Zero Motorcycles reckons its electric bikes are the future of two wheels. Tech-fan Al went to the firm’s press launch, to see if he could be convinced.
Remember how good the future was going to be? When I was a lad, in the shit-as-fuck 1970s, I couldn’t wait for the 21st century. I’m not sure exactly what I was hoping for, but it would no doubt include all the usual comic-book fantasies: jet packs, flying to New York in half an hour, video telephones, and a full Sunday dinner in a small tablet. Robots everywhere, and silent, flying, electric cars almost goes without saying.
I don’t need to tell you that the actual future has been something of a disappointment. Okay, we haven’t had a nuclear war (yet), a notion which seemed very plausible in the 1980s as I watched Polaris submarines hove into view on the Clyde from the school playground. And, to be fair, internet porn has, by far, exceeded all reasonable expectations of a seventies kid. So there is that.
But those boons aside, the 21st century isn’t as good as it used to be. There are no jet packs, New York is actually further away than it was in the Concorde-equipped seventies, video calling is pretty shit to be honest, and cars remain resolutely non-flying, trundling about on the deck with their old-fashioned engines.
Electric vehicles are on the verge of the mainstream now though. Well, cars are, at any rate: yer Tesla, BMW’s i3 and i8, the Nissan Leaf, that mad wee Renault two-seater thing – you see them fairly regularly, especially in London where they don’t really raise an eyebrow any more. Electric bikes though? Not so much. The problem of fitting a usable battery into the space and size restrictions inherent in two wheels has kept it a niche within a niche, mostly.
But one firm is aiming to change that – Californian-based Zero Motorcycles. And we’re here in Brooklands, Surrey, for a day out on Zero’s new electric bike – the top-spec sporty SR. After a bit of a chat from the PR folks, we set off, for a morning run round the local backroads.
Now, this isn’t like a normal road test. There’s far more of a story behind these bikes than simply what they’re like to ride: having an electric powerplant definitely needs a bit of an attitude adjustment, as I would find out later in the day. I’ll talk more – much more – about this different way of living later on. But for now, let’s settle for what a Zero SR is like to ride.
And ‘pretty good’ is the initial impression. Before we set off, I get a bit of a rundown on the tech, and it’s actually quite straightforward. All the normal controls are here, except for a clutch. The SR running gear is a tiny bit weird if you’re used to mainstream Japanese bikes, but it’s all solid branded stuff: Showa forks and shocks, Pirelli Diablo Rosso II tyres, twin-piston sliding front caliper, aluminium beam frame. It’s got a little bit of a Buell feel to the design – perhaps there’s something about Americans designing non-cruisers there? The LCD dash is simple and clear, and the switchgear vanilla-plain and reassuring.
Reassuring is good, because there is a big elephant in the room, which is the lack of an internal combustion engine. Look where the engine should be, and there’s a big black plastic block, which contains the battery packs. The ‘engine’? Well, that’s a small, finned, roughly-cylindrical alloy block, down at the swingarm pivot, driving the back wheel through a Kevlar toothed belt running on a curious little cog. No gears, no clutch, no exhaust – no airbox, radiator, oil-cooler. None of that stuff which we’ve all become used to in a bike. This is weird…
Time to go. I’m prepared for more weirdness – of course, these things are almost silent as they pull away, and the ‘throttle’ response is unusual too. I’ve ridden my kids’ Oset electric trials bike before, so I’m ready for the instant urge. And even though the Zero people have set the bikes into a low-power ‘Eco’ mode to start with, there’s a pretty solid shove from the SR when you give it full gas from the off.
Eco mode lasts until the first roundabout, when I click the display into ‘Sport’ mode. And bugger me if there’s not a fairly violent change in its nature. Give it a handful in a straight line, and you get properly catapulted forwards. It reminds me of the Stealth roller coaster at Thorpe Park – a relentless, linear shove, with no discernible peaks or dips in the torque. Which is, of course, what you get with electric motors – be they on a roller coaster, or on a bike. It’s a bit of a giggle, and though we’re held up a bit by traffic, I have a silent mini-hooligan session, just slamming the throttle wide open and closed again. There’s not much engine braking (you can dial in various levels of regenerative braking, which turns the motor into a generator, and recharges the battery when you slow down). But as it is, it’s a bit like a super-smooth, silent, mega-grunty two-stroke. Kinda sorta.
