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Author Topic: ZEV electric bike review  (Read 2844 times)

scorch

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ZEV electric bike review
« on: December 10, 2017, 08:12:25 PM »


I had never heard of this W.V. company, but i am sure most of you guys have heard about it. It's located in Morgantown W.V. and run by only a handful of guys. They are doing very well and producing quite a few vehicles. Their bikes are a little different than most i've seen. They use chinese styling to keep the costs down and then design the motors and controllers and swingarms. The motor is located in the hub, so i dont know if that is good or not. But i know most ebikes have it in the hub of the wheels. Their site is zelectricvehicle.com and they have some nice bikes. I wasn't expecting the owner to be so open to us coming and filming. Im linking the youtube video below and an additional video of that 3 wheeled sparrow thing. I can't ever remember the names of the scooters.



This is their sportbike offering. I would have liked to have tested it. He said it can do 90 miles of range with the current battery pack. But they have some scooters with 200 mile range, which is pretty good for commuting and not worrying about range.









This little bugger is very attention getting to say the least. You ride down the road filled with passenger(3 of them) and everyone turns. Which makes me think it's an amazing investment for companies who want to put a car skin on it. And a company in d.c. bought one just for that. Some real estate company.


Overview of the company


Video of the little yellow sparrow


*moderator edit* add width to img tags
« Last Edit: December 11, 2017, 08:31:53 PM by scorch »
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Burton

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Re: A new EV that looks like a corbin sparrow
« Reply #1 on: December 11, 2017, 08:07:46 PM »

Good quality videos ... I wonder if any forum members would let you review their EV's like this? (You can't review mine as it isn't anywhere close to stock and would misrepresent what Zero has to offer ;) )

The Corbin Sparrow is a tadpole design, I believe this vehicle would be more like an enclosed trike (on paper anyway)  http://sparrowcar.com/ ... and they are very fancy but also about 3 times more expensive >__< ... also I think the Sparrow seats 1 ...

I wish Elio would have worked out ... it looks like it needs a metric ton of money to even start production ... one of those as an EV conversion would have been cool to see. The range would have likely been more than similar larger and heavier EV vehicles with a same kWh pack sizes.

Side note, first picture ... the controller looks different than what I remember when I went to visit ZEV this year ... wonder if they are testing out new versions (everything at that location is a test platform not a production vehicle)
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scorch

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Re: A new EV that looks like a corbin sparrow
« Reply #2 on: December 11, 2017, 08:31:20 PM »

That is a great idea Burton.

I should say that all the vehicles in there were demo vehicles and they do put miles on them.

 I am going to post up another post about local riders who want to show us their vehicles.
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Richard230

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Re: ZEV electric bike review
« Reply #3 on: December 11, 2017, 09:27:57 PM »

35 to 40 mph wouldn't cut it in the SF Bay Area.  The ZEV would end up as an SUV's hood ornament in short order.  ::)
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scorch

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Re: ZEV electric bike review
« Reply #4 on: December 11, 2017, 10:51:10 PM »

35 to 40 mph wouldn't cut it in the SF Bay Area.  The ZEV would end up as an SUV's hood ornament in short order.  ::)

Yeah it is a very low speed bike. I think if it was capable of 50mph it would be a better buy for at least me. In the d.c. metro area i am able to ride my 110cc scooter around which top speed is 50mph and i am fine in most situations.
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togo

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Re: ZEV electric bike review
« Reply #5 on: December 12, 2017, 12:14:49 AM »

35 to 40 mph wouldn't cut it in the SF Bay Area.  The ZEV would end up as an SUV's hood ornament in short order.  ::)

Low speed "city" vehicles have their uses, even in the Bay Area. 
Might be a good vehicle to station at Caltrain or VTA stations,
let people shuttle to Silicon Valley corporate campuses.  Might be
a good vehicle to shuttle from a home in a suburb to the BART station.
Lots of people are uncomfortable with motorcycles and bicycles,
might be fine with one of these.
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togo

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Re: ZEV electric bike review
« Reply #6 on: December 12, 2017, 12:15:30 AM »

The one guy I know with a ZEV has trouble when it's wet.

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Richard230

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Re: ZEV electric bike review
« Reply #7 on: December 12, 2017, 05:20:11 AM »

While I was in SF having my Zero serviced I sure saw a lot of 3-wheel electric "Scoots" rolling around the city.  I was really impressed how many people with using these rental vehicles and they were moving right along, too.   :)
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benswing

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Re: ZEV electric bike review
« Reply #8 on: December 13, 2017, 04:43:46 AM »

ZEV does not have good customer reviews in a variety of places online and the owner does not have a good history in his other business ventures.
If they work for you, great.


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ctrlburn

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Re: ZEV electric bike review
« Reply #9 on: December 13, 2017, 05:59:10 AM »

Scorch (AKA Vehicle Hunter)  made one visit to WV and is seeding websites (this one included)

Also:
http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/electric-scooters-built-in-the-u-s.1269090/
https://speakev.com/threads/z-for-zev-electric.89129/#post-1578561

I'm still waiting for 0-60 times.
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scorch

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Re: ZEV electric bike review
« Reply #10 on: December 13, 2017, 06:56:26 AM »

Scorch (AKA Vehicle Hunter)  made one visit to WV and is seeding websites (this one included)

Also:
http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/electric-scooters-built-in-the-u-s.1269090/
https://speakev.com/threads/z-for-zev-electric.89129/#post-1578561

I'm still waiting for 0-60 times.

What is wrong with that? I would imagine after reviewing an electric vehicle there might be interest in that vehicle in several places. And most of all in a place where electric motorcycles is the main subject.
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scorch

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Re: ZEV electric bike review
« Reply #11 on: December 13, 2017, 07:09:32 AM »

ZEV does not have good customer reviews in a variety of places online and the owner does not have a good history in his other business ventures.
If they work for you, great.


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I've read the information on the owner and it is concerning. But I didn't ask about that and tried to stick to the bikes and not the operating management prior to the bike business. In the end of the day these guys build electric scooters, and most of the scooters are quite neat. I would love to have taken a scooter and really taken it out and ridden it all day and all week. But that is always tough to do. A company wont let you do that specially for a low numbers youtube channel like me :)
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frodus

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Re: ZEV electric bike review
« Reply #12 on: December 13, 2017, 07:35:25 AM »

This site won't let you search ZEV, too few characters.

But google does :)

Some interesting reads, if you have the time.
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Travis

scorch

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Re: ZEV electric bike review
« Reply #13 on: December 14, 2017, 05:45:38 AM »

« Last Edit: December 14, 2017, 12:50:09 PM by Shadow »
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togo

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Re: ZEV electric bike review
« Reply #14 on: December 22, 2017, 05:48:22 AM »

This site won't let you search ZEV, too few characters.

But google does :)

Some interesting reads, if you have the time.

or more simply, https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Aelectricmotorcycleforum.com+ZEV
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