Zap Xebra review courtesy of TTAC

[Toshi]

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2008-zap-xebra-review/

2008 Zap Xebra Review
By Paul Niedermeyer
March 14, 2008

According to GM Car Czar Bob Lutz, "The electrification of the automobile is inevitable." Inevitability also applies to the sun going cold. But with rising gas prices, some of us old timers are getting impatient (having had our youthful appetite whetted by GM's Electrovair way back in 1966). The Li-ion-powered Tesla Roadster is simultaneously sold out and yet not in production. Dozens of other miraculous EV's are just a $5k deposit and an infinitely adjustable (and not so inevitable) delivery date away. Meanwhile, down at your local Zap dealer, the banner proclaims: "saving the planet, one vehicle at a time." Their Xebra is all charged-up and ready to roll.

The idea of the Xebra has certain compelling aspects. A "fill-up" cost as little as thirty-five cents. Its advertised top speed is 40mph. The 30-mile range would do the job for a round-the-town errand mobile. And $11,200 buys approving looks from PC neighbors for reducing your carbon footprint; that's about a-tenth of the costs of a Tesla.

Anyway, I'm thinking Tesla's got it all backwards. Why spend $125k for a Roadster AND a conventional car (a necessity for longer trips, going shopping, or picking up the folks at the airport)? Half that amount will put a Xebra on display in the driveway with enough left over to stash a Lotus, Boxster or ‘Vette in the garage. Run your errands all week for a penny per mile, and head for the hills on the weekend.

Unfortunately, Zap spends more time and energy on hyping vaporware (and its stock) than actually building functional vehicles, as documented in this scathing expose. Their web site entices eco-warriors with a cornucopia of EV's offering blazing acceleration (0 -60 in 4.5 seconds) and miraculous range (240 miles). Delivery: TBD.

Zap's stock peaked at $4 a share in 2004 with the announcement of its electric-conversion Smart car. After that program short-circuited, its stock began a protracted melt-down (currently $.58). Desperate, Zap turned to China for something tangible to sell. Small electric three-wheelers are common and cheap there (about $3k), built in small factories that are anything but environmentally responsible. ZAP imports them with a hefty markup.

The Xebra's questionable provenance is painfully evident. Its crudely finished fiberglass body is a rolling wart of huge panel gaps, wavy surfaces and rough edges. The tiny car's interior unleashed a flood of childhood memories of being squeezed into an original Fiat 500, without the playful use of design and materials. The Xebra screams "kit car," especially when checking out its primitive golf-cart mechanicals. Six conventional twelve-volt lead-acid batteries provide 72 volts to the 6.7hp (not a typo) coffee-can motor.

I arrived an hour too late to drive the one sedan at the dealer. The buyers were busy signing papers for the $16k heavily-optioned metallic-green apple of their eye. What did the extra $5k buy them? Air conditioning? Power windows? More power? Not available at any price. We're talking "custom wiring," an upgraded controller, LED lights, alloys and a custom paint-job that would make Earl Scheib proud.

Once I squeezed myself into the Xebra pick-up, I had to contort my legs to operate the two pedals located on the left side of the steering column. As I turned into traffic, I was overwhelmed by the sensation that I've just committed a youthful prank– stealing one of those electric garbage-can haulers from a convention center. And I'm having doubts whether I'm going to be able to outrun the security guard running after me.

Flat-out and level, the speedometer eventually finds an unsteady waver between thirty-two and thirty-four. A moderate hill quickly drops "speed" into the teens. Every bump, crack and pothole becomes an obstacle to avoid or regret. The motor whines like a hairdryer about to expire (the salesman admits the sedan is even noisier). I have no desire to check the actual range of this motorized wheelbarrow/hair-shirt. Which way is back to the convention center? Why does my xB suddenly feel like a Bentley?

