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Nice work You could make a github repo for this, that would be helpful.

Also thinking about a project like this, in doubt whether I'm going the canbus route of the serial route, but I don't know if the serial is active during charging yet. My main goal is to control the charging by my domotica so the bike doesn't always charge to 100%. So report SOC and some other stuff through lora/wifi (if available) to Home Assistant and then control a relay.

Sorry for the late reply, haven't been home much. Thanks Aaron for the reply, would have mailed you this weekend Good to know it does not violate the warranty by default as you indicated in our earlier conversations by mail. I've got two questions:

• Will this policy be respected by Zero in Europe/NL as well? Based on the reply from my dealer - whom I trust - the policy isn't known to everybody.
• What will happen if the Diginow charger has been present and after 4-something years the battery performance drops below the 70% mark, will Zero provide warranty on the battery?

Zero's response to my issues with the bike has been very good btw, much better than the experience I had with my BMW! Really happy with that

Had a talk with my dealer about the warranty on the bike if a Diginow charger would be installed. He even has one bike with a SC on sale in the shop  and he pressed Zero about the warranty during training sessions at Zero. He is quite upfront about his experiences with Zero and likes the SC himself, so I trust him to be fair here.

As I suspected Zero Netherlands will not serve warranty claims once the bike has been modified. The reason my dealer gave was exactly the one I was quoting here earlier (asked an open question, did not steer him in any direction): European law is different from the law in the US and allows the manufacturer to deny warranty after modifications have been made. Zero NL will do so after installation of the SC.

Which total crap, otherwise I would have ordered one tomorrow, especially now my stock charger seems to be giving up after six whole months lol. Luckily, that is going to be fixed under warranty, but still.

Anyone who expects Zero to say "If a 3rd party product damages your bike we will fix it" is crazy. What they are saying is more than fair, and they are already out on a limb in legalese. On top of this, they have demonstrated good faith towards us and our customers. It also helps that we are probably in the top 3 people for knowing how these bikes operate in and out outside of Zero.

Okay, I don't think I quite deserve that, I was respectful to both you and the Zero customer support. That it has gone well until now is great, it speaks for both Diginow and Zero that it has. I applaud the innovative solution that you guys made, it's better than the solution Zero has in every technical and practical regard. Also Aaron was very fast and friendly in his answers and I'm not saying that one of these companies is actively trying to screw anyone.

What I'm saying is that there could be cases where it is not clear where the problem has originated and that could lead to problems claiming warranty. Say the battery would have degraded faster than expected after 4 years and would normally be replaced under warranty by Zero, Zero could make the argument (and most automotive companies in The Netherlands would) that fast charging by a third party supplied charger exacerbated the problem while Diginow doesn't believe that it did. Under the current terms on the Diginow website this can cause a discussion and where does that leave me as a customer?

A lot of professional tuners for cars will take on the manufacturer warranty on the engine after tuning the engine because the dealer won't service it anymore after any modification has been done.  It would help if the Diginow policy would be the same; if Zero doesn't cover warranty claims because the SC was installed Diginow will take on the warrantly claim without question (US and internationally).

That way I would have certainty as a customer: problems? Call Zero, if Zero denies because SC2 could be the cause: Diginow will cover me no questions asked.

Pfew.
Thx for all the questions and answer.
I feel fine with my just installed Diginow.
But it's a lot of money, so hopefully every1 is now oke with the current relationship between Zero-Diginow-Owners !
 

Nice! I would really like to know how you like it. Do you happen to leave somewhere near Arnhem? Would love to see it!

Okay, I contacted Aaron Cheatham from Zero regarding the warranty and it's a bit nuanced. This is not because I don't like the SC2.5, I basically told Aaron that it is superior to the Charge Tank in every way except for the warranty fuss and that Zero should integrate it in their own line-up. Aaron pointed out users best read the warranty info themselves and that the information below could be misread, so please read it yourself as well. Aaron was very fast and helpful in his responses.

That being said, his first answer:

The installation of any unapproved charger does not immediately violate our Zero Motorcycles Limited Motorcycle Warranty.  However, our warranty specifically does not cover any damage caused by the improper installation or its use.  Since we have not tested or approved this charger, Zero Motorcycles can’t guarantee that this won’t happen.  No product is 100% safe.  For the full details of our warranty, I would review your owner’s manual or our website here.....

Okay, that's a bit vague. Let's spell it out:

Thank you for your quick and exhaustive reply! If read between the lines, if the battery would degrade too fast within the 5 years or would completely fail and I would have used the supercharger, this would potentially cause a problem with the warranty. Most likely I won't get a replacement if needed. Am I correct?

Answer:

Thank you for your email.  Unfortunately, we have not tested nor approved the Diginow charger and so I can’t really answer your questions.  They are likely best addressed to them.

Zero won't confirm that there is no issue if you come in with a degraded/broken battery and points to Diginow. So most likely you'll have to go to Diginow if you come in with a battery that has degraded when the SC2 would have been used. From the Diginow website:

If a properly-installed digiNow charger causes direct damage to your bike or battery during our warranty period, we will cover the repair cost to your bike.

In the case of a battery that has degraded faster than expected, is this direct damage because of the SC? That's debatable. Not to be a dick, but this is a risk: Diginow is a 2 man operation and what happens if Zero says well you used a SC and Diginow says it isn't the chargers fault, it was <insert reason: battery inherently flawed, you used the motorcycle in extreme circumstances, etc>.

Thanks! Still I'd suggest some decent documentation on the site, provide links and screenshots for the apps, etc. Now it only appeals to the most nerdy of customers while it seems to be a great product. Although I'd have to contact Zero, we don't have the same laws as in the US where the manufacturer has to prove the modification was the source of a fault. In Europe it's the other way around, you changed the product? Too bad for you...