ElectricMotorcycleForum.com
Makes And Models => Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2013+ => Topic started by: atldinan3 on January 19, 2024, 12:12:17 AM
-
.
-
I've got a 2017 DS 6.5 that is slowly losing its charge.
I don't get to ride much, so it's been garaged most of its life, on/off charger. Exactly 850 miles on the odo.
I noticed on a recent ride that the estimated available miles decreases disproportionately to the actual distance traveled. I've topped it off a few times in the last month, and have discovered that it drops 1/2 or more each day.
Any thoughts on what this means?
(I'd pop down to the dealer for an inspection, however my nearest two dealers shutdown in the last 6 months, so I'm now nearly 200 miles from a dealer. :'()
That's a huge waste of a magnificent machine that basically has a 10-year life span.
My 2016 FX now drops off very quickly to 50%, sometimes in less than 10 miles. However, if I keep riding, I can still get 50 miles. I think the firmware range estimate calculation is just primitive, non-linear and overly pessimistic as the battery ages. Could this also be the case with yours? Or does it lose half the charge while just sitting there?
-
.
-
It's losing its charge while sitting. Charged to 100% this weekend. I haven't ridden it since, yet it's now reading 97%.
A Zero (generation 2 anyway) will lose charge while sitting there. In my experience it will be down to 90% in about a week.
If it's left plugged in, it will charge to 100%. But then it will still drop gradually. Once it reaches 90%, the charger will kick on again.
-
Most bikes determine their charge by voltage of the battery pack. Granted there are other things in their sometimes twisted formulae to do so but the voltage is a BIG determination. With that, it's not uncommon for a bike to drop a percent or two sitting like that.
A. The batteries settle in, so the surface charge of a fresh charge goes away as they balance and settle out
B. The temperature of the cells drops, since no more current flow = no more heat generated, this causes temperature and voltage to drop slightly, along with perceived charge.
C. The bike got some stuff going on, it IS using electricity, so is sucking a bit off the top of the battery. The power dissipation of a battery is not quite linear and at the very top, (and very bottom) there isn't a hell of a lot of power density, so yah, that clock, or checking for internet etc etc every 30 seconds ever a day or can make it drop 0.1 volts ish or whatever, and make it think the battery is slightly discharged from what it last called 100 percent.
D. It got cold outside, and temperatures are more towards the lower end of the batteries useable range, this can cost you a few percent.
Then again, you could also have an older battery, with a cell getting weaker and it's pulling it down or self discharging a lot faster than when brand new.
Most bikes have some sort of 'storage' mode you can slap a charger on them and it'll keep them charged up where they need to be over the weekend, work week, winter months, etc etc.
Aaron
-
Last month my 2018 Zero with PT, dropped from 90% SOC to 72% SOC after sitting for a month without being ridden. It could have something to do with a "storage" program that I believe Zero installed a year or two ago as an update. ??? I do note that if I let my bike sit around for about three weeks, it will not charge unless I first key it on to get it to wake up. Then I can turn the key off, plug in the OBC and it will start charging normally. When I ride it at least every couple of weeks, it can be charged without needing to be turned on first.
-
If a gen 2 bike (S/DS/FX) isn't keyed on then there's nothing like the clock or a cellular connection draining the battery, the contactor isn't closed so it's physically disconnected and unable to power anything except it's own BMS. The dash clock has its own coin cell battery.