ElectricMotorcycleForum.com
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: T.S. Zarathustra on October 08, 2022, 01:40:12 AM
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There should now be enough Zero motorcycles that have passed (or are about to pass) the 10 year mark, that there should be lot of real life experience on how long the bikes and specially batteries really last in the real world. I'm mostly interested in status of 2010-2015 models.
If you have one and regularly use it:
What's your range?
What's the discharge curve like? (linear, goes from nearly full to empty in 10 miles, shows half a charge after 10 miles but can ride for a long time)
How long does it take to charge?
What have been your biggest issues?
What year is your bike?
Please share also if you've had zero issues.
Edit. I thought I had deleted this post in General Discussions before I made identical one in the "Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2012 and older". My apologies, I didn't mean to post it twice.
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My daughter is riding my old 2014S with PT. It still runs great and has about the same range as when new, something like 140 miles of easy mixed travel, sticking to the speed limits between 35 and 50 mph. On the highway at 60 mph it is good for 90 miles, or so. That is what it would do when new and there has been no apparent degradation of the battery pack over the past 8.5 years. The only failure has been the OBC, which was replaced with an updated version that is still working fine. The bike has never received an BMS or MBB update since it left the factory in January 2014.
I just remembered that on that 140-mile ride I did stop for a 30-minute L1 charge when I stopped at a restaurant for lunch while the SOC was an indicated 30%. I took the same ride on my 2018S with PT without having to stop for a charge. The reason that I say the 2014 model still has little if any reduction in its battery pack is because when we ride together and come to a stop after a 40-mile trip, her SOC is only 2% less then mine even though I have a battery pack with a slightly greater capacity.
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My mother is riding is still riding my 2011 Zero XU (serial nr #44 so 44th bike sold). Had some issues in the begging (plastics quality, water insulation,..) but have been working well since then, with some mecanical fixes (shock absorber).
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I currently have a 2020 SRF, but before that I had a 2016 S (that I purchased used) that I sold to a friend of mine who is still riding it. Range-wise, I didn't like how the S felt on the freeway, so most of both his and my mileage was on surface streets, and I would say it did about 80 miles around town over the couple years I had it, and I believe it's close to the same for him. Neither of us are daily drivers with it, but typically either of us ride it about once or twice a week (I think he does it more than I did, but for shorter trips). Charging-wise it's pretty slow, generally I would just plug it in at night and it would be charged in the morning, so let's say about 8 hours if it was relatively low on charge. Power-wise it starts to drop off under 20% SOC, but that's true on most Zero's from my experience - still certainly rideable, you just don't have the acceleration you normally do. I had zero issues with it, and the only issue he's had was the headlight wire rubbed and basically got cut so I had to help him repair that - but that's it.
FWIW, my SRF has been a breeze to own, and is much more comfortable on the freeway (which is where I tend to ride it the most). When I first got it (used) it only had 400 miles on it, I've probably put a couple thousand on it so far and the mileage went from maybe 100 miles (freeway) to closer to 80 miles - but that's just what the range shows, and I don't go out of my way to ride super conservatively, nor have I tried to zero out the BMS to get a full range estimate. It's much faster to charge than the S was, but it's also a premium, so I can charge at ~6kw, so I think that's around 2 hours from empty to full, but in practice I usually only charge an hour and it's back to full (as I'm only going half the distance). Still wish it had more range - I've tried a couple of longer distance rides, and they've been relatively unpleasant due to almost running out of juice or arriving at charging stations that don't work. So I just stick to town with it - which is unfortunate, as the one nice longer ride I did with it was actually very pleasant (sans the range anxiety). The lack of heat and vibration really makes for a particularly easy ride.
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I own a 2013 S with 87000km on it. The battery had been replaced around 2015 and it is still working perfectly since I've got it 2 years ago.
The BMS logs show more than 100Ah remaining, that is basically as new.