Any Zero Riders Out There???

[wildeone]

so what is your MPV now? (miles per volt)

 

[Brillot2000]

so what is your MPV now? (miles per volt)

No, it would be "Watts Per Mile" WPM. As voltage by itself is not a measurement of power. Power (Watts) is product of Voltage (V) and Current (I) as reffered by Ohms Law (P = V X I). Also electric vehicle's batteries are measured in kilo-watt hours (kWh).

With your Bluetooth enable Smartphone and the Zero Motorcycles App, you can get data such as the consumption rate and other information.



I have opted for the Power Tank module that will bumps the original battery capacity from 12.5 kWh to 15.3 kWh. This will equate to 70-80 mile per highway @ 70 MPH or up to 185 miles in the City @ 35-40 MPH.

I have not taken delivery of the bike yet. I am hoping it will be sometime this week though.

 

[670cc]

No, it would be "Watts Per Mile" WPM. As voltage by itself is not a measurement of power. Power (Watts) is product of Voltage (V) and Current (I) as reffered by Ohms Law (P = V X I). Also electric vehicle's batteries are measured in kilo-watt hours (kWh).

Wouldn't it be kilowatt hours per mile (or megajoules per mile), not watts per mile? Watts alone is power, but you really want to know how much energy was used.

Calling an electric bike's energy efficiency as watts per mile would be like describing a gasoline bike's as horsepower per mile. That would make no sense. You'd have to go with kilowatt hours or watt seconds per mile.

 

[davidc83]

No, it would be "Watts Per Mile" WPM. As voltage by itself is not a measurement of power. Power (Watts) is product of Voltage (V) and Current (I) as reffered by Ohms Law (P = V X I). Also electric vehicle's batteries are measured in kilo-watt hours (kWh).

With your Bluetooth enable Smartphone and the Zero Motorcycles App, you can get data such as the consumption rate and other information.

View attachment 25968


I have opted for the Power Tank module that will bumps the original battery capacity from 12.5 kWh to 15.3 kWh. This will equate to 70-80 mile per highway @ 70 MPH or up to 185 miles in the City @ 35-40 MPH.

I have not taken delivery of the bike yet. I am hoping it will be sometime this week though.

Isn't 15 Kwh for one hour of riding (70-80miles @70mph) a lot of juice being used for one hour?
Since my commute is 80 miles round trip with approx. 70 on the interstate and I have no place at work to plug in-this bike is a no-go for me as a commuter bike.
So if it is a 15.3 kWh battery and it is close to drained, it will take 15kWh of electricity to recharge??? I don't understand the charging rates on these motorcycles.
If so 15 Kwh for .15 (average California rate) is approx. $2.25 for a full charge from 0 to 15 Kwh. Here in Indiana, average Kwh is 6.34 cents per Kilowatt which would be very economical (less than a dollar to recharge from 0 to 15 Kwh).

 

[Brillot2000]

Wouldn't it be kilowatt hours per mile (or megajoules per mile), not watts per mile? Watts alone is power, but you really want to know how much energy was used.

Calling an electric bike's energy efficiency as watts per mile would be like describing a gasoline bike's as horsepower per mile. That would make no sense. You'd have to go with kilowatt hours or watt seconds per mile.

Well, I do not know what to tell you at this point, as I do not have the bike to make any correlations or comparisons too. All I am going off of at this point is the information the App would display as the consumption per mile as it tracks it as Average Watt Hours per mile. How that equates to Miles per Gallon escapes me.

The SR Model is the "Hot & Racy" one that can do 0-60 MPH in 3.3 Seconds, 67 HP and 106 ft/lbs of torque. As we know that will take quite a bit of energy to reach those figures. Racing light to light at full throttle will diminish your total miles per charge.

I will answer as many of everyone's questions where I can after in receive the bike and start riding it regularly...

 

[Brillot2000]

Isn't 15 Kwh for one hour of riding (70-80miles @70mph) a lot of juice being used for one hour?
Since my commute is 80 miles round trip with approx. 70 on the interstate and I have no place at work to plug in-this bike is a no-go for me as a commuter bike.
So if it is a 15.3 kWh battery and it is close to drained, it will take 15kWh of electricity to recharge??? I don't understand the charging rates on these motorcycles.
If so 15 Kwh for .15 (average California rate) is approx. $2.25 for a full charge from 0 to 15 Kwh. Here in Indiana, average Kwh is 6.34 cents per Kilowatt which would be very economical (less than a dollar to recharge from 0 to 15 Kwh).

My commute now is 56 miles round-trip without any side trips or errands. I have a Solar Electric System on my home that generates electricity all day long, if I am not using it all, I am building up a credit for my nighttime use. Charging the bike at night could cost about $2 per night, if the battery pack is completely flat dead. I am sure that I will not have a completely exhausted battery everyday.