A Xebra owners' on-line forum reveals a consensus on range: 15 to 17 miles. And there are tales of endless woes of terrible build quality and material defects. Zap's six month warranty is a small consolation. Discussions abound on ways to fix and improve the Xebra's multitude of shortcomings. ZAP dealer Mark Higley bluntly responds to a damsel in distress with a dead Xebra: "I never recommend it as a primary source of transportation".

The weekend Boxster is going to have to wait until someone builds my formula for a cheap urban electric errand-mobile: convert a $2500 Tata Nano (which looks downright spacious, well finished and safe compared to the Xebra), give it a genuine 30 mile range and a 45mph top speed, and price it at $8k to $10k. That's so obvious, it should be inevitable.

shoddy construction. high markup from Zap, a company itself filled with shysters. everyone should reaad this wired exposé: http://www.wired.com/cars/futuretransport/magazine/16-04/ff_zapped . $12k, 32-34 mph on the flat, and much less on hills. 15-17 mile range.

no thanks.

 

[knightmb]

A very good read, thanks for posting it up.

Just makes me wish I would win the $200 million lottery so I could start my own ev company, hire everyone here at the forum and get it done right for once. :lol:

 

[Puppyjump]

Interesting stuff. This part of the review caught my eye because my ZAP PK trucklet will hit 40 MPH on level ground and once I hit 45 going down a small hill as verified by a GPS (maybe I should film it and put it up on youtube) but granted, it takes a while once I pass the low 30's.

"Even more crushing, Youssef discovered that the all-electric Xebra sedan did not come close to achieving the 40-mph speed and 40-mile range ZAP claimed. In fact, the Xebra "went about 34 miles per hour on very flat ground with the wind behind it," Youssef says. It stalled on steep hills and, worst of all, had a range of less than 20 miles. When he complained that it would be impossible to sell an electric vehicle with such limited range, Youssef says, he was referred by ZAP's dealer liaison to a larger and more powerful battery set; with that installed, the Xebra would go almost 40 mph and travel nearly 40 miles on a single charge."

My ZAP came with the "extended range" batteries (144 AH rating compared to, I think, about 114AH for the standard batteries), so maybe that's why I can hit 40? I have not driven a ZAP with the regular batteries, but I met a nearby owner from the yahoo xebra support group who has the same truck I have (minus the solar panel), and he routinely hits 42-45 on the regular AH batteries (GPS verified), but he did the 84V upgrade, and has been running it for a year, so far. Mine is still 72V but I think ZAP should offer the cars with the 84V upgrade as it makes a noticeable improvement. As for range, I've never gone further than 25 miles on a charge, and the red lo batt light was coming on, so for my setup, I don't ever want to try to push it past the high teens for range so as not to strain the battery pack. The 40 mile spec range for the extended pack is probably at a constant speed without stopping and with fully depleting the battery, which is not good for it because it will shorten the cycle life. In any event, I almost never go more than 10 miles without charging because I am very fortunate in having a local 8 mile commute to work, and they have a plug for me when I get there.

As for the build finish, yes, it will turn off a lot of people, but the kind of people willing to buy a 3 wheel goofy-looking EV might not care so much. I don't. It's all a matter of trade-offs against cost. I could buy the much better NMG (former Sparrow), but it costs twice as much. Like wise, the Aptera is supposedly coming out soon, twice the cost, but more than twice the car IMO, but I can't afford to drop $25K on an EV.

Anyway, I was flamed by appearing to hype and spam the ZAP, so I will make one thing clear right now: I don't care about the ZAP company at all. Never worked for them. Never touched their stock. No gain from them at all in any way shape or form. Nothing. Period. End Of Story. Period again. I love my ZAP vehicle but I am NOT in love with ZAP. I don't care who built it. For me, it was the only option to immediately buy a low cost city-speed EV since I don't feel like making the effort to do my own conversion. I was able to just walk into the dealer and buy it as they had about 10 of them in stock. The ZAP meets my very limited needs, and I will factually report the vehicle traits as best I can. For the many people I meet in parking lots, I am very careful to describe its actual specs, not the better published ones. I've had my ZAP since last December, so I am still on the learning curve. So far, so good.

