FEATURE
E-TOURING IN CALIFORNIA
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elevation in visiting the Yosemite
National Park, over 200 miles
inland in the heart of the Sierra
Nevada. Yet that's exactly what
I set out to do earlier this year
aboard a 2016 Zero DSR ZF13.0
produced by the global leader of
the E-biking sector, California-
based Zero Motorcycles, which
this year celebrates its 10th
birthday. Zero, formerly named
Electricross, was founded in
2006 by former NASA engi-
neer Neal Saiki, who started
the company in the garage of
his home in Scotts Valley in the
forests above the Pacific Ocean
beach town of Santa Cruz, south
of San Francisco. Today, Zero is
the world's largest manufacturer
of electric motorcycles, even
including China where the many
two-wheeled EV/Electric Vehicle
products sold there are predomi-
nantly scooters.
I've been riding each new it-
eration of Zero's products for the
where they're better protected
from magnetic interference and
the thermal effects of the stator.
An added spinoff benefit is that
there's reduced rotational inertia,
resulting in greater responsive-
ness—just as a lightened crank-
shaft on a combustion engine
spins up faster.
Zero claims its advanced
cell chemistry has the high-
est energy density in the EV
industry—and that includes
Tesla Motors, its neighbor just
past six years, so I've been able
to experience on a step-by-step
basis the significant improve-
ments in range and performance
that their R&D team, headed by
former Buell chief engineer Abe
Askenazi, has delivered year on
year during that period, since
he joined Zero in 2010. But for
2016 it seemed that Abe & Co.
had really made a big step for-
ward with Zero's all-new Z-Force
IPM/Interior Permanent Magnet
brushless motor, coupled with
increased efficiency of their
own batteries made in-house
using imported cells, improving
both range and charge capacity
across the board. According to
Zero, the IPM configuration pro-
duces power more efficiently at
high speed, so the motor gener-
ates less heat via reduced mag-
net temperatures and also cools
more rapidly, too. Its design
increases efficiency by placing
the magnets inside the rotor,
Zero provided Alan
Cathcart with a 2016
DSR for his long-
distance tour test.
"I discovered that
rush hour begins
early in California,
so even at 3:00 p.m.
the freeways were
crowded. But lane-
splitting is a cinch on
any electric bike."
