead of the charger's.
I did the same. My Honda Clarity will actually charge at 7KW with the JuiceBox with that setup. The SR/F caps at 5.7KW (as expected). I also never use the remote features of the JuiceBox.
Steve
-
Tesla high-power wall connector (HPWC) enjoys the economies of scale and is the best bang for the buck. Add a TeslaTap and you've also got a way to access these in the wild. The newer wifi enabled revision of HPWC that is currently for sale on Tesla's website is not yet ideal, I know of nobody yet that has managed to interoperate with it; If you can get a HPWC rev.2 that has the RS-485 serial connection for power sharing that protocol has been documented and can interact with say a Raspberry Pi - not that any of this matters much for Zero Chargetank that I am aware of either.
Not what I consider to be my usual "freedom and open" recommendation, but the realities are for N. America that the jumble of proprietary parts are probably the way to go if you want something reliable at lowest cost and most utility.
If you want to keep things serviceable and more configurable there's OpenEVSE kits (https://store.openevse.com/collections/all-products/kits) up to 48A (more than you need, but surely useful if you're inviting company over and they want to charge up their Tesla - 48A gets them out of your hair a whole lot faster than 40A! hihi)
-
Just finished my DIY install of the charge tank on my SR. Wasn't too difficult actually. I took my time and double checked everything so I didn't screw anything up so it took longer than it needed to, but I don't mind. Having my battery charged from 38% to 100% in 70 minutes is awesome.
Only snag I really hit was at the point that the charge tank was hooked up but not secured, the instructions have you plug in and test it. When I plugged in my level 2 charger I heard the charger cooling fans spin up but then they spun back down and stopped and it never started charging. Since it'a a new level 2 charger, I spent a bunch of time trying to figure out what I needed to do to get it to charge.
Then I figured out my stupid mistake. I put the bike on a stand to do the work. When I did I put the kickstand up to get it out of the way. Turns out the bike won't charge if the kickstand is up. Duh!
So now it's all back together and charging nicely.
HOWEVER, I have to leave the key in and in the on position for it to charge?!?!?! What the hell is that about. That isn't needed with doing a level 1 charge. And it wasn't needed on the SR/S I rented. Does anyone know if I did something wrong?
-
Just finished my DIY install of the charge tank on my SR. Wasn't too difficult actually. I took my time and double checked everything so I didn't screw anything up so it took longer than it needed to, but I don't mind. Having my battery charged from 38% to 100% in 70 minutes is awesome.
Only snag I really hit was at the point that the charge tank was hooked up but not secured, the instructions have you plug in and test it. When I plugged in my level 2 charger I heard the charger cooling fans spin up but then they spun back down and stopped and it never started charging. Since it'a a new level 2 charger, I spent a bunch of time trying to figure out what I needed to do to get it to charge.
Then I figured out my stupid mistake. I put the bike on a stand to do the work. When I did I put the kickstand up to get it out of the way. Turns out the bike won't charge if the kickstand is up. Duh!
So now it's all back together and charging nicely.
HOWEVER, I have to leave the key in and in the on position for it to charge?!?!?! What the hell is that about. That isn't needed with doing a level 1 charge. And it wasn't needed on the SR/S I rented. Does anyone know if I did something wrong?
My Charge Tank equipped DSR needs to start charging with the key ON, but then I can simply key it OFF and it keeps charging. Try to do the same, bike on, plug in, wait for ETA to pop up, key off. It SHOULD stay charging (Mine is doing exactly this right now).
-
Meant to add. I went a little cheaper way with my Level 2 setup at home. I ran a 12 guage cable to my garage and installed a Nema 6-20 outlet. My EVSE only pulls 16 amps, but that 3.3kw is plenty for my needs at home. The 12 guage run was under 100 dollars all in compared to several hundred for a 14-50 which was overkill for what I needed. My evse was on the cheap side to, under 200 dollars on amazon. I can set the amperage (6 to 16) AND it has a timer so I can use it to stop the charge at approximately 10% increments.
-
That is definitely a less expensive way to go. Nice work. I guess I was planning for the future. Fairly certain all of our future vehicles will be EV.
