John! First off, wow, what an amazing video. To shoot and narrate and edit a 40min video is a colossal undertaking, and you should be really proud of this video. Great storytelling, and I liked all the maps to get a feel for the distances. That locking actuator on the charge port drove me crazy too. I found out a cable had become wedged in between that actuator and the motor (maybe some bumpy roads pushed it into that spot?).. I was able to move it out of the way and charging worked flawlessly every since, but some people have had to swap the entire locking mechanism out. If Aaron is seeing that message, DC charging might not work for him. It depends on the stations, as you found. Some stations don't require that lock to start communication, but most do. It's a safety thing, I guess. Great summary of your thoughts on the whole industry and electric touring! So uh.. what colour Energica are you getting? :D

@jtchivers

2 жыл бұрын

Hey, Sam! Thanks so much for the kind comments. Now you mention it I do remember you had an issue with that cable getting wedged, but I didn't make the mental connection with the same issue! So basically, I lied when I said you had had no such issues. 😂 In that case, it does appear to be a common issue and it's quite a big issue if it leaves you unable to charge. Thinking about it, perhaps that's why the charge sessions on the older Ecotricity units, which were notoriously fickle, worked just fine. Maybe there were fewer CCS checks involved in the communications when they were installed. The first bike's issue, which on reflection, I didn't explicitly reference, was that the charge rate went up and down a few times and then settled at 0 kW, and clearly the charge unit was seeing this as a message from the bike that charging had finished. I do hope that was just a case of a firmware update. I should contact Alec and check up on that out of interest. Anyway, thanks again for the kind comments. I'm now going to find your video concerning the issue with the trapped cable and reference it in the description. 😊 Oh, and to answer your question, grey, assuming all the stars align. 😉 Know anyone who wants to buy a 2016 Zero DSR… One careful owner? 😂

@NewZeroland

2 жыл бұрын

@@jtchivers bwahahaha NICE!!! Steven Day can confirm that the grey ones get the best range. Speaking of new fancy Energicas.. know anyone who wants to buy a 2015 Zero SR, currently in pieces? :D

@jtchivers

2 жыл бұрын

@@NewZeroland Oh, I'm counting on your abilities to rescue that motor! 😁 Just watched your video with the charging issues again. I do remember it, watching it again, but somehow I'd forgotten you'd had those issues. Probably because you resolved them and then subsequently did your South Island and Taco Bell trips. I also noticed that your Ego didn't appear to have the manual override pin lock tab, so perhaps Energica have added that on the newer models because of this issue. Pure speculation on my part. Either way, it's clearly a not an uncommon issue. I'll post a link to your video above.

Thanks for that wonderful report John!

A heroic journey and very very informative. Man, I hope the infrastructure gets to where it needs to be, it's the only thing preventing me from going fully electric.

Great video John and proves you can tour on an electric bike. Thing is, it seemed the tour was dominated by looking for charging points, trying to connect to them and waiting for charge. I did 756 miles last weekend, pretty much same as your first two days. I filled up twice, both times at the next filling station on my route after my reserve message cane up, no searching, no range anxiety and a total of 10 minutes spent refuelling in 22 hours of riding, leaving me able to just enjoy my chosen roads and scenery. Love electric bikes ( and cars), enjoy my Electric Motion trials bike more than any I.C. one I had but my road rides are rarely less than 200 miles and rarely alone, so current electric road bike technology falls short.

@jtchivers

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the kind words, Stuart. It's odd if it seemed like it was dominated by looking for charge points. I just looked for a point along the route I was travelling. Using the dedicated EV app A Better Route Planner, I could see a list of possible charge stops on or near to my route and then just pick whichever I wanted to stop at. There's no doubt that it's easier to go somewhere on a petrol bike at the current time. When rapid charge points are as plentiful as fuel pumps, there won't be a need to spend any time planning, but we're not at that point yet. Though I should say, having re-done my Land's End to John O'Groats to Skaw electric motorcycle trip on my own EVA Ribelle last month, that was an easier trip than this Lowestoft to Land's End one and there were two of us riding electric too. You hit the nail on the head with the riding with others comment though. Electric is not ideal in groups unless you are all electric or you have a stop planned where you know you can charge while the group is otherwise occupied or the journey is within the range of the bike (not the case when properly touring, of course). I must admit, I don't see any easy solution to doing what I currently do in terms of social rides within a group if everyone is on electric. Quite simply, you'd need a fully-blown charging hub for longer trips with plenty of charging points.

