Hello
I am about to purchase a Zapino and was wondering what the range under ideal conditions are. I ride where it is completely flat (no hills within 100 miles of me)and do very little stopping in my riding. I am wondering how far I could go at 25mph and at top speed of 40mph. I know one should not drain a SLA past 80% so I was wondering what the range at that point would be.
Thanks!
I have a early 2008 Zapino. My commute is 20 miles round trip, cannot charge at work.
In order to get back home with minimum of 50%, I have to maintain 20mph. The scooter
sits for about 10 hours after I drive the 10 miles to work. For around town driving,
I use high speed mode and will go up to the max of 38MPH true. At this speed I do
not expect much range and have not tested it.
Robert Dudley
E-Scoot Tech
I am experiencing similiar range and speed as Robert Dudley stated in his post on either flat ground or very small hills.
Steve Tanner
I was disappointing with the range of my Zapino on the stock batteries--could barely go 15 miles.
There were probably two issues:
1) My weight is 222 :-(
2) The dealer may have improperly charged the scooter and ruined them.
The scooter now has lithium batteries and just posted to another thread: http://visforvoltage.org/forum/4809-lithium-batteries-zapino
With the lithiums the range is easily 30 miles with a lot of stops, plus speeds that are often 40mph for miles at a time. Although the posted speed is 35 most cars go 40 and 45--sometimes even 50. Although I pushed the batteries too much my record is 40 miles on one charge.
I talked to ZAP long time before,it is not B.B battery problem,it due to Efun motorcycle class motor equiped with moped class battery-- 36AH B.B battery can't bear such big current !
Time already prove it !
So you're saying that the design itself is poorly thought out? If you're correct, there's no way that this thing could carry around 200lb+ Americans without MAJOR changes in either its design or their diet?
The original Zapino had Silicon Batteries and because they were able to supply more current under a heavy load this Scooter was able to provide much higher range than the new Second generation Zapino with the B and B batteries. The second generation Zapino is said to be better in quality so that is probably why Zap made the change not understanding that the batteries would be an issue. If you want to get a Scooter with better range than the Zapino you might try the Volt from E moto or maybe the XM-3000. They both have Silicone batteries but the Volt has about 20% more available power and should get you better range.
Eric Fisher
www.SiliconeBatteriesUSA.com
I had the 1st gen Zapino with Green Saver Silicone. I was able to upgrade to the 2nd gen with B&b SLA.
The 1st gen scooter is still running down in Denver while my B&Bs are dying. I was considering Li-Ion
but with a BMS was going towards $3000 (that includes the 3 remote Li-Ion units for the paktrakr).
As soon as I fix my brakes I am going to order 5 GS batteries from Eric.
Robert Dudley
E-Scoot Tech
Can you provide some more information on the GS batteries, including cost? One of my B&B batteries failed after 8 months and 1100km and there aren't any dealers that stock the battery in San Diego. The cost to get one from out of the area is $125 (including freight). I would like to consider the GS batteries as an alternative. Can the stock string charger be used to charge the GS batteries?
By the way, what happened to your brakes?
Steve Tanner
Steve Tanner
Steve
According to Greensaver the maker of Silicone batteries.
The max voltage during charging a string of 5 SP-27 batteries is 73.5 volts up to a temperature of 77 degrees Fahrenheit.
You should put a volt meter on your batteries and see what the peak voltage your charger reaches. Make sure it does not exceed the 73.5 volts if you are planing to use the Greensaver batteries. Current cost on SP-27 Greensaver batteries is 99 dollars. Shipping is 12 dollars per battery to a California address.
Eric Fisher
www.SiliconeBatteriesUSA.com
Eric
I have a PakTrakr installed on my Zapino. So I should be able to connect the charger and then read the Pack Voltage on the PakTrakr while the batteries are being charged with the string charger?
Steve Tanner
Steve
Yes that would work.
During charging the charger will go up in voltage and will reach a peak voltage and hold there for an maybe a half hour or so and then drop to the float voltage.
Eric Fisher
www.SiliconeBatteriesUSA.com