Zero Motorcycles

According to Zero, the batteries are good for 200-300 THOUSAND miles. I highly doubt I'll have that much time left in this world. hahaha.

Lol good point!

How many miles do you drive in 6 months?

I travel about 400 mi per week.. so 9600 in 6 months. I bought my BMW street bike 3 years ago (used) with 15k on the clock. She's pushin 75k already.

Will depend on the availability and cost of replacement batteries. I would not take much research/skill to build your own replacement.

I've always purchased used for my trucks and bikes, and always when I'm quite confident I can do the work required to keep it on the road. But when your bikes are actually primary transport and one's in 30 pieces just to replace the valve shims that take a week to arrive, convenience sounds pretty attractive. And when convenience can take the shape of a thrilling, belt-driven, mappable, torque-monster that lets me pass every gas station and charges while I sleep, it can be quite attractive. It was certainly a different riding mindset than the twins I'm used to, but quietly carving up the road with an electric on the first test drive felt somewhat reminiscent of the days when I was carving a mountain on my snowboard or surfing. That contradictory 'peaceful-thrill' never seemed like it needed additional machinery complexity, vibration, or exhaust noise to improve things, and neither does this.

Picked up a Zero DSR 13.0 2 years ago and have been loving every minute of it with the exception of one big hiccup. Battery state of charge had slowly been degrading by about 1% per month. Couldn't find anyone else on various forums with the same issue, so it appeared to be a one-off issue and I escalated it to Zero and my local dealer. My first warranty interaction ever and it really couldn't have gone better. Zero quickly shipped a new monolith and the local dealer stands behind their brands, so 3 holiday-weeks later I'm back on the road with a newly warrantied, upgraded 14.4 battery!



As noted above, confidence in the battery's potential lifespan/mileage is a great discussion. While I wish I could say that nothing goes wrong, I'm happy to say that in this apparently rare case, both Zero and local dealer did the right thing.

This doesn't need to be the perfect bike for everyone, but if the range issue is close to your needs, I'd highly recommend carefully considering a test-ride; mostly because everyone that gets to ride mine comes back with a grin and considering their account balances. The batteries continually get better and Diginow and OEM have faster-charging options if breaking that range-radius is your thing.

Picked up my bike. Wow.. this thing is a flippin rocket! I'm pretty sure it will out accelerate my BMW K1600 gtl. I'm sure it will toast my 701 Husky. Ripped on the fwy at 80 mph and made it to work with almost 40% left over.. which means I still have room to... ah, accelerate a little more.. if I need to. hahahaha.
I found that 'sport' mode is just a bit much for commuting.. even on the fwy. I was in 'custom' mode (previous owner's setting though) and worked out fine. I've downloaded the app and will play with it a little more this weekend. For now, it was just plain azz fun to ride to work. Windshield and saddlebags are on their way. Heated grips are going to be a necessity too.

Distance?

35英里。2山道。与我身边trip to the gym every day, it's just about 80 miles/day.

But do you recuperate it at work place?

Yes. We have both 110v and the 220v chargers at my work. Cars are always in the 220 spots but i don't have the pack anyway. 110v works fine. Takes about 5 hrs to top it off

Awesome bike, more pics! Congrats dude!

It is a rare electric commute, by car or bike, that can't be completely replaced by 110 V (L1) charging during the course of an 8-hour work day. It's something to keep in mind for anyone encouraging their employer to install charging facilities. L2 at work is only really necessary for those with unusually long commutes or apartment dwellers who can't charge at home.

I started looking into an electric car or motorcycle years ago. I asked my employer if they were going to install the charging stations, citing the advantages and possible incentives from the government... but i got an emphatic NO.
2 years later we have the stations. The incentive program from our local government must have changed their minds. Go figure.

When I rode my previous electric motorcycle, I often relied on recharging at work to extend my range. This experience led to to look for two things in my next EV (you guessed it): long range & access to fast recharge. (For a car, Tesla made the choice easy. I don’t even pay much attention to anything other than Superchargers now as practically everything else charges so slowly, on top of which, Supercharging is free for life, so unless I happen to be somewhere where there is no Supercharger, why bother?) The vast majority of EV owners charge from home, so charging infrastructure is mostly for extended trips away from home or if you just want a quick top off while you eat/shop, but I think charging stations are even more essential for larger EM adoption. As for my next EM, I check in from time to time on the evolving fast charge infrastructure (Electrify America, EVGo, Chargepoint, etc) as that plays such a large role in solving range anxiety. (Kudos to the early pioneers in long distance travel on their Zeros. You’re more adventurous than me!)

Solid state batteries offer to kill two birds with one stone, but the timeline of it replacing current battery chemistries is fuzzy at best. I’m confident in existing lithium tech, but until the fast-charging network increases, I’ll hang on to my Yamaha FZ a little bit longer when purchasing my next EM. More employers offering charge access for their employees would certainly help too. I’m looking forward to Lightning’s announcement for its lower priced bike in March, specifically when it comes to fast DC recharge capability. If anything it stimulates innovation and competition. Lots more on the horizon I’m sure, including what Zero can add on top of its already successful lineup. It is truly a great time to be alive!

Frankly i don't believe in Lithium as best solution. IMHO it's here just to start things moving. The reserve is very limited, as likely is the capacity it can ultimately hold. But it's so good that the new era has finally begun.

I agree but (hopefully) there will be better/longer life batteries soon. My wife works for AV (the people that used to make the charging stations.. now sold off that division) and she said the "next gen" type battery isn't too far off in the future. She didn't know more than that.

I was talking to a Leaf owner this last weekend. Asking how he plans his trips etc. Said he's been a little stuck sometimes, but not for too long. Does a quick charge here/there and gets him to the next station. Finds the next station on his app.
Personally, if I can't charge mine at work for some reason, my motorhome is stored about 2 miles from my work. I could ride over to it, fire up the genny, and nap for an hour. That would get me home anyway.

Predicting the future is always a crap-shoot, even more so when trying to predict the trajectory of a rapidly-advancing technology. I'm betting solid state lithium-based batteries are next up, followed by the proton battery - which is based on carbon and water and is already showing capacity similar to lithium, withlotsof development left.

Or not.

The proton battery might go nowhere, or solid state lithium might maintain its lead over competitors, or some other new tech might explode on the scene from out of nowhere. One thing is certain - there has been more money and scientific horsepower devoted to the development of battery technology in the last decade or so than for the entire century before.

Fun times. Confusing and unpredictable, but definitely fun.

You know what i think -- the technology has already been found, at time X the big wigs running this world will announce the transition thru some corporation.

It is really not. Companies have just begun opening up sources like those gigantic salt lakes in South America, and if people are willing to shell out $200 or $300 extra lithium can be extracted in unlimited quantities from seawater. This should become more and more economical as there is an ever increasing number of osmosis desalination plants around the world which massively concentrate minerals in the "waste" brine, for free so to speak.