My employer has many EV Charging Stations and several outdoor 120 VAC outlets that I could use. My first choice is to use the EV Stations with my interface box that I made. I can always use the AC Outlets if none of the EV Stations are not available. Either way the charge time will be close to my entire shift as using the EV Charging Station do have a quick charge option available, however the on-board charger on the Zero does not take advantage of it.

Between my home and work, it will cost me almost nothing and will be "Effectively Free" to commute to work and back. That was my motivation to go electric.

Regarding your question regarding the needed time to charge the battery pack.

The Zero website states that all their street bikes have a 1.3 kW charger. 15.3kWh / 1.3kW = 11.76 Hours, that's of course worse case.

I also purchased the Quick Charger for home use, which will cut all the charge times in half what it would normally. It could fully recharge the battery in about 6 hours and will be ready before I wake up the next morning.

 

[670cc]

Since most employers don't provide their employees with free gasoline, if this electric thing catches on, how long will they provide free electricity?

 

[wildeone]

Since most employers don't provide their employees with free gasoline, if this electric thing catches on, how long will they provide free electricity?

you can always catch some from lighting

 

[Therapy]

Since most employers don't provide their employees with free gasoline, if this electric thing catches on, how long will they provide free electricity?

Big Govt. is already figuring how to tax electrics. It won't be long.

It is all going to be a big revolution.

A study in California years ago concluded that if only a small percentage of people went to electric cars (can't remember the % - something like 10 or 15) the electric grid would collapse from adding that much more demand.

Solar is going to be the only answer to large numbers of people using electric vehicles.

 

[wildeone]

IMO domination of electromagnetic powered vehicles is the imminent near future.
The only reason it didn't happened yet because of big oil companies which are blocking each movement towards hybrids and electric vehicles.

 

[anglachel]

Well, I do not know what to tell you at this point, as I do not have the bike to make any correlations or comparisons too. All I am going off of at this point is the information the App would display as the consumption per mile as it tracks it as Average Watt Hours per mile. How that equates to Miles per Gallon escapes me.

The SR Model is the "Hot & Racy" one that can do 0-60 MPH in 3.3 Seconds, 67 HP and 106 ft/lbs of torque. As we know that will take quite a bit of energy to reach those figures. Racing light to light at full throttle will diminish your total miles per charge.

I will answer as many of everyone's questions where I can after in receive the bike and start riding it regularly...

We can just switch to cents per mile so we can all speak the same language again.

My NC is getting about 4.02 cents per mile right now. (64mpg, 2.57 national average)
At 12.5 cents per KWh (national average) a zero would get about 2.4 cents per mile highway, and 1.03 cents per mile city.

Of course the zero doesn't need oil changes, or new chains/sprockets. it doesn't need valve adjustments, or clutch replacements.... all of which would add to the cents per mile on the NC, though I believe gas is still the largest cost. on the flip side of course a zero S runs about $16k and an NC runs about $6-7K....

As always your milage will vary, in this case your electricity is cheaper, and you'll be stealing a buck or two worth of electricity from your employer each day... but I doubt they'll mind, they are probably already giving you far more than a buck a day if you can afford a zero

 

[Brillot2000]

Big Govt. is already figuring how to tax electrics. It won't be long.

It is all going to be a big revolution.

A study in California years ago concluded that if only a small percentage of people went to electric cars (can't remember the % - something like 10 or 15) the electric grid would collapse from adding that much more demand.

Solar is going to be the only answer to large numbers of people using electric vehicles.

I do not know about that all. However I do know that the State of California offers a $900 Rebate for buying an electric motorcycle.



This might be one of those articles that you're referring to, Will Electric Cars Wreck The Grid.

 

[Brillot2000]

We can just switch to cents per mile so we can all speak the same language again.

My NC is getting about 4.02 cents per mile right now. (64mpg, 2.57 national average)
At 12.5 cents per KWh (national average) a zero would get about 2.4 cents per mile highway, and 1.03 cents per mile city.

Of course the zero doesn't need oil changes, or new chains/sprockets. it doesn't need valve adjustments, or clutch replacements.... all of which would add to the cents per mile on the NC, though I believe gas is still the largest cost. on the flip side of course a zero S runs about $16k and an NC runs about $6-7K....

As always your milage will vary, in this case your electricity is cheaper, and you'll be stealing a buck or two worth of electricity from your employer each day... but I doubt they'll mind, they are probably already giving you far more than a buck a day if you can afford a zero

Thank you all your feedback and the data.

I can tell you that the 8 years of owning and commuting on my ST1300 in the cost of fuel, wear/tear, maintenance and major repairs would equal to or surpass the cost of the Zero SR easily.

My employer also develops, manufactures, and distributes EV Chargers of various different types. They encourage their employees to purchase an electric vehicles and use the EV Chargers that they have provided. They alsovplan on installing more of their own EV Charging Stations here soon. I will be the first to get an Electric Motorcycle and hope that I spark some interest in other riders here.

