It's that time of year for me when I need to get a fresh MOT on my VX-1. Not ridden properly for a while, but did my monthly recharge the other day and this week I checked and adjusted the tyre presures, updated the clock, gave it a clean and did a few basic checks.
It got me thinking as to how many are left on British roads? According to How Many Left?, there are just 63 licensed examples across the UK and another 50 declared as SORN/off the road.
In the US, Leaf cell conversions seem to be resurrecting dead low-mileage bikes. I don't know if the 'resurrection rate' exceeds the 'death rate' but in both countries the conversions should stop the bikes from 'going extinct.'
Here in south Europe we have a whatsapp group with over 50 owners. Only 1/5 of these bikes have been converted to leaf, but these successful upgrades give plenty hope to the rest of of owners... As soon as one battery conversion kit becomes cheap enough, a great bunch of these vectrix will resurrect.
I have a 08 with 25 miles on ir that i need to do a conversion
Greetings from Australia. There were 40 VX-1's bought into Australia in 2008. These are NiMh with ESD charger. Many have been converted to Li-Ion. I know of 12 myself and Antiscab would know some more. The ones that have died are mainly due to accidents. Cars, Scooters and it only takes 1 bad driver to cause an accident. The other problem we have is the ESD chargers fail. I have fitted a socket on several scooters and built a simple external charger.
I think I've had my Vectrix for 7 years....how time flies! I still love it. Only 37,000km though. I'm amazed it's still going....but that's mainly thanks to The Laird and LithiumVectrix.
This is my second one, as I regretted selling my first.
I use it most weekdays to commute to work, great bike. Used to spend £160 per month on petrol, I am now only using £60 of petrol per month; which is usually at the weekend.
To be frankly honest, I don't know how much longer I will keep mine on the road - despite only just buying it.
What I thought was the charger blowing, was actually the BMS gone. I've bypassed it for now - being a LiFePo4 pack, it'll more likely die a silent, quiet death than go out in a blaze of volatile organic hydrocarbons...
But, once it's gone, my choices are more LiPo, Leaf pack, or scrap heap. I'll have to see how I feel at the time.
Go for leaf, don't doubt it. It will bring new live onto your vectrix.
My 2007 Vectrix is currently running on its 6th pack: the first 4 NIMH disastrous packs were all replaced under warranty. After the massive failure of the 4th NIMH I tried LIFEPO4 chem, with prismatic GBS 40Ah cells. they were good at giving range, but incapable to offer good pulse discharge(cold days 30A, warm days 70A). It wasn't until I installed the 6th pack, a Leaf GEN1, that the bike started to be useful for my daily needs (+120 KM reliable range, 240A+ powerful response). Now there's 81.000 km on the odo, and I'm confident that the vx1 will reach the 100k km mark.
About your damaged BMS, I guess it was a front board: damaged by water.
Rain water drops from upper plastics and makes its way inside the battery compartment, ensure you correctly seal the front part with tape.
Thanks, but the battery isn't original any more, and the BMS controller was inside a sealed boxwith IP68 for every exit.
The current setup is a 40Ah Thunderskys managed by the BMS, and 16Ah Multistar LiPo as a current booster in the helmet compartment, managed by monthly balancing - it's not really needed it so far.
Let's see what happens. Since I charge and discharge conservatively now, there's a good chance the lack of BMS won't affect me for months.
Leaf sounds great - if only they were as easy to get in Australia, as they are in the US... On the other hand, I can LiPo in 2 days, for about half the price per wh, and I already know how to work them.
Well, if you are an endangered species, I'd like to be part of it first :).
Got the bug today after learning my daily ride is a write-off :(.
Was always fascinated by the Vx-1 and a long time lurker.
From all I've read it looks like the bikes are well engineered and stand the test of time.
There are certainly fewer on offer- likely all being in good homes now.
Anybody here who knows of one for sale in the UK or Ireland?
You could try Emissions Free Solutions. That's who been doing the servicing and repairs on my Vectrix VX-1 for the past few years.
Well, there is now 1 less VX-1 on UK roads. The MOT and insurance renewal became due recently and having not ridden my Vectrix for quite some time, I thought best to forgo another MOT and put it on SORN.
Having had similar symptoms to the thermal incident of 2015 (resulting in a replacement charger, front and rear temperature sensors, and labour totalling over £700), I decided not to investigate the issue further. I tried to charge the battery pack over the coming weeks without success. On the last attempt, it was completely dead - no lights or boot sequence at all. With the battery pack being over 10 years old now, I decided its at the end of its life anyway.
My VX-1 itself it in nice condition after 10 years ownership with just over 16,000 miles, so I think I'll wait until a Lithium conversion comes down in price and investigate a possible future where I can ride electric once more.
Hi,
Get/buy 18 Leaf modules and your good to go !
The conversion is really simple and the VX drives like never before.
You wont regret it.
Paul
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My contribution to EV in The Netherlands
- Novox C20
- Vectrix VX-1 Li+ my2009 #2791
- Vectrix VX-1 Li my2011 #3228
- CityEl Fact4 / Mini El Cabrio
- Th!nk PIV4 A266
- Th!nk City A306
- Tesla Model3 AWD
Most likely just needs the voltage bumping up to 100v+ for the charger to kick in. 10 minute job.
As for the cells. 16k 10 year old cells can still get 33 miles plus out of them. Just need to go through each cell in the pack.
I'm one of the 63. I've been commuting by Vectrix for over 7 years now. I'm on my second Vectrix - an Li+.
I'd very much like to get a Leaf cell conversion done, but I'm not up for doing it myself. Is there anyone in the UK who can do it?
In barcelona there is oficial vectrix service, they convert old vectrix using leaf gen1-gen2-gen3-gen4, up to 16,7 Kwh. Got mine converted 2 weeks ago with gen 4 40S+ tc charger. Range over 250 km!!
You can contact them here: https://vectrix.es/contacto/
I am one of the 40 or so left in the UK, struggling along with my Li+ with a battery on its last legs. I’m thinking of a Leaf conversion, but would get some comfort from having a network or people to help, so if there’s anyone else in the UK who’s done one, I’d really appreciate hearing from you.
Also, any thoughts on servicing in the UK now that David Gibson at Emissions Free has given up? I can’t blame him looking at the numbers on How Many Left.
I have been converting VX-1's and servicing them for over 4 years now, any support required; don't hesitate to get in contact.
I also know a member with some excellent LEAF cells available.
I'm sad to hear Dave at Emissions Free has thrown in the towel. He was always gave great service. Good to hear there's someone else who could help with any problems.
I'm on my second Vectrix, a red Li+ which I use most days for commuting to work. The battery seems to lose a bit of range every winter, but it started with double the range I needed for my commute so not a problem so far.
With cold enviroment it is normal to loose over 20% of range, don't worry. Chem does not work like gasoline...