Great video John, thanks for the shout out! Very concisely laid out at the end there and I fully agree. DC fast charging competition is sorely needed, and if the legacy manufacturers of motorcycles still aren't getting involved and Zero refuse to see the plain truth, the rest of us will vote with our wallets. Hopefully the DCFC will be more reliable for your future EV touring! NC500? :D

@jtchivers

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Aaron! NC500 would certainly be fun on an Energica. But not in a day! 😁

Great video! I've found similar issues with the locking mechanism on my SS9. Most often the workaround is to hold the heavy cable up during the initialization phase. After that, the charge usually starts successfully.

@jtchivers

2 жыл бұрын

Hey, Christian. Thanks for the comment and the information. Yes, there are definitely issues with that mechanism. I hope it's something which gets resolved in the longer term. The CCS cable is a heavy beast and it makes sense it needs a bit of support. I found myself resting it over the handlebars to take some of the weight off the plug, but I'll bear in mind your advice. Many thanks!

Excellent and informative, well done John

What a GREAT video John thank you. Here in the US, specifically the SF Bay Area I too have encountered charging issues albeit only on AC to DC charging since own a DSR. The infrastructure needs to improve quite a bit.

@jtchivers

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Mark. It's rare that I have experienced issues with AC charging on the DSR, but then the standard fast charge AC charge points don't require all the safety measures and protocols their DC counterparts do, of course. And it's true that there are more AC charge points around than DC - principally because they're much cheaper to install. It's interesting to hear comments from owners in the U.S. There appear to be quite different perspectives depending on where you are there though. It's the same here really, actually, albeit on a smaller scale. Provision in some of the less populated areas of the UK isn't quite so good.

@markkitaoka8783

2 жыл бұрын

@@jtchivers John I have written a blog post about my experience using EVSE stations and the issue's I've faced. And Sam Baker informed me of the Tesla Tap which I purchased and have used. Tesla Destination stations are not out of service in my experience. That means it increases my choices of charge stations by 30% AND if I want to stay overnight somewhere the nicer hotels have Tesla Destination Chargers which I can use. Besides I no longer stay in cheap motels that rent rooms by the hour. LOL!!!! When I buy an EV car I will ONLY purchase a Tesla because of the infrastructure they've developed. Ford touts that they have 'the largest EV charging network' which is BS since they are including EVGo and Electrify America. Ford copied Tesla's supercharger station physical design but they only charge at level 2 EVSE kWs!!!! Anyway if you want to read my experience here in the US LMK and I can send you the link. And yes living in the SF Bay Area is good since we have quite a lot of EVSE stations. I do drool over the Ducati Multistrada V4S.....In the same price range as the LiveWire, Zero top end bikes but with more tech like electronic suspension adjustment, front and rear radar, etc. But I LOVE EVs

Superb bike, or at least it will be, once that pin problem is sorted out. As time passes, higher capacity batteries will be available at lighter weights, and genuine 200 mile journeys between charges will become possible. That will be a real game changer.

👌👍 Wonder what it might be like in very rural France trying to find charge points ? To be fair to them if you watch TV there are loads of adverts for electric cars, they seem well ahead of us. If anybody has any experience would be keen to hear !? I'm hoping that your experiences of multiple "issues" will soon be a nice little "historical" quirk and the electric charge points will be numerous and largely fault free 😁Thanks, a fun and illuminating "review" of electric life and the Energica !!

@jtchivers

2 жыл бұрын

Proportional market share of EVs in France is pretty much equivalent to the UK - UK has the slight edge over France in market share actually. Just got back from a real test of the bike, repeating my 2017 LEJOGSkaw journey I did on the Zero DSR, but this time on the EVA RIbelle, as I subsequently ordered my own. I'll be putting together a video on that in the near future, so keep a look out!

Tunnel footage - no audio. So what does the whirring sound like in one? Exceptional video John. Lots of information to consider.

