As I mentioned ^ up there somewhere in another thread and on FB, I had
an interesting homecoming last night.

The air seemd filled with the smell of fireworks, but rather acrid
ones. Then I figured out that it was more of an electrical smell. It
dissipated quite fast, but was definitely lingering in the vicinity of
the Energica.

I found that turning on the 'ignition' and pressing start, and leaving
it for a few seconds powered and ready to go caused hints of smoke in
the headlight beam and an increase in the acrid smell.

After a slightly worrying evening it became clear that it was only
related to the bike being energised for riding; the battery and
everything else was fine. Smoke seemed to come from the right side in
front of the seat.

After powering it up again with the dummy fuel tank fully removed,
after a few seconds there was a "fzzzzzt", a small spark and a puff of
smoke on the left side of the bike, coming from one of the motor
cables.

It turns out that the carbon fibre centre section of the dummy tank
has (or rather had, I filed it off) a projecting edge that has abraded
through the motor cable's insulation. Easily fixed for now and I'll
get a replacement cable ASAP.

Theoretically the electronics should have noticed a leak to chassis
and raised an alarm, but maybe the current was too low to appear as an
actual short.

--

-Pip

On 12/11/2022 22:00 Pipl penned these words:
> Theoretically the electronics should have noticed a leak to chassis
> and raised an alarm, but maybe the current was too low to appear as an
> actual short.

I am glad we have pioneers, then we I eventually have to have an E vehicle more
of the gotchas should be gone.
--
Ian

"Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of
the last priest"

On 13/11/2022 00:56, Boots wrote:
> On 12/11/2022 22:00 Pipl penned these words:
>> Theoretically the electronics should have noticed a leak to chassis
>> and raised an alarm, but maybe the current was too low to appear as an
>> actual short.
>
> I am glad we have pioneers, then we I eventually have to have an E vehicle more
> of the gotchas should be gone.
+1

Chris
--
The Deuchars BBB#40 COFF#14
Yamaha XV750SE & Suzuki GS550t
http://www.Deuchars.org.uk

On Sun, 13 Nov 2022 11:19:58 +0000, "chrisnd @ukrm"
<chrisnd@privacy.net> wrote:

>On 13/11/2022 00:56, Boots wrote:
>> On 12/11/2022 22:00 Pipl penned these words:
>>> Theoretically the electronics should have noticed a leak to chassis
>>> and raised an alarm, but maybe the current was too low to appear as an
>>> actual short.
>>
>> I am glad we have pioneers, then we I eventually have to have an E vehicle more
>> of the gotchas should be gone.
>+1

"We burn so you don't have to".

One thing I really dislike about EVs (which, to be fair, extends to
modern vehicles in general) is that they're very much black boxes -
there's just no easily available service information, and even if
there were, much of the vehicle's poweretrain is tricky to service
without specialised knowledge or equipment. EVs in particular, because
they're quite capable of killing someone if that person is careless or
only has half a clue.

I have three-quarters of a clue.

--

-Pip

Pipl <pluscher@live.co.uk> wrote:

> One thing I really dislike about EVs (which, to be fair, extends to
> modern vehicles in general) is that they're very much black boxes -
> there's just no easily available service information, and even if
> there were, much of the vehicle's poweretrain is tricky to service
> without specialised knowledge or equipment. EVs in particular, because
> they're quite capable of killing someone if that person is careless or
> only has half a clue.
>
> I have three-quarters of a clue.

To be fair, cars have been terra incognita to the majority of their
owners for many years, even when fairly detailed service information
was widely available. So for most, it's no different from their previous
ICE car. Something goes wrong, take it to the dealership. I suppose it's
a bit different that until recently you could usually take a car to an
independent shop for nearly any repair, but the march toward proprietary
tools has narrowed options, hence the "right to repair" movement gaining
strength.

I would love to own an electric car (if I could but afford one) but I
still can't see it being practical as my only 4 wheeled vehicle.

