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[Scotchman]

Was surprised to not see a thread about this.  To my thinking, this replaces the need for anything aftermarket.  I know there are still those of you who want to retain the storage space and/or have more than 6kw of charge capacity (actually 7.5ish if you also use the on-board charger).  But I think for the vast majority of users the dealer installed OEM fast charge option will be the best.  I am excited to grab one in the spring and open up the use I can get out of my Zero.  What do you think?

[ashnazg]

Some of us are already All In with DigiNows, just waiting in the manufacturing queue 

[Snow4us]

I think there's still a market for other solutions so you can pair fast charging with the extended range of the power tank.

[JaimeC]

I know.  When I ordered my 2018 S, I ordered it without the Charge Tank (preferring the additional storage space).  But if more and more Chargepoint stations should open in my area I now have an option!

[stevenh]

Local dealer just quoted me $2800.00 for the charge tank installed, in my 2016 DSR.

Steve

[Shadow]

Local dealer just quoted me $2800.00 for the charge tank installed, in my 2016 DSR.

Steve

At the prevailing shop labor rates, $500 (over $2300 cost) sounds about right for the install process. There's a lot of time-consuming and difficult to access bolts depending on how your bike is configured. The electronics are also "scary" to work with for old fuddy duddy moto techs but in fact are bolt-in and not any problem and you could do the install yourself if you wanted to. Try getting a quote from AF1Racing to sell you the upgrade.

[DPsSRnSD]

You'll still need to dip into the aftermarket if you want the fastest charging and largest batteries available.

[caza]

To me this change is a very minor convenience to a very small amount of people, it's good but in the end it doesn't really matter.

The charge tank should just be stock. Level 2 charging is a minimum requirement on an EV in 2019.

3K is a lot of extra money to have 2 huge heavy chargers on the bike when we know what the smaller, lighter diginow can do for similar pricing.

Nothing is a bigger deterrant from EV adoption than charge times, having your default charging option be ten hours is a joke.

[Shadow]

... [ all stuff I kind of agree with ed: Shadow ] ...
Nothing is a bigger deterrant from EV adoption than charge times, having your default charging option be ten hours is a joke.

I put 10,000mi+ on my bike this summer with just the stock charging... what!?  Yeah 150mi/day easy. Plug in, go to work 9 hrs, go home, plug in, go to sleep, repeat 6 days a week for 3 mos.

Yeah though I would not like to do the 100mi trip over Donner Pass (Does anyone hear about the Donner Party in history? Yes, that Donner Pass...) with less than 3kW total charge rate. That is about 2 hours of waiting at a charging station halfway on the trip.

For a 200mi trip I would lose my patience with less than 6kW charging... and have actually done a trip like that with 3kW rate it took too long and was annoying at best or a safety issue at worst.

For more than 6kW charging rate though in USA you don't have very many options to use public charging infrastructure. Yes it should be standard but the expectation to do better than 6kW would be unreasonable.

Zero has the ZF7.2 single long brick capacity now and should push harder to have 6.6kW charging on those models, and get rid of the PowerTank completely it is a mess. The charger is what should be removable and interchangeable, not anymore the battery pack.  If you own a ZF7.2 FX and a ZF7.2 S/DS are you possibly going to ride two bikes at the same time... no. But you could own one 6.6kW charging module that changes between them and is so user-installed.

[Scotchman]

Local dealer just quoted me $2800.00 for the charge tank installed, in my 2016 DSR.

Steve

At the prevailing shop labor rates, $500 (over $2300 cost) sounds about right for the install process. There's a lot of time-consuming and difficult to access bolts depending on how your bike is configured. The electronics are also "scary" to work with for old fuddy duddy moto techs but in fact are bolt-in and not any problem and you could do the install yourself if you wanted to. Try getting a quote from AF1Racing to sell you the upgrade.

Do we know for sure that the "new" aftermarket Charge Tank will be as difficult?  I sort of got the impression that something is different now.  The old Charge Tank was technically installable aftermarket, a shop in FL has a video of it, but yes it was involved.  Zero adding it as an aftermarket option and it not being available until Spring 2019 made me think that perhaps they did something to simplify the install.  Otherwise this is just a policy change and not any kind of new product, and it should be available now.  Right?

[Richard230]

I remain a fan of the Power Tank.  I have bought two Zeros with them so far. I would not have paid that kind of money for the "charge tank".  I use my Zero for day trips and don't mind the time it takes to recharge using the on-board 1300-watt charger. I think this would be true for anyone who uses their Zero mostly for commuting and that would seem to be the most practical use for an electric motorcycle at this stage of its development.

[caza]

I have the power tank and I'm conflicted. Sometimes I'd rather have the quicker charging. (Like when I'm only working for a 3-4 hours) than battery space.

I've said it before but I really think the charge tank should be standard, but even if not I'd like it to replace the stock charger entirely.

Then you can have the charge tank up top and develop a new power tank for the belly pan where the stock charger is now. This is the best possible zero configuration in my eyes.

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

There's no way a battery installed on the belly pan of a motorcycle will ever be approved for road or off-road use.

DigiNow chargers in the belly pan with a battery in the tank area is the best we're going to get until a more robust frame is available. That's what I have, and it's rather nice.

If you don't need both a Power Tank and fast charging, and your onboard charger works, the Charge Tank is fine and OEM-warranty-supported.

Neither Zero nor DigiNow are fools, and Zero's option does what it does and costs what it does because that's what they can ship as OEM. DigiNow assembles, programs, and ships what it does because it makes economical sense and they want the unofficial-yet-tacit approval of Zero by programming them in the safest way that Zero has asked.

[caza]

I'm not really sure why a battery in the belly pan would be any different than how a tesla or other EV's have their batteries in the bottom of the frame. We've even seen tesla battery packs that've been punctured from below and caused fires, but this design is still being used.

The power tank is definitely a necessity for me as my 80 mile round trip commute left me with 20% today. Without the power tank I wouldn't have made it. Hell, if there wasn't traffic on the way home I might not have made it.

[DonTom]

I remain a fan of the Power Tank.  I have bought two Zeros with them so far. I would not have paid that kind of money for the "charge tank".  I use my Zero for day trips and don't mind the time it takes to recharge using the on-board 1300-watt charger. I think this would be true for anyone who uses their Zero mostly for commuting and that would seem to be the most practical use for an electric motorcycle at this stage of its development.

I like to have the best of both worlds, so I have the Power Tank but if going on a longer trip, I put a quick charger in each saddle bag and run all three chargers from a J-plug, using two server AC cables to connect the two quickies and the bike to a J plug.

-Don-  Auburn, CA