Again, I am not in love with ZAP, but I am wholeheartedly in love with EV technology. Even as limited and crude as the ZAP is, it has shown me that ICE is a monopolistic scam. You can't comprehend this concept unless you have owned and driven an EV....pass all those gas stations...
As Chevron says in their hideous greenwashing commercial, "Will you join us" to which I add..."in driving EV?"
Soon, almost certianly, more of us will have this experience when better EVs come out, suitable for a family, that are priced reasonably. Buffet is probably not a fool to buy 10% of the Chinese EV company, BYD, who plan to sell ordinary and sane looking, functional EV cars (and genuine plug-in serial hybrids) in the US very soon. Thanks, Mr. Buffet

Oil will always be mandatory in many critical applications, jet airliners for example, but throngs of daily drivers/commuters don't need oil; they just don't know it yet.

One other comment that caught my eye was about the ZAP fiberglass body. The dealer had two of those in stock, and I did not like them at all, but those are older models no longer built. The new sedans are metal, with a hatchback. An improvement, but I wanted the truck.

 

[Toshi]

A very good read, thanks for posting it up.

Just makes me wish I would win the $200 million lottery so I could start my own ev company, hire everyone here at the forum and get it done right for once. :lol:

well, that's basically what elon musk had in mind with tesla. assuming the model S and the "third model" get off the ground he's doing a reasonable job. aptera's another one of those stories, albeit without such a prominent founder/financier.

 

[Toshi]

I will make one thing clear right now: I don't care about the ZAP company at all. Never worked for them. Never touched their stock. No gain from them at all in any way shape or form. Nothing. Period. End Of Story. Period again. I love my ZAP vehicle but I am NOT in love with ZAP. I don't care who built it. For me, it was the only option to immediately buy a low cost city-speed EV since I don't feel like making the effort to do my own conversion. I was able to just walk into the dealer and buy it as they had about 10 of them in stock. The ZAP meets my very limited needs, and I will factually report the vehicle traits as best I can. For the many people I meet in parking lots, I am very careful to describe its actual specs, not the better published ones. I've had my ZAP since last December, so I am still on the learning curve. So far, so good.

Again, I am not in love with ZAP, but I am wholeheartedly in love with EV technology. Even as limited and crude as the ZAP is, it has shown me that ICE is a monopolistic scam. You can't comprehend this concept unless you have owned and driven an EV....pass all those gas stations...

thanks for posting your experiences with the Xebra and clearing up your (lack of) relationship with Zap. i wouldn't want to be involved with them in any way—that Wired story really was scathing.

for those who missed it, buried in the bottom of my long first post: http://www.wired.com/cars/futuretransport/magazine/16-04/ff_zapped

i'm also in love with EVs—i sold my car and have been a 100% e-bike commuter for the last year—but i think Zap is doing the entire industry a disservice by selling overpriced chinese crap and furthering the impression of EV salesmen as snake oil purveyors.

 

[knightmb]

A very good read, thanks for posting it up.

Just makes me wish I would win the $200 million lottery so I could start my own ev company, hire everyone here at the forum and get it done right for once. :lol:

well, that's basically what elon musk had in mind with tesla. assuming the model S and the "third model" get off the ground he's doing a reasonable job. aptera's another one of those stories, albeit without such a prominent founder/financier.

Well, he went right for the fastest sport car like. I would be down more towards a practical vehicle that can do at least non-interstate speeds (60 MPH top) and not have to be so "different" from everything else. The wow factor for a "different" looking EV fades over time, it's the people that use it and put up reviews about it that will spread the word fastest. That doesn't mean it has to be a box on wheels, but there are ways to style a sexy vehicle without having to go overboard. My ideal vehicle would be something that is more interchangeable with the parts. Start with a solid frame design, then build the body for either a car or truck. So if you want to haul around things in the pickup or haul around the family, it should be able to do it. If you want to go for a more powerful motor, batteries, controller, whatever, it should be interchangeable in some way. The vehicle should be able to ride the technology wave, so that if in 3 years, some amazing new battery technology comes out, you can pull out the old pack, wire in the new pack and be on your way.