You are correct. Keying off once it starts charging works well. Not sure why that isn’t made more clear in the manual. Thanks!
-
I recently purchased a Lectron 240V 40 Amp Level 2 Electric Vehicle (EV) Charger with 18ft Extension Cord J1772 Cable & NEMA 14-50 plug for charging my new Zero DSR motorcycle. After my very first ride I followed the instructions and plugged the unit into an outlet wired as a Single-phase three-conductor/split-phase 40 Amp circuit. Following the Zero motorcycle instructions I plugged the Level 2 charger "nozzle" into the motorcycle's charge tank and waited for the charger's message that it was ready to communicate with the vehicle. At this point I turned the key to "On". The charger then indicated that it was charging at just over 30 Amps, 235 VAC and it would take 30 minutes to charge. I turned the key back to off, as instructed, and walked away. All good!
30 minutes later I returned only to find the power in the garage was out, the breakers tripped, and the motorcycle was no longer functional. A few "trouble" codes and lights lit up but I was unable to operate it so I took it back to the dealer. Today they called to say the main circuit board burned up. YIKES!!! Zero says they will cover the cost of the repairs for me since it was a brand new bike, however I still have some concerns, obviously.
Is the Lectron 240VAC 40A charger appropriate for use on a motorcycle, the Zero, in particular?
Have there been any other reports of such a malfunction?
I am new to this whole EV world so I have no specific knowledge to fall back upon. I do understand basic electronic circuitry and have worked on electrical wiring and repair projects for decades so I am not completely in the dark regarding electricity. Right now I am very concerned about using either the Lectron unit or a public charging station. How will I know if it is safe for my bike? It seems the only way to know for sure is to plug it in, and the first time didn't go so well.
Any information or guidance you can provide would be greatly appreciated. I am excited about owning the DSR and hope for a quick resolution.
-
The EVSE is just a fancy outlet. Unless it was wired wrong, it can't be at fault here.
All it does is tell the bike what amperage the bike can pull from the wall. The rest of the functions are independent of the bike, and the bike's charging is independent of the EVSE.
-Crissa
-
I recently purchased a Lectron 240V 40 Amp Level 2 Electric Vehicle (EV) Charger with 18ft Extension Cord J1772 Cable & NEMA 14-50 plug for charging my new Zero DSR motorcycle. After my very first ride I followed the instructions and plugged the unit into an outlet wired as a Single-phase three-conductor/split-phase 40 Amp circuit. Following the Zero motorcycle instructions I plugged the Level 2 charger "nozzle" into the motorcycle's charge tank and waited for the charger's message that it was ready to communicate with the vehicle. At this point I turned the key to "On". The charger then indicated that it was charging at just over 30 Amps, 235 VAC and it would take 30 minutes to charge. I turned the key back to off, as instructed, and walked away. All good!
30 minutes later I returned only to find the power in the garage was out, the breakers tripped, and the motorcycle was no longer functional. A few "trouble" codes and lights lit up but I was unable to operate it so I took it back to the dealer. Today they called to say the main circuit board burned up. YIKES!!! Zero says they will cover the cost of the repairs for me since it was a brand new bike, however I still have some concerns, obviously.
Is the Lectron 240VAC 40A charger appropriate for use on a motorcycle, the Zero, in particular?
Have there been any other reports of such a malfunction?
I am new to this whole EV world so I have no specific knowledge to fall back upon. I do understand basic electronic circuitry and have worked on electrical wiring and repair projects for decades so I am not completely in the dark regarding electricity. Right now I am very concerned about using either the Lectron unit or a public charging station. How will I know if it is safe for my bike? It seems the only way to know for sure is to plug it in, and the first time didn't go so well.
Any information or guidance you can provide would be greatly appreciated. I am excited about owning the DSR and hope for a quick resolution.
That is interesting. Almost 2 years ago I bought a Chevy Bolt, installed a 14-50 plug in my garage and bought this charger:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B081FJCPH1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Probably made by the same Chinese company that makes the Lectron you bought. The charger worked fine for my Bolt for all this time.
