#zermotorcycles

Service Stats

In Service Date: 9/8/2017 In Service Mileage: 393 Out of Service Date: 8/16/2018 Out of Service Mileage: 6,518 Service Life: 11 months,  6,125 miles

The History & Story

We kicked off National Drive Electric Week 2017 with buying a new Zero motorcycle. Like the last one, it was the dealer demo unit and we got it as a discount. We also managed to cash in on the federal rebate for two/three wheel EVs. This is the bike that I’d make my second Myrtle Beach by EV road trip.

I had no major problems with this bike, aside from hitting the limitations of its design: on days above 80F the battery pack would heat up to above 120F and would refuse to charge. 

This refusal to charge situation occurred for several reasons. One factor was that I was maxing out the payload for the motor, so it was always under a heavy load. Another factor was the lucite-sealed battery cells wrapped in a heat absorbing black metal case that is complete exposed to the sun. The two combined meant that you couldn’t do 200+ miles days from May to October.

The straw the broke the camel’s back was on August 12, 2018. It was a Sunday, overcast, 83F. I’d done my usual ride around Falls lake and ended at our Brunch spot. The bike Level 1 charged for less than 2 hours while we had lunch. Then I rode it -- on I-540, which is unusual for me but I was feeling fast ‘n furious today -- to my friend’s home in Durham for a pool party. I stopped at a Level 2 near his house for all of 10 minutes to go bump up my SOC so that I wouldn’t need to charge very long at his house. I get to his house and plug in, and the bike stopped charging within 2 hours of being plugged in. The bike was at 20% SOC - enough for me to get it home taking the slow backroads - and it was sitting at 120F after less than 120 miles ridden.