It's easy to cover up all the "tech/mechanic friendly areas" up so it looks nice to the layman who just wants it to work from point A to point B, but the mechanic won't be cursing how difficult it is to work with the vehicle is also a good goal. I guess there just isn't any room for us EV romantics that want to produce something practical without hitting on the expensive or cheap extreme.

 

[knightmb]

Anyway, I was flamed by appearing to hype and spam the ZAP, so I will make one thing clear right now: I don't care about the ZAP company at all. Never worked for them. Never touched their stock. No gain from them at all in any way shape or form. Nothing. Period. End Of Story. Period again. I love my ZAP vehicle but I am NOT in love with ZAP. I don't care who built it. For me, it was the only option to immediately buy a low cost city-speed EV since I don't feel like making the effort to do my own conversion. I was able to just walk into the dealer and buy it as they had about 10 of them in stock. The ZAP meets my very limited needs, and I will factually report the vehicle traits as best I can. For the many people I meet in parking lots, I am very careful to describe its actual specs, not the better published ones. I've had my ZAP since last December, so I am still on the learning curve. So far, so good.

Again, I am not in love with ZAP, but I am wholeheartedly in love with EV technology. Even as limited and crude as the ZAP is, it has shown me that ICE is a monopolistic scam. You can't comprehend this concept unless you have owned and driven an EV....pass all those gas stations...
As Chevron says in their hideous greenwashing commercial, "Will you join us" to which I add..."in driving EV?"
Soon, almost certianly, more of us will have this experience when better EVs come out, suitable for a family, that are priced reasonably. Buffet is probably not a fool to buy 10% of the Chinese EV company, BYD, who plan to sell ordinary and sane looking, functional EV cars (and genuine plug-in serial hybrids) in the US very soon. Thanks, Mr. Buffet

Oil will always be mandatory in many critical applications, jet airliners for example, but throngs of daily drivers/commuters don't need oil; they just don't know it yet.

One other comment that caught my eye was about the ZAP fiberglass body. The dealer had two of those in stock, and I did not like them at all, but those are older models no longer built. The new sedans are metal, with a hatchback. An improvement, but I wanted the truck.

I apologize for that as well, because I didn't think you were that way; but reading over my posts, it makes it seem like I was point fingers as well.

Reading the article also gave me a little more insight into the company. I'm guessing that the people that worked for it (including those dealers) had a lot of heart for it, but some greedy guys at the top basically ruined in for everyone. All the money that they did make, they could have easily re-invested into the company, but instead they used it to line their pockets. It's tough when your work at a company that sits on a good idea, but just keeps making bad decisions about everything.

The part about the story where they just couldn't get in the "cars" they wanted to convert or ordered, just seems like all the wasted money could have been better spent hiring a staff to just design one from scratch and build them here in this country. I bet there are a dozen people at this forum that could probably build the entire Zap vehicle frame, parts, shell, etc. from scratch by themselves. I do get a lot of messages that ask why we just don't start our own EV company and maybe I should seriously consider trying. I've done my share of fun dealing with angel investors and due diligence for other companies to help them for many years. Maybe I should apply that experience to wonderful group of gurus here.

 

[Toshi]

Well, he went right for the fastest sport car like. I would be down more towards a practical vehicle that can do at least non-interstate speeds (60 MPH top) and not have to be so "different" from everything else. The wow factor for a "different" looking EV fades over time, it's the people that use it and put up reviews about it that will spread the word fastest. That doesn't mean it has to be a box on wheels, but there are ways to style a sexy vehicle without having to go overboard. My ideal vehicle would be something that is more interchangeable with the parts. Start with a solid frame design, then build the body for either a car or truck. So if you want to haul around things in the pickup or haul around the family, it should be able to do it. If you want to go for a more powerful motor, batteries, controller, whatever, it should be interchangeable in some way. The vehicle should be able to ride the technology wave, so that if in 3 years, some amazing new battery technology comes out, you can pull out the old pack, wire in the new pack and be on your way.

