Crissa
Well-known member
- First Name
- Crissa
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2020
- Threads
- 127
- Messages
- 16,592
- Reaction score
- 27,644
- Location
- Santa Cruz
- Vehicles
- 2014 Zero S, 2013 Mazda 3
- Thread starter
- #1
Okay, it's not fair at all. A used Zero can be had for $6K and even the fanciest one doesn't break $30K. You get two seats and no DC charging.
But a Zero is a great complement vehicle. It can fit in places not even a compact car will go. And the DS and FX models are great offroad - and at trail speeds, you can get many, many miles.
My spouse (30 years experience riding street, she currently rides a Ducati Scrambler) got me a used Zero to learn on. And so I did! It let us have an EV while the market wasn't quite ripe for us (we currently drive a 2013 Mazda 3). A Model Y or Model 3 would do, but each of those would cost 3x or 2x what our Mazda did... And weren't options for 7 years and 3 years past when we bought the Mazda.
A motorcycle is great for those grocery trips and appointments. And in states with filtering/lane splitting, traffic congestion just really doesn't matter. It also is great to get outside and in the weather. (Well, except when weather is 'on fire', but...) And there are options that aren't a motorcycle per se, but similar in efficiency (Arcimoto, Aptera).
My Zero is a 2014. That's about when Zero really 'got it'. This is their Cypher II bike, using an aluminum street frame. It's air-cooled and has few smart functions. There's three riding 'modes' and one of them I can change the settings to (torque, braking regen, throttle regen, and max speed). It doesn't have cruise control, though the newer models do. It has a 8.5kWh battery and gets a bit over 80 miles city/combined. It still does! But having the smaller battery means it's more affected by the weather but is lighter. When full up, I can easily hit 95 mph on the highway. But it's not really a highway bike; I'd use up my battery in about a half-hour like that. And I'll slowly lose speed as my pack voltage drops, it's about max 68mph at 30%. My charging is pretty limited: While originally designed to do some DC, it turned out many charge points were out of spec, and so that option was removed about six months after they offered it. There's a 3kW charge tank but it's no longer made, and a few do-it-yourself third-party options, but I mostly just charge once or twice a week at 1.7kWh from my dryer tap.
I really like it! Unlike noisier bikes, everyone seems to like you. Well, except people who don't like bikes filtering, I suppose. And even my small-battery, eight-years-old, small-motor (literally they don't make 'em this weak anymore) bike can out accelerate anything to 30mph, and lots of things to 60. It's just great. And because of the customizable ride-settings, it kinda grew with me as I grew in experience. I could limit the torque while I was clumsy, and now that I'm not... Well, I still usually only use 70% of it.
In 2016, the Zero lineup got a better power management. They can fast charge on optional 6kWh charge tank, which is still offered. They also got a bigger battery. Anything 2016 and newer just doesn't have the same limitations as a 2013-2015 bike in terms of power management. They stay at top speed longer, and don't overheat as much. In 2020, they came out with the SR/ Cypher III bikes, which are bigger, heavier, and can have up to 12kW (like a Tesla Destination charge point) charging stock.
My bike is made of 3x2.8kWh battery packs; the current bikes are made of 4x3.6. It's stepped up a few times! That makes the biggest bikes' city ranges in the 200+ mile range, or more than 100 miles at 70mph on the freeway. While mine is really limited to places I can sit and charge, or just dinking around the county, the new bikes can do day trips or even road trips easily. Like, after an hour or two in the saddle, you need to stretch, right? It's just a completely different pace than an ICE bike.
I really want to get a DS or FX ... Or even this bike and strap it to the back of my Cybertruck for roadtrips. That way I don't have to tip-toe my way up trails or into town and fight for parking while camping somewhere ^-^
-Crissa
But a Zero is a great complement vehicle. It can fit in places not even a compact car will go. And the DS and FX models are great offroad - and at trail speeds, you can get many, many miles.
Background:You've had an electric motorcycle for a while now. It's been almost three years, hasn't it?
I'm curious how the Zero price/specs have evolved over your ownership. Are currently available ones significantly better in terms of range/power/charge time/throttle response/regen braking response or have they largely stayed nearly the same since your purchase?
My spouse (30 years experience riding street, she currently rides a Ducati Scrambler) got me a used Zero to learn on. And so I did! It let us have an EV while the market wasn't quite ripe for us (we currently drive a 2013 Mazda 3). A Model Y or Model 3 would do, but each of those would cost 3x or 2x what our Mazda did... And weren't options for 7 years and 3 years past when we bought the Mazda.
A motorcycle is great for those grocery trips and appointments. And in states with filtering/lane splitting, traffic congestion just really doesn't matter. It also is great to get outside and in the weather. (Well, except when weather is 'on fire', but...) And there are options that aren't a motorcycle per se, but similar in efficiency (Arcimoto, Aptera).
My Zero is a 2014. That's about when Zero really 'got it'. This is their Cypher II bike, using an aluminum street frame. It's air-cooled and has few smart functions. There's three riding 'modes' and one of them I can change the settings to (torque, braking regen, throttle regen, and max speed). It doesn't have cruise control, though the newer models do. It has a 8.5kWh battery and gets a bit over 80 miles city/combined. It still does! But having the smaller battery means it's more affected by the weather but is lighter. When full up, I can easily hit 95 mph on the highway. But it's not really a highway bike; I'd use up my battery in about a half-hour like that. And I'll slowly lose speed as my pack voltage drops, it's about max 68mph at 30%. My charging is pretty limited: While originally designed to do some DC, it turned out many charge points were out of spec, and so that option was removed about six months after they offered it. There's a 3kW charge tank but it's no longer made, and a few do-it-yourself third-party options, but I mostly just charge once or twice a week at 1.7kWh from my dryer tap.
I really like it! Unlike noisier bikes, everyone seems to like you. Well, except people who don't like bikes filtering, I suppose. And even my small-battery, eight-years-old, small-motor (literally they don't make 'em this weak anymore) bike can out accelerate anything to 30mph, and lots of things to 60. It's just great. And because of the customizable ride-settings, it kinda grew with me as I grew in experience. I could limit the torque while I was clumsy, and now that I'm not... Well, I still usually only use 70% of it.
In 2016, the Zero lineup got a better power management. They can fast charge on optional 6kWh charge tank, which is still offered. They also got a bigger battery. Anything 2016 and newer just doesn't have the same limitations as a 2013-2015 bike in terms of power management. They stay at top speed longer, and don't overheat as much. In 2020, they came out with the SR/ Cypher III bikes, which are bigger, heavier, and can have up to 12kW (like a Tesla Destination charge point) charging stock.
My bike is made of 3x2.8kWh battery packs; the current bikes are made of 4x3.6. It's stepped up a few times! That makes the biggest bikes' city ranges in the 200+ mile range, or more than 100 miles at 70mph on the freeway. While mine is really limited to places I can sit and charge, or just dinking around the county, the new bikes can do day trips or even road trips easily. Like, after an hour or two in the saddle, you need to stretch, right? It's just a completely different pace than an ICE bike.
I really want to get a DS or FX ... Or even this bike and strap it to the back of my Cybertruck for roadtrips. That way I don't have to tip-toe my way up trails or into town and fight for parking while camping somewhere ^-^
-Crissa
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