--
FJR1300A, GL1000, KLR650A6F, EX250J9A, DR200SE, Vespa Ciao

On Mon, 14 Nov 2022 13:49:10 -0000 (UTC), Mark Olson
<olsonm@tiny.invalid> wrote:

>Pipl <pluscher@live.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> One thing I really dislike about EVs (which, to be fair, extends to
>> modern vehicles in general) is that they're very much black boxes -
>> there's just no easily available service information, and even if
>> there were, much of the vehicle's poweretrain is tricky to service
>> without specialised knowledge or equipment. EVs in particular, because
>> they're quite capable of killing someone if that person is careless or
>> only has half a clue.
>>
>> I have three-quarters of a clue.
>
>To be fair, cars have been terra incognita to the majority of their
>owners for many years, even when fairly detailed service information
>was widely available. So for most, it's no different from their previous
>ICE car. Something goes wrong, take it to the dealership. I suppose it's
>a bit different that until recently you could usually take a car to an
>independent shop for nearly any repair, but the march toward proprietary
>tools has narrowed options, hence the "right to repair" movement gaining
>strength.

>I would love to own an electric car (if I could but afford one) but I
>still can't see it being practical as my only 4 wheeled vehicle.

Nor me. Id' go for PHEV, except for the up-front cost.

--

-Pip

Pipl <pluscher@live.co.uk> wrote in news:jh35nh5r98mif2iq2avbt9f04sh729t0k5
@4ax.com:

> On Mon, 14 Nov 2022 13:49:10 -0000 (UTC), Mark Olson

>>I would love to own an electric car (if I could but afford one) but I
>>still can't see it being practical as my only 4 wheeled vehicle.
>
> Nor me. Id' go for PHEV, except for the up-front cost.
>

I could probably manage with an electric car based on my current use
driving around the county for work and occasional supermarket run. The
longest regualr journey is a 40 mile round trip a couple of times a month.

If I needed to go further for work I can get a pool car from Enterprise Car
Club or a rental for very long trips.

I have made the occasional personal trip, going a bit further. In the last
year I went to Cardiff to see a concert and took the car to Chez Scraggy in
Shropshire. A charge top-up would not have been a problem at either
location if needed. Scraggy has solar panels and I parked just a few spaces
from a multi-charging point in Cardiff, just off Queen St.

I have done a number of longer trips this year but they were using an ICE
motorcycle.

The problem like you & Mark is that an equivalent car in 2018 to the little
A1 I bought would have been at least twice the price.

On Mon, 14 Nov 2022 18:52:44 +0000, Pipl <pluscher@live.co.uk> wrote:

>On Mon, 14 Nov 2022 13:49:10 -0000 (UTC), Mark Olson
><olsonm@tiny.invalid> wrote:

>>I would love to own an electric car (if I could but afford one) but I
>>still can't see it being practical as my only 4 wheeled vehicle.
>
>Nor me. Id' go for PHEV, except for the up-front cost.

That's what we did. Our Prius will do 35 miles on a cheap overnight
charge in our garage, which covers most of our local mileage. It's got
to the stage where we run with a quarter-full tank only, filling up
for the occasional long journey, to save lugging a full petrol tank
around. And we really do appreciate never having to look for chargers.

--
Colin Irvine
FJR1300A

On Mon, 14 Nov 2022 20:56:00 -0000 (UTC), wessie
<willnotwork@tesco.net> wrote:

>Pipl <pluscher@live.co.uk> wrote in news:jh35nh5r98mif2iq2avbt9f04sh729t0k5
>@4ax.com:

>>>I would love to own an electric car (if I could but afford one) but I
>>>still can't see it being practical as my only 4 wheeled vehicle.
>> Nor me. Id' go for PHEV, except for the up-front cost.

Up front cost is a big issue

>I could probably manage with an electric car

Living on the Isle of Man is the perfect location for EVs. It's
pretty much impossible to drive more than 100 miles in a day, and the
longest real world journey I might make (from home to The Sound and
back) would barely be more than 60 miles

However, buying a new electric car requires much too much capital.
Selling our second car might yield £8k or a bit more, which then means
we're looking at a 10+ year old Nissan Leaf
--
Champ
neal at champ dot org dot uk

I don't know, but I been told
You never slow down, you never grow old