It's easy to cover up all the "tech/mechanic friendly areas" up so it looks nice to the layman who just wants it to work from point A to point B, but the mechanic won't be cursing how difficult it is to work with the vehicle is also a good goal. I guess there just isn't any room for us EV romantics that want to produce something practical without hitting on the expensive or cheap extreme.

so you're more a fan of the approach of AC Propulsion, with their eBox, not to mention converting Nissan-Renaults for Project Better Place, or Miles EV, with their fabled plan of converting chinese white-box sedans to electricity? i think such conversions of "regular" vehicles are best carried out by the manufacturers of the basic platforms, with powertrain development farmed out to AC Propulsion or Tesla. this is being done. i don't see the utility of creating a new platform, with all its safety and homologation requirements, unless one goes "radical".

i also see the need for more radical designs: Aptera's aerodynamics can really utilize the precious resources of battery capacity and power much more effectively than can a normal bodystyle vehicle.

 

[knightmb]

I would go with the one that is more efficient. Doing the DC to AC, then back into the motor involves a lot of power loss in a high power system, I would be a fan of some big DC brushless motors myself. I wouldn't be a fan of making it a recycle company either. There are more than enough people out of jobs in this country to round up a good labor force if one was really needed. It's not easy building any company from the bottom up, but it's certainly not impossible. It's just a matter of having clear goals, good research and realistic expectations of the product. Claiming that tomorrow your building the $8K EV that gets 300 miles per charge at 70 MPH is better left for marketing people, hehe.

 

[dnmun]

4 days for the next Aptera 2e public appearance, april 4th, in san diego or long beach.

i really think they will be more successful than volt, or tesla. simple, lightweight, aero, and they will be able to have a hybrid eventually as well. $25k is not unreal if people really wanna go EV. plus it is lithium packs.

i once passed a zap on a long hill and it was really struggling, maybe 15mph on a 7% plus grade. but that could have been low batteries too. i still don't know why they run with that cyclops light on all the time.

 

[Puppyjump]

"i'm also in love with EVs—i sold my car and have been a 100% e-bike commuter for the last year—but i think Zap is doing the entire industry a disservice by selling overpriced chinese crap and furthering the impression of EV salesmen as snake oil purveyors."

Aww but there is a worse snake oil guy in town. Much worse. At least the ZAP (well, mine anyway) goes 40 and keeps up with the commuting traffic I mix with on streets posted 40 or less.

I have had the scary experience of the electron scourge, the NEV. A buddy of mine owns a ZENN. And he lives in a supposedly progressive and upscale community of Palo Alto. The home of Stanford University. Not a Republican in sight (except at Stanford's Hoover Center). Muffin shops and Jamba juice Stores all within throwing distance of a wadded-up AAA bumper sicker. The silver edition ones. Very pricey and upscale shopping you'd have to see to believe (though less of it in our present economic disaster) Bicycle lanes, nice and wide, galore. Always freshly painted. Friendly drivers in regards to those bikes from first hand experience when I rented a room there for 4 years. (In my San Jose, 20 miles away, bikes are targets, but cars can't hit many of them because they are bouncing too much from the potholes). Palo Alto is seemingly a haven for something as pious (Prius?) as an EV, and maybe it is. But not for an NEV. We go out on the El Camino Real which is posted at 35, and you'd damn well not go much faster due to Palo Alto's radar gun revenue generators (cops there are pretty bored). His ZENN, charged from his array of rooftop solar panels (that spins his house utility watt-meter backwards) hits a federal law breaking 26 MPH. Max. Well, you should see how the cars react on the El Camino Real. Never mind that the road is 3 lanes wide in each direction, making for a pretty mundane task of just driving around the slow ZENN. I can now define road rage in one word: ZENN. A scary number of drivers do the ever so familiar pass-close-by-one-millimeter-almost-hit-sideview-mirror-pull-back-in-for-a-cutoff maneuver. NEV's mostly suck. 25 is too slow. One exception (as in one percent), in very dense urban centers with posted limits of 25 and most traffic driving even slower, a ZENN can work, as I saw in downtown Berkeley where I counted 3 ZENNs driving peacefully around.

