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[DS18]

Hi all.
I have a 2018 Zero DS. I replaced the battery under warranty. The new one went bad after only 8 months. Zero says I just have to suck it up. No warranty on warranty.
Has anyone else had something similar happen?

Maybe it's just me but I suspect that Zero installed some sort of used battery or refurbished one as a replacement battery under warranty.

The original battery started to deteriorate after 4.5 years and became unstable to the point I could not ride it for more than a few KM. Replaced at the local dealer under warranty on March 23. I've since ridden 10,000 KM during the last 8 months on it. Then I noticed a sudden drop in performance on the new battery.

It got to a point where now I only have about 20-25KM of range on a 14.4 battery at full throttle on the highway.

I lose 1% of my battery every 200-300 meters on the highway. It's scary.

And because the 5-year warranty period passed 3 months ago the dealer told me it's my problem to deal with at this point.

Naturally, a new battery pack would cost more than the bike itself.
It looks to me like the replaced battery they installed was not a brand new one if it only took it 8 months to lose performance.

And since they are not covering it by warranty they are off the hook no matter what they put in there.

Did anyone else experience something like this?

Is there any legal action that can be taken against Zero here?

[TheRan]

Zero offers a 12 month warranty on parts installed that are bought, but that of course doesn't apply in this case. The best I could find regarding replacement or repaired parts is that Zero doesn't offer anything other than what they're legally obligated to. What that entails will depend on where you are. Everything I could find for here in the UK says that the warranty on replacement and repaired parts is just the original warranty period, and I would imagine most other places will be the same.

The situation you're in really sucks, with normal use we should be able to expect a battery to last much longer than 5 years and you'd also expect a replacement part to last longer than 8 months. However we also have to admit that Zero has stuck to their original promise and we can't expect them to offer an extended warranty. If they did then they could end up in a perpetual cycle of replacing your battery every 5 years until you decide to get rid of the bike. Again it really does suck but you did essentially get more than 5 years out of your battery, and if it were the original battery that had just started failing you wouldn't be expecting Zero to replace it for free.

I think your best chance, if you want to put in the time and effort, would be to open a legal case for your specific situation and try claiming that a replacement battery that only lasted 8 months was not initially fit for purpose. That when they first installed it it would have been below the standard of what would even be expected from a 5 year old battery. While according to the terms of their warranty a battery should have at least 80% capacity at 5 years and then literally the day after that it could drop dead completely, in reality one would expect it to gradually taper off at a similar rate and perhaps there's some legal argument to that.

[rgutt]

Warranty timelines don't restart because you get something replaced. That's true of practically every warranty at least here in the US. If you get something replaced under warranty on the last day of that warranty, the replacement part gets only that last day of warranty. The only time that would be extended would be if the replacement part itself came with its own warranty, but Zero's battery warranty is tied to the sale of the bike, not the battery.

[Specter]

I am not familiar with warranty laws in your country, but a warranty fix, should come with a minimum warranty on that fix.
Ok, so lets say you had a month left on the original warranty, and I was a dirt bag.  I put in someone elses bad battery for 'your' warranty fix.  A month later your warranty is gone, two months later, that bad part I knew was bad  and put in, is bad, now I just scammed you out of your money.
There are laws to prevent this kind of thing.

Back to your point.  call the dealer, or better yet drive in and talk to them face to face.  When you are pissed off in someone's face, they are more willing to work with you than when they can lie to you and blow you off in the comfort of their office behind the phone.
Ideally your 'fix' should have been a new part, to replace your bad part.  Read the warranty small print, does it say they will replace it with a refurb or a new unit?  If that's a new unit that died in a year, then they should be obligated.  Most lawyers will give you a free consultation as well, ask one of them for advice.  Not that you need to or have to or want to sue, but get some real advice in case it does turn shitty.

There are lemon laws, they sold you a lemon if it's going bad that fast.  look into your countries lemon laws.

Aaron

[TheRan]

They didn't sell him anything, they fixed his bike under warranty. How they go about that fix, whether it's a brand new battery or a used refurbished unit, is under their discretion from what I understand from reading the warranty. At the point that they initially fixed the bike it was to a satisfactory standard (as the bike was before the failure) and it lasted for another 8 months and past the original warranty period, whether the replacement part should have lasted longer is a subjective argument and not as simple as asking whether or not they violated any contract or agreement.

[Specter]

It should still fall under a lemon law of sorts.  If the same item keeps breaking down or is deficient, they should be liable for it, warranty or not.
Each jurisdiction is different on how they handle that of course, but I think he has a good case for a lemon law suit / intervention.  Ideally if it's supposed to last 5 years and lasted barely over 8 months, that's a problem.  Even a molested rebuild should have lasted a year or so.

given zero's history of battery problems, it would not surprise me at all that they used substandard parts to do the warranty thing, as their batteries have cost them god only knows millions already with it's problems.

Out of curiosity, what Do they do with these things when they inevitably turn into doorstops?  Cars end up in junkyards, is there an e bike disposal one could possibly visit to see if you could maybe get parts or something to fix it yourself?  Craigslist a used one or refurb battery?

Call one of the local newspapers, one of their reporter / troubleshooters, start raising a stink about it.  Maybe they'll fix it to avoid the bad PR.  It's worth a try.  Often times companies try to screw people over on things, but when they end up on the 5 o clock news because of it, suddenly they are more than helpful.

It's worth a try at least.  It really sucks when a company treats it's people like that.  Seeing shit like this makes my blood boil, especially when you hear stories like this over and over again all the time.  I am so grateful that Energica does not treat it's people like this.

You know, that just gave me an idea.  What kind of insurance do you have on the bike?  Full coverage?  Maybe you can file a claim on it?  I have a friend who, long story short, has a diesel truck, got shitty fuel, it had water in it, ruined his fuel injection system on it, cost 12k to fix, he filed a claim and his ins company covered it.  What kind of ins do you have on the bike?

Aaron

[KuRi]

Here in Europe you get 6 extra months of warranty after the replace, so after 8 months you are out of warranty again...

I can't understand they replace the battery and it fails after only 8 months... that is very bad acting from Zero. Ask them to get a NEW battery at a 50% discount price.

[mdjak1]

Is there something else wrong with the motorcycle that could be causing the battery to fail quickly?   

[princec]

What country is this in? There are some extremely powerful consumer-friendly laws in the UK for example. A part is in addition to any warranty offered by the manufacturer deemed to be substandard even years after its supply if it can be shown that a defect must have been present for it to fail inside the time that it might reasonably be expected to last. A battery that fails in 8 months that is normally warranted by the manufacturer for 5 years is clearly of defective manufacture and IANAL but I would see a high likelihood of a successful case being brought against Zero here under these circumstances

Cas

[SwampNut]

I replied to the OP on Reddit also, same post.

In the US (and he didn't say where he is) federal law allows a warranty replacement to be a rebuilt or used part.  The warranty extends to the original date or 90 days, whichever is longer.  That's it.  Some states may have stricter laws.  I suggested that the guy call Zero directly, do not believe the dealer when they say they can't do anything.