@jtchivers

2 жыл бұрын

I concede, it doesn't have the low, fruity, farty note of an exhaust pipe. Beyond that, not a lot to say. I ride with custom moulded earphones, so much of the noise is cut out. The time the high-pitch jet sound cuts through is when there's less wind noise around. I've just checked the raw footage. The camera didn't pick up any discernible note beyond the wind noise in the tunnel.

Exciting and informative - even for a non-biker! Lots of jeopardy too. Better than some Netflix shows I could mention!

@jtchivers

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you kindly, Andy! A glowing review! :-) I guess if it had been completely uneventful, it would have been far less interesting.

Excellent. It would be interesting to also know your charging times, average speeds, with and without. And the efficiency in mile per KWh

@jtchivers

3 ай бұрын

Thanks! I started off logging that, then missed a couple when concentrating on other things, so abandoned the plan. I did a better job of logging stats on the Land's End to John O'Groats to Skaw trip on my own Energica Eva Ribelle in June 2022.

Excellent video John. I've been planning a move from ICE to EV bikes and was erring towards Zero with the charge tank (as per your DSR) but the DC charge capability of this or a Livewire just opens up usability so much. We wouldn't contemplate an AC charging car (my cars are EVs) so why would I accept it in a bike .. hmm think I need to go and do some more " man maths"!! 😂

@jtchivers

2 жыл бұрын

Good luck with the man maths! 👍 My justification for the Energica was simple. The fact that I do more miles on two wheels than four means the bike is more important. 😁

Great vid. The Charging issues do happen indeed. As is, Energica is working on it now. This error is bike mostly software version related. Key on or key off is with different chargers an thing too in order to get them started.

@jtchivers

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Jeff! Good to know Energica is on the case. Presumably that's the initial issue you mean. It's subsequently been confirmed to me that the charging rate going up and down and then ending the session as it did on the first bike I had is indeed a software issue and can be fixed with an update. Re the locking pin issue, I think that must be an issue relating to the solenoid moving it. As I replied to Sam Baker on another comment, in retrospect, I do recall he had an issue charging his EGO, which was caused by something obstructing the solenoid. It's possible that that happened on the second bike I had here, or possibly the solenoid just failed towards the end of my longest day and the manual override was the way to fix this issue. I don't yet know how widespread the solenoid issue is. I'll need to dig a little deeper.

Great video, shame you had charging problems, hope mine fares better when it arrives. I've really been wanting more normal motorbike content but with electrics as there's only so many review videos you can watch!

@jtchivers

2 жыл бұрын

I know what you mean. It's the same old "first experience riding electric" kind of videos in a lot of cases. "Ooh look! No clutch!" Still, it's all good stuff and kind of nice to see people's first experiences.

good story 👍😎

Got what a hassel with these chargers!

Wow nice video, how did I not see this one before :o. That manual override shouldn't be used unless in an emergency. Using it too much can damage the mechanism. Other than that I totally recognise everything you've explained so nicely. Multi HPC locations like Fastned, Ionity, powerland and Allego here in Belgium is what EVs need. In the Netherlands the Tesla supercharger network has been opened up for a few locations as a pilot. That would be an awesome solution also.

@jtchivers

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the kind comment. Yes, I've subsequently heard that about the manual override damaging the mechanism, but it wasn't properly working anyway and the automatic locking mechanism was clearly already faulty, or the locking pin would have engaged. Faced with not being able to charge and being stranded or overriding an already faulty mechanism, it's an easy decision! 😊

Hello John. Thanks for the video. Did you know that there is a road in the UK which goes further North than Skaw? It reaches to just North of the Remote Radar Head at Sara Vord. But the furthest you can go North is to the entrance to the Military Base there. That public road still ends just North of the one which you travelled along on your long trek. But it's probably far less interesting. 😉

@jtchivers

2 жыл бұрын

Yes, that's true about the road, but it's not open to public access. Skaw is the most northely settlement and contains the most northerly house. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skaw,_Unst The radar station is quite imposing and of course a whole community once thrived around it. It has resumed operations since I was there on the Zero too, albeit on an automated basis, given increased Russian activity. The closest we members of the public can get though is a glimpse of the dome from below.