As is the way with these things though, you very quickly get used to the differences, and within five miles, I’ve settled right into the SR. It’s a bit weird having such a precise ‘fuel gauge’, in the form of a battery meter that reads in percentages. So after a few miles, the gauge reads ‘98%’, suggesting the 130-odd mile range promised in the leaflet. This is not at all what we expect on bikes – I was brought up on fuel gauges which read ‘Full!’ for 75 miles, before plummeting to one bar within ten miles, then sitting there for another 25 miles, before suddenly lurching to ‘Empty!’. Arithmetically-accurate measures of energy remaining? It’ll never catch on.
Away from the motive power unit, the rest of the SR won’t set your pants alight. The suspension is road-commuter comfy, the brakes need a hefty tug, but work well enough, and the handling is completely innocuous. I’m not totally in love with the old Pirelli Diablo Rosso II tyres on there though. Perhaps it’s a little on the cold side today for them, perhaps they’re not designed for the sudden dollops of low-down torque from the SR motor. But on the photoshoot corner, I end up out of the seat after the back stepped out a bit, and once or twice coming out of roundabouts, I felt the rear lose traction on the gas, just for a moment. There’s no traction control, so it’s down to you and your right wrist to keep it all in check.
Back-end slides apart, the Zero feels like nothing so much as a slightly-lighter-than-usual middleweight commuter, like a Honda CB500 or a Suzuki SV650. The motor feels in that ballpark too, at least in the lower and middle reaches of the ‘rev range’. It flattens out a bit at the top end, and I couldn’t really get over 100mph out of it later on – so imagine a 250 single with the grunt of a 500 twin, and you’re sort of there in terms of performance feel.
We’ve stopped at Box Hill for lunch, and I’m still fairly impressed. In terms of riding and performance, the Zero SR seems completely capable, within its set parameters. The chassis is nimble and pleasing enough, and the motor has more than enough guts to keep you ahead of most UK road traffic - and you can enjoy yourself on it too.
I have to leave early today, so after lunch, I bail on the rest of the ride and charge back to the hotel myself. It’s about 15 miles back to Brooklands, via the M25, and I’ve got 44 per cent battery left on the SR. On my own, I can just go flat-out, and I’m loving the little Zero as I head up from Box Hill towards Ashtead and along to the M25. It nearly turns to tears, briefly, when I have another big scary slide coming out of the Bookham roundabout, but then I’m off, and onto the M25. Tuck in, throttle pinned – let’s see what we have here…
About 97mph is the answer, with some judicious tucking-in, and a good run-up. The SR gets up there quickly enough, but once you get over 70, there’s not loads of grunt left for overtakes. You’ll not be racing any Nissan GT-Rs up the M1 on this puppy, sadly. I’m quite content though: the wind blast obscures the Zero’s silence of course, but the lack of vibes is pleasing.
But what’s this? A quick glance at the dash to check if I’ve hit the ton yet, and I notice the battery level plummeting. It’s down towards 30 per cent already, and the digits are flicking down fast. I’m on a time limit to get back to the hotel (I’m on school run today), so I need to press on – plus I now need a massive wee, the last giant coffee at Box Hill exacting its revenge.
So I keep her pinned, knowing that I’m almost at the A3 junction. Then I spot the engine temperature light flashing away, showing that the battery pack and motor are starting to get a bit warm. Now, apparently, the electronics will self-regulate, turning down the wick before there’s any chance of damage being caused by overheating. So I’m not so worried about blowing the thing up – but I roll off a little anyway, down to 85-90mph. The light stays on, but it’s the battery meter and range readout I’m worried about again. I’m fairly sure it’s only another five or six miles – but I’m painfully aware that there’s no second chances here: if I run out, I’ll be sat at the side of the road, and there’s no way of stopping for a top-up of fuel.
Of course, I get back to Brooklands with no drama at all, and with a good 20-odd miles left on the range meter. The temp light went out as soon as I hit the M25 slip road and slowed down for the A3 roundabout, and the Zero had my back after all. I drop off the keys to the lovely Zero lady at the hotel, and jump on my ratty old Burgman 650 to rush back for the school run. It’s good to be back on ol’ faithful – but I’m sort of missing the Zero, just a little.
If I lived a little way out of town, with a 25 mile commute, and I could plug the bike in at each end, it would definitely be an option. The purchase price is high – nearly £15,700. But you can take off the £1,500 UK government grant that’s currently on offer, making it around £14,200. That’s still a stack of cash for a gussied-up commuter – but you make up a lot on running expenses. There’s no road tax, it’s about a penny or two per mile in electricity (I think I might have been over 2p flat-out on the M25 right enough), which is impressive, and the equivalent of 250-500 miles per gallon. Of course, if your home electricity comes from a ‘green’ supplier, or you have your own solar panels and the like, you’ll be running your bike in a fairly eco-friendly fashion, which might be important to you. And as city pollution zones and the like become more widespread, you’ll no doubt make savings there too.