I have not yet encountered the ZENN-like road rage yet in my ZAP. Not in Palo Alto, nor in San Jose. Does its "cute" tadpole look trick drivers into being polite? Or is it just barely fast enough to avoid Pi**ing people off?

Here's an idea for big oil: Go to every town and give away a few dozen NEVs. For Free. Include a few ZENNs and golf cart GEMs. Just be sure to paint a great big picture of a 115V plug on each side of the car. $4 gas has stocked their coffers enough to pay for this mere dime-in-the-bucket relative cost it would entail for them. Well, the ignorant motoring public will tangle with these NEVs and form the conclusion that electric cars are all crappy and slow. A great Oil propaganda victory and setback for the public PERCEPTION of EV technology. Better hurry, though, before that Buffet guy invades with BYD's, the car that sounds like a brand of underwear....

So yes, there is an evil worse than a ZAP.

 

[Puppyjump]

4 days for the next Aptera 2e public appearance, april 4th, in san diego or long beach.

i really think they will be more successful than volt, or tesla. simple, lightweight, aero, and they will be able to have a hybrid eventually as well. $25k is not unreal if people really wanna go EV. plus it is lithium packs.

i once passed a zap on a long hill and it was really struggling, maybe 15mph on a 7% plus grade. but that could have been low batteries too. i still don't know why they run with that cyclops light on all the time.

The cyclops light is mandatory because the ZAP is not officially a car. It's registered as a motorcycle due to its 3 wheels. The headlight of a motorcycle is required by law to always be ON in many areas.
Still, the first thing I did to improve my ZAP was to wire the light so I can turn if off. Turn it off in the daytime if the battery is low. Turn it off if just parked but "ignition" key ON to listen to the radio. I also changed out the light bulb and installed an HID bulb and ballast system. It was only $40 (splitting an $80 cost for a pair of HIDs kit, Xentec Lighting Systems, with a guy who has a ZAP, also) but does a good job lighting up the path in front of me. Note I also swapped out all the rest of the incandescent parking and drive/signal lights for LED ones. The cheap 6" oval ones used on trucks and trailers. Just push them into the rubber grommet. Too bad, the month after I bought my ZAP, they started coming out of the factory with LED lights.

OK...time to go play WOW.

 

[morph999]

I like Zap trucks. I want one in fact. You can modify it to 60 or 72v so it will go a solid 40 mph.

 

[Puppyjump]

I like Zap trucks. I want one in fact. You can modify it to 60 or 72v so it will go a solid 40 mph.

I like my ZAP truck.

ZAPs are stock at 72V (six 12V batteries). With the standard 100AH batteries, they go about 32-35, I've read. With the larger 144AH batteries, they go 37-40 as is the case with mine.

It's common for ZAP owners to modify them to add a 7th battery for an 84V pack. This mod gives a solid 40-45 mph and helps the range by about 20%.

The ZAP range is low so make sure the ZAP will satisfy your needs first. I happen to only need a 10 mile range for most of my driving (I use my gas car otherwise) The rated stock range is 25 miles 100AH batteries and 40 miles with the larger batteries, but this is the unrealistic max under perfect conditions and draining the battery pack way too far to the point of likely causing damage. I've found the realistic ranges are about half. You don't want to drain the batteries too much or else they will not provide a reasonable service cycle life.

I am adding mods to my ZAP that I will post in a new subject.

 

[Puppyjump]

Me too I like ZAP truck too.,where did you get your truck?