@RWBHere

2 жыл бұрын

@@jtchivers That was my thought too. Looking at a map can be a bit misleading. I wouldn't want to be any closer to that dome. The radar beam would pass mostly overhead. Being in the beam is like standing in front of a microwave oven with the door open and no safety switch! It's certainly the most Northerly house, and beautiful scenery, on the road which you took. Interesting to note that at least 2 places in those islands are marked as the being most Northerly point of (uninhabited) land in the U.K. 😉

well done John. What a great video (another). CCS charging is a game changer, no only in speed of charge but also flexibility / availability of charge points. I believe in the next 5 years people will look back on your charging woes and wonder "how was there ever a time when so few chargers were available?" The only way is up from here. Videos like this help us to see that and strive for better. Is it hard to push when out of charge?

@jtchivers

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Julian! I think the charging issues will hopefully be sorted on the bike. I think on reflection that the bike was the main issue, but I believe it's just something to do with the locking pin and subsequent communication with the charge point. Should be a relatively easy fix. Regarding how hard it is to push, it's certainly a pretty heavy bike, buy does benefit from a slow reverse and forward mode, which I did find useful.

I always had thought how they would organise charge points is that you book a time slot, so you know you won’t be waiting/ stuck. Shame this was not the case.

@jtchivers

3 ай бұрын

It's an idea that a few people have suggested, but it would tie you down to a very specific route and timings and would effectively mean that if you didn't meet those for some reason, you might not be able to charge, because someone else had booked times around your original plans. I wouldn't personally want that and it really wouldn't have helped me, but might have made things worse on this journey. It's worth pointing out that charging infrastructure is further improved since I filmed this if I'd had a bit more knowledge of the bike and the potential issue with the locking pin and how to overcome that, the last section of the first day's ride in Cornwall would have gone better.

Hi John Really enjoyed the video. You may remember I was debating the charge tank but I have decided to go for it. One question though, paying for the charging, was that by card(except the one you mentioned had issues)?

@jtchivers

2 жыл бұрын

They were mixed, depending on the network. More and more have moved to contactless payment with debit card, but sometimes you need an app. Most were contactless debit card. You don't want to use these types of rapid chargers with the Charge Tank though. You should use AC fast charge points, which are far more widely available and cheaper per kWh too. You can't charge any faster than the Charge Tank will allow, which is 6 kW. Basically, avoid units which have a DC CCS or CHAdeMO connection. They're designed to deliver 50 kW+ usually and you can't benefit from that. Even the Energica tops out at 24 kW.

@kevinmair7571

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the info. What is your favourite charge app. I think I have them all 😂

@John Chivers: Whats the dutch company providing the wind racks called?

OMG so excited to watch this!!

@jtchivers

2 жыл бұрын

It's been a labour of love, putting this together, Sam, as you'll know only too well! Thanks for letting me use some of the footage from your NZ North Island Taco Bell quest and I hope you enjoy the video. 👍😊

150 to 200 miles for a typical British tour ride? I feel a little smug nearly pulling in 5500 miles in 7 days here in the states.

@jtchivers

Жыл бұрын

That was referring to touring on interesting, twisty roads - not roads which don't have any bends. It's not about the location, but it's about the nature of the roads. 250 miles of riding in the Alps is a very long day; 150 would be more common and still provide a day of riding. Sure, I've put in several hundred mile days on our motorways, but that's not typical and wouldn't be my idea of fun. The point is, that's not what most people do. In fact, there will be bikers here who don't do 5500 miles in a year. I've done 8000 miles on my electric Energica EVA Ribelle since the end of April and that's all non-business mileage and is already way above the average annual mileage done by UK petrol bikers, which is typically between 3000-5000 miles. But I appreciate that U.S. roads are typically straighter and wider, and the country as a whole less densely populated, so covering distances is more common. 5500 miles in seven days is good going though, averaging out 750 miles a day.. That is quite an achievement on any roads and I don't blame you for feeling a little smug!

@nyannyan123456

Жыл бұрын

@@jtchivers I understand the difference between the highway and secondary roads. On a U.S super slab pulling 1000 miles in a day, while hard is quite doable. That's nearly impossible to do in Europe. I'm sure the alps are second to none, but western Colorada has those 250 miles a day kind of roads. Enjoying your videos and 8000 miles on an electric is impressive!