2011 Zero XU - Battery replacement options?

Joined
Dec 3, 2011
Messages
196
Location
Alberta, Canada
Hi All,

I own a 2011 Zero XU. The bike is basically new with 80km on the odometer, 50 of which I put on the bike. I bought it from a dealership that used it as a demo and then let the battery die and never touched the bike after that. The original battery of my Zero has the molicels 26700A that are no longer available (they don't make them anymore) and half of the cells are dead.When I bought the bike the dealership gave me a couple of dead batteries that have the fararis 25ah pouches cells in them. Both batteries were reading close to 0v (they are 28s1p modules).

I recovered some of the cells and I was able to put together a 14s2p pack. It doesn't look pretty but it works. I did some testing and on sport mode I only got 13km from full to 3 bars left out of 10 on the gauge. Obviously the pack I put together is not delivering the 50Ah nominal as the cells must have lost capacity by sitting close to 0v for an extended period of time (I suspect years).

I am looking for battery/cells options. I am looking at 55/60Ah + for capacity and I am forced to stay at 14s - Li-ion as the Zero BMS doesn't allow for anything different (bike does not even turn on without bms). Ideally I would use Nissan leaf cells but they will not all fit in the battery compartment and I would have to put 2/3 modules on the front of the bike or somewhere else.

I am open to suggestions/alternatives!

Cheers,

S.
 
Hello,

Lots of options. Depends how good you want it and how much you want to spend. Take a look at my thread:

https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=85758

This is a 14s 55ah pack.....

It would fit inside an xu case with room to spare.

It would be about the best you could get for the xu. at the other end of the spectrum you could use RC cells such as Turnigy.

Good power density but if you want this to be a serious bike then you need good thermal management on Turnigies because they get cranky if too hot.
 
Hi Boulter,

Nice work! How much would you charge for such a battery?

To be honest I am not a huge fan of 18650 for an electric motorcycle as there are only a few cell types that are up to the task & can last a decent number of cycles without major losses in capacity.

As for li-po..no thanks, once the battery is installed, no more "babysitting", not planning on risking a fire every time I charge the bike.. I want something plug and play. No monitoring by me, that will be done by the BMS.

As you see, I am being a bit picky hence the limited battery options.
 
Wise to steer clear of RC stuff then if it's a serious build.

In my opinion 18650's are the best choice when buying new if you don't mind the complexity of construction. You're right that you need to choose the right cells but LG,Pano,Sony and Samsung all do a decent automotive spec that is up to the task.

I use LG HG2's but I've tested Sony VTC6 and think they're slightly better.

I would sell my packs for home builds for cost price but tbh it won't be good value yet because the parts are all 3D printed and busbars are low run etched so not cheap.

I haven't looked at what's out there recently in terms of pouches that you can buy small qtys of. If you do get leaf cells the xu frame is easy to modify, just another thought!
 
spuzzete don't know if you found a solution yet. If not I have a whole pack worth of cells for the Zero XU 2011 all assembled and ready to go.

I'm in Montreal, QC so shipping to Alberta should be no problem at all.

20180330_120814.jpg
 
Do you have any more replacement packs built? I have a 2010 MX and am in BC - looking for a replacement option!
DarthRevan said:
spuzzete don't know if you found a solution yet. If not I have a whole pack worth of cells for the Zero XU 2011 all assembled and ready to go.

I'm in Montreal, QC so shipping to Alberta should be no problem at all.

20180330_120814.jpg
 
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