_________________
LED Flashlight

I got my ZAP truck last December at Ethical Approach ZAP dealer in San Jose on Stevens Creek and Saratoga next to the Pep Boys store

 

[Roy Von Rogers]

I like Zap trucks. I want one in fact. You can modify it to 60 or 72v so it will go a solid 40 mph.

I like my ZAP truck.

ZAPs are stock at 72V (six 12V batteries). With the standard 100AH batteries, they go about 32-35, I've read. With the larger 144AH batteries, they go 37-40 as is the case with mine.

It's common for ZAP owners to modify them to add a 7th battery for an 84V pack. This mod gives a solid 40-45 mph and helps the range by about 20%.

The ZAP range is low so make sure the ZAP will satisfy your needs first. I happen to only need a 10 mile range for most of my driving (I use my gas car otherwise) The rated stock range is 25 miles 100AH batteries and 40 miles with the larger batteries, but this is the unrealistic max under perfect conditions and draining the battery pack way too far to the point of likely causing damage. I've found the realistic ranges are about half. You don't want to drain the batteries too much or else they will not provide a reasonable service cycle life.

I am adding mods to my ZAP that I will post in a new subject.

Can one just add the extra battery, or does one have to make some other changes, can the controller and charger handle the addition as is. ??

Roy

 

[Puppyjump]

I like Zap trucks. I want one in fact. You can modify it to 60 or 72v so it will go a solid 40 mph.

I like my ZAP truck.

ZAPs are stock at 72V (six 12V batteries). With the standard 100AH batteries, they go about 32-35, I've read. With the larger 144AH batteries, they go 37-40 as is the case with mine.

It's common for ZAP owners to modify them to add a 7th battery for an 84V pack. This mod gives a solid 40-45 mph and helps the range by about 20%.

The ZAP range is low so make sure the ZAP will satisfy your needs first. I happen to only need a 10 mile range for most of my driving (I use my gas car otherwise) The rated stock range is 25 miles 100AH batteries and 40 miles with the larger batteries, but this is the unrealistic max under perfect conditions and draining the battery pack way too far to the point of likely causing damage. I've found the realistic ranges are about half. You don't want to drain the batteries too much or else they will not provide a reasonable service cycle life.

I am adding mods to my ZAP that I will post in a new subject.

Can one just add the extra battery, or does one have to make some other changes, can the controller and charger handle the addition as is. ??

Roy

You add an extra battery and a dedicated charger for it. The battery is placed between the positive lead form the pack and teh controller. Here is a source for teh kit:

http://shop.gpev.us/category.sc?categoryId=8

 

[Toshi]

more quality from the makers of the Zap Xebra :x

Vehicle Make / Model:       Model Year(s):  
     ZAP / XEBRA       2008
 
Manufacturer: QINGQI GROUP MOTORCYCLE CO., LTD Mfr's Report Date: APR 27, 2009 
NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number: 09V177000  N/A
NHTSA Action Number: N/A  
 
Component: SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC 
Potential Number of Units Affected: 738 
Summary: 
 QINGQI IS RECALLING 738 MY 2008 ZAP XEBRA MOTORCYCLES MANUFACTURED BETWEEN JANUARY AND DECEMBER 2008. THESE MOTORCYCLES DO NOT CONFORM TO THE STOPPING DISTANCE REQUIREMENTS OF FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARD NO. 122, "MOTORCYCLE BRAKE SYSTEMS." 
Consequence: 
 THESE MOTORCYCLES REQUIRE LONGER DISTANCES TO STOP THAN THE STANDARD ALLOWS. EXTENDED STOPPING DISTANCES MAY RESULT IN A VEHICLE CRASH.
Remedy: 
 THE REMEDY AND NOTIFICATION SCHEDULE HAS NOT YET BEEN DETERMINED BY THE MANUFACTURER. 
Notes: 
 OWNERS MAY ALSO CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION'S VEHICLE SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), OR GO TO HTTP://WWW.SAFERCAR.GOV .

yep, their brakes suck to the point that NHTSA has issued a recall for them.