There’s also almost no servicing costs: the motor is a sealed unit with no cooling circuit – so you’ll never need to buy oil, filters, spark plugs, clutch plates, chains, sprockets or any of that stuff. Nor will you need to pay to have valves serviced, cam belts changed, coolant flushed or the like. Tyres, brake pads and discs, and the odd final drive belt is about your wack, with chassis bearings and suspension servicing every five years or so probably.
So – is the Zero the future? Well, it’s certainly *a* future. It’s not going to replace a Honda Fireblade for performance and fun – nor even quite an SV650. And to be honest, a second-hand scooter will be cheaper for most commuters over a realistic period of time – you’d need to run the £13,500 Zero for an awful lot of 1p/mile journeys to catch up with even a posh, brand-new £4,800 Honda SH300 in cost. And if you were to pick up a used Honda CB500 twin for a grand, say, the financial and eco-benefits will take much longer to reap (the green benefits of using an already-manufactured machine outweigh even the cleanest of new vehicles, arguably...)
The tech, however, is only going to go one way. So I’d say there’s much more chance of you owning an electric bike in the next decade than there is of you commuting via jet pack, flying to New York in under an hour, or having your Sunday lunch in tiny capsule form…
SPECS
Price: £15,690 (minus £1,500 UK government grant)
Engine: air-cooled permanent magnet brushless motor
Max power (claimed) 70bhp@3,500rpm
Max Torque (claimed) 116t lb@n/a rpm
Transmission: direct drive, toothed belt final drive
Frame: aluminium twin spar
Front suspension: 41mm Showa USD forks, fully adjustable
Rear suspension: Showa monoshock, fully adjustable
Brakes: 320mm disc, twin-piston caliper (front), 240mm disc twin-piston caliper (rear), Bosch ABS
Wheels/tyres: Cast aluminium/Pirelli Diablo Ross II, 110/70 17 front, 140/70 17 rear
Wheelbase: 1,410mm
Kerb weight (claimed, full of electricity…): 188kg
Claimed range: 161 miles city riding, 98 miles at 55mph, 81 miles at 70mph. Optional ‘Power Tank’ auxiliary battery pack adds 40 miles city, 20 miles motorway range.
TECH HIGHLIGHTS
CHARGING
You can charge the Zero simply, with a three-pin ‘kettle’ connector and a 13-amp plug, which will take about nine hours from zero to max charge. Optional fast chargers (£700) can cut this to about three hours.
BATTERY AND ENERGY DENSITY
13kw/h capacity, which is 46.8 megajoules of energy. For comparison, one litre of petrol contains 34 megajoules, so a normal 17 litre tank has 578 megajoules: nearly 13 times as much energy as the Zero battery.
Lots of the petrol energy is lost as waste heat of course – you’ll get maybe a third of the energy converted into useful work (wheelies, 130mph laps of the TT). So even with all that waste, you’ve still got four times as much work available to you from a tank of petrol, which is why petrol bikes can have a 150bhp motor, and a 130 mile range without too much effort. And of course, replenishing your 578 megajoules of energy takes about 30 seconds at the local BP station.
ELECTRONICS
Dash is pretty basic, with a monochrome LCD display. But there’s a Bluetooth connected app which you run on your phone, that gives loads more info and detail about the battery, charge, energy use, and you can tweak the regenerative braking settings and the like.
ACCESSORIES
The ‘fuel tank’ area has a lockable compartment, which won’t take a lid, but is a decent size for odds and ends. You can replace this compartment with an additional battery pack/charger unit though, which adds range, and speeds up charging. Dubbed the ‘Power Tank’, it’s an extra £2,600.
WARRANTY/LIFE EXPECTATION
There’s a two year warranty on the bike, and a five year/unlimited mileage guarantee on the battery pack. Zero claims the battery will last the life of the bike in fact: over 360,000 miles before the performance will drop below 80 per cent.
OTHER MODELS
The Zero SR is the top-end sporty model, the S looks similar, but has slightly less power (60bhp) and the same chassis. The S is also available in a half-sized battery pack (6.5kw/h instead of 13kw/h), with a 34bhp motor, a lower price and shorter range.
There’s also an FX Supermoto styled version, and a DS dual-sport model, and they’re also available in the 13kw/h and 6.5kw/h battery pack versions. More info at http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/eu/