I am not EC, and I don't have one of these YET but I will answer some of your concerns.
- Is it compatible with french charge stations? (are communication protocols different?)
it works with mennekes stations just fine.
- Will I have to let the bike on to charge? or can I switch the bike off, plug it to charge and leave it to take a coffee?
Almost all external chargers use the built in zero wiring to let the bike know an external charger is attached and charging. You don't need to leave the bike on, it will know it has chargers attached. You might need to power the bike on then back off if it has been sitting a long time however.
- Can you confirm or correct this assumption (for my understanding):
The battery pack shouldn't be pushed more than 106v (may be a little bit more), thus the max charge rate I should get from a station would be
P = 106v x Max_station_amperage
For example, a charge station with Type 2 (mennekes) that is set 63A max and 223V can provide 63*223=14 kW, but with the battery tension limitation I should charge only at 63*106=6.6 kW.
The bikes top voltage is 116vDC ... at 106v you are looking at around 50% SOC
So theoretically you could get up to 7308w
- If this station is three phase, can the diginow supercharger get full power of the three phase? that would give me (63*3)*106=20 kW of charge rate!
It should be able to consume 3 phase but the voltage IN might be a limitation. Other emotowerks chargers are purchased for either 380 or <240 ...
- With the 11.4 kWh battery pack, what is the max charge rate I shouldn't exceed to avoid damaging the battery?
You can't damage the battery ... the BMS will prevent you from doing this. On the 2014 I think the max charge rate is 1C or ~10kW
- I've read that the supercharger slow down at 85% to allow a better charge at the end (balancing,...?). What happen if I stop at that percent each time I charge during a road trip? will I need to get a full charge once in order to let the cells charging in good conditions?
If you are going to charge up to 85% or 90% only on a regular basis then once a month just plug the bike in when you are at home and let the cells balance. I have heard of people doing just this and going 3 months between balancing.
- Here in France most fast charging stations are in type 2 (mennekes), that is why I would first consider this plug for fast charging,
but we also have a lot of type 1 (J1772) that can provide 3 kW or even 6 kW for some, I would also consider this option.
Does diginow sell and adaptor to connect the diginow supercharger type 2 socket to the station type 1 plug?
The charger will come with a menneke or J plug input depending on what you order. Anything beyond that might be special order but I am sure it can be created.
- When a Chademo solution will be released, will I have to buy another charger for that?
CHaDEmo is a direct DC charging solution. You don't need a charger on the bike to use it. If you wanted to though you might be able to use it as an input for your diginow charger but it wouldn't be more efficient.
The earliest known release I know of is mid to late next year ... and it is still in a prototype phase and hasn't been tested. It will be about 2/3's the cost of this solution but won't work with any menneke or J plugs since they are AC charging solutions requiring you to carry chargers.
- Does the diginow supercharger void the Zero warranty of the battery pack?
There is nothing about the charger that will void your warranty. The battery is a smart battery and will protect itself from harm if it needs to. The charger also interfaces with your CAN traffic to know what the bike is requesting.
- How much does it cost?
It is about ~$3k last I heard but that depends on other options you may or may not order. Send a message to Electric Cowboy for more details.
And finally, do you know if it has already been sold to France?
If I recall correctly this will be sold around the world but no one has one outside the US yet as it is in the first production run.