Recently I bought an SR with a charge tank. The first time I plugged in the SR to this level 2 charger (with it set on 24 amps) the charger quite working. Bike was fine but charger was/is dead. So I bought a similar 32 amp Morec charger from eBay.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/383267888896
This one works fine. No idea whether the first one failed on its own. Or whether the Zero charge tank doesn't like 40 amp chargers. Or maybe these cheap Chinese chargers are hit or miss quality wise.
Not good to hear that the charger might have screwed up your Zero though.
-
It's not possible for there to be any connection here. Level 2 charging points don't do anything to the bike's charger. Unless it"s doing something really bad, and then it's not Zero's fault.
-Crissa
-
UPDATE:
I hope this information helps other Zero riders to get through their own issues. This isn't a rant about Zero, just a narrative of the events.
Oct 9, took delivery of the 2021 DSR, equipped with Charge Tank.
Oct 9, experienced a charging mishap as noted previously. Bike lights up, throws error codes, but will not move.
Oct 12, returned the DSR to dealer.
Oct14, Zero instructs dealer to replace the MBB.
Oct 28, Zero instructs dealer to replace the motor controller.
Nov 9, Zero instructs the dealer to replace the motor.
Nov 18, dealer states the DSR passed its test ride.
Nov 19, dealer states DSR failed to charge overnight. They are investigating.
Between each of these dates Zero is shipping parts and the dealer is installing and testing. Both the dealer and Zero have been very cooperative and are probably just as frustrated as I am, so there isn't much to complain about there. However, the level of satisfaction with my $20,000 purchase has taken a bit of a beating. For that amount of money I could have replaced my BMW GS1200 with a newer model, but that would defeat the purpose of going electric!
I am still looking forward to enjoying many happier miles whilst out on the highways and byways...
-
It sounds like Zero is just throwing parts at your bike to see what sticks. ??? I hope they can find out what is wrong. Let us know if you hear any more about your problems.
-
The dealer called late in the afternoon of Nov 19, the Charge Tank they installed for me at purchase is apparently the current (No pun intended. ;D ) issue. They offered to let me come get the bike but I'm just going to leave it there. They will update me on the ETA for the new Charge Tank on Tuesday.
I agree with Richard230, Zero seems to focus on part swaps rather than item repair. That said, it may be the best business model for this industry. Analysis and diagnosis take time, which is $$$. A quick part swap SHOULD take care of the issue and get the happy customer out the door. Fortunately there aren't too many parts left that haven't been swapped out, so how long could it take???? :O
In the meantime my GS gives me all the Asphalt Therapy I need to get through this mini-crisis. :)
-
If this still hasn't been fully sorted, in your place I'd check out my state's Lemon Laws and if possible demand a new bike.
You're a month and a half after taking delivery of an expensive new bike, and haven't been able to use it except for a single ride, IIUC.
If Zero want to do exhaustive analysis to figure out the issue(s), fine, good for them, but it shouldn't be at your expense.
-
It's not possible for there to be any connection here. Level 2 charging points don't do anything to the bike's charger. Unless it"s doing something really bad, and then it's not Zero's fault.
-Crissa
Not a correctly designed & constructed EVSE, sure, but I can think of several reasons it could happen if it wasn't, or if the manufacturer's QC is badly done.
-
Last update on this repair...
Nov 23 - The dealer replaced the Charge Tank per Zero's instruction. Obviously the holiday delayed things a bit. but I picked up the bike on December 1st, nearly 8 weeks after I returned it for repair. The test ride went well and I trailered the bike back home.
While at the dealer we discussed the whole process, and I finally got to talk to the tech. It seems Zero does little training of their techs, at least at this dealership. The tech downloads the bike's logs, Zero diagnoses based on those logs and then makes a decision what to replace. Although I have not been billed for anything the Service Manager did say he was only about 90% sure they would cover the cost of the charger. All other items were covered without question by Zero.
I reviewed the warranty information and it looks like I should be okay. Formerly the chargers were installed at the factory and warranted as part of the purchase. Now the verbiage says they are warranted for 1 year if installed by the dealer post-purchase. The warranty is for 2 years if dealer-installed at time of purchase, which mine was.
End of Saga.