Regarding affording the Zero. I sold my 1975 Honda CB360, will be trading in my ST1300 and my savings from many years. The time has arrived for me to break open my "Piggy Bank" and get something really nice with that money. Also my mother passed away recently and left me some money too.

I had the desire to purchase one of these since February. This is not an impulse purchase by far. I ran the numbers carefully before taking all the necessary steps leading to this purchase.

Also I just started at this job less than a month ago.

 

[Therapy]

I do not know about that all. However I do know that the State of California offers a $900 Rebate for buying an electric motorcycle.

View attachment 25983

This might be one of those articles that you're referring to, Will Electric Cars Wreck The Grid.

And they are broke like most states. It can't continue.

 

[Brillot2000]

And they are broke like most states. It can't continue.

Maybe so, I cannot argue if they are willing to give me $900 for buying something that I was going to buy anyways...

I guess that I better pull a Steve Miller and take the Money and Run!!!

 

[Fuzzy]

Big Govt. is already figuring how to tax electrics. It won't be long.

It is all going to be a big revolution.

A study in California years ago concluded that if only a small percentage of people went to electric cars (can't remember the % - something like 10 or 15) the electric grid would collapse from adding that much more demand.

Solar is going to be the only answer to large numbers of people using electric vehicles.

Georgia just put an annual tax on electric vehicles to make up for lack of gas tax for roads.

 

[MZ5]

And so they should. We pay for roads via fuel taxes in nearly all places here. If you're still using the road, but not paying the cost to use it, you're stealing from the rest of us who are. Kinda like the tax credits. Nobody 'gives' you that money, they just take it from you and your kids and your grandkids over the next hundred years. A $900 tax credit probably costs your family $20,000* by the time it's paid off.

As to the bike itself, I'm glad you got one, Brillot, since you've been wanting one for quite a while. They seem really neat to me, they just don't pencil out for me either in $ or in range for what I need. If they did, I'd be all over one.

*Total guess; didn't make any effort to calculate that figure at all.

 

[Brillot2000]

I received word today that my bike is being shipped out today from the manufacturer in Santa Cruz, CA and will be headed to the dealer in Hollywood, CA. They should receive the bike tomorrow and have it ready for me no later than Friday. At least that's what I am hoping for. If it has to be Saturday, then I'm alright with that too...

I cannot wait to pick up "Sparky" and ride her home.

 

[TheEdge900]

Congrats on the new Zero. I have been looking at them for a while now, even took a test drive back in the spring. However, there are two things that keep me from getting one right now. First being initial cost is still to high for me. Second is battery life. I love the fact they offer a 5 year warranty on the battery, but there is also a temperature guideline on their website that I would be worried they could use to void the warranty. The temperature notice states "Note: Storing the motorcycle or its battery in direct sunlight in ambient temperatures above 105°F (41°C) may result in accelerated permanent decay of battery performance, and hence it is not recommended." I live in Phoenix and my employer does not have covered parking, it is not possible to keep my vehicle out of >105°F conditions if I want to commute every day. When I asked the dealer about it, he just said "put a cover on it." However without something official from Zero stating they would honor the warranty even when exposed to temperatures above 105°F I would not buy. The Nissan Leaf had a problem loosing 40% of it capacity in the first year or two in the AZ heat, so it is not uncommon that heat can kill batteries.

Here is the link to the Zero Temperature guidelines: http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/owner-resources/Cold-and-Hot-Weather-Operation.pdf

Hopefully, by the time I have wore out my NC these two issues will be resolved. Of course only putting 10k a year on the Honda, that may be another 10+ years to wear it out.

 

[anglachel]

Congrats on the new Zero. I have been looking at them for a while now, even took a test drive back in the spring. However, there are two things that keep me from getting one right now. First being initial cost is still to high for me. Second is battery life. I love the fact they offer a 5 year warranty on the battery, but there is also a temperature guideline on their website that I would be worried they could use to void the warranty. The temperature notice states "Note: Storing the motorcycle or its battery in direct sunlight in ambient temperatures above 105°F (41°C) may result in accelerated permanent decay of battery performance, and hence it is not recommended." I live in Phoenix and my employer does not have covered parking, it is not possible to keep my vehicle out of >105°F conditions if I want to commute every day. When I asked the dealer about it, he just said "put a cover on it." However without something official from Zero stating they would honor the warranty even when exposed to temperatures above 105°F I would not buy. The Nissan Leaf had a problem loosing 40% of it capacity in the first year or two in the AZ heat, so it is not uncommon that heat can kill batteries.

Here is the link to the Zero Temperature guidelines: http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/owner-resources/Cold-and-Hot-Weather-Operation.pdf

Hopefully, by the time I have wore out my NC these two issues will be resolved. Of course only putting 10k a year on the Honda, that may be another 10+ years to wear it out.

I haven't dug into the study at all, but apparently solid state batteries may fix the temperature problems... the future is still in the future though (for now.)

Samsung, MIT say their solid-state batteries could last a lifetime | Computerworld