My ZENN...First Impressions

now that i have driven my Zenn just over a week. i have some data to report.

My weekly commuting Costs are approximately $1.03... i say approximately because, in the Prius using the exact same route, my commute was 13.6 miles RT. in the ZENN which only registers whole miles (a major bummer) its only registering 12 miles RT. so i am at a loss as to which figure is accurate.

having only noticed it recently, this may be the reason for my next beef.

my range despite getting the Discovery battery upgrade and been so far disappointing. granted its cold out and range is reduced only getting about 20 miles estimated range is supposed to be like 25 for break in which i am still in. they say you need to go thru 20-30 charge cycles before batteries reach full range. summer time range is supposed to be 35-40

i will say that i can drive 15 miles, recharge for only 2 hours and get another 15 miles out of it, so will be re-verifying the range since its not really making total sense to me right now.

i paid an extra $3000 to get the deluxe model 2.2 only because it was available a few weeks (could have been as much as 6 weeks) earlier. at first was questioning my decision, but with power door locks, and stereo, (i can still plug in my ipod so i am a happy camper... two speakers is a bit of a bummer, but i can cope)

as far as 2nd thoughts about spending the money... well, since getting the Zenn, in the past 10 days, gas has gone for $3.029 to 3.139 (last night, might be higher now)... and electricity is still the same @7.4 ckwh. as we all know, any hike in electricity will be known weeks in advance. as far as gas goes...i believe it will continue to go and go along way. so no, i have no 2nd thoughts. it does not fit all my needs. i would like it to have longer range, but i dont feel that i wasted my money.

more to come:

will be verifying the odometer reading with my GPS with odometer reading to determine real range. also checking to see if my "battery conditioning" is increasing the range

**edit**

just verified odometer is reading 10 % low. did two trips with distance verified by VZ Nav on my cellphone and Google maps for distance. trip was 10.6 miles. odometer read 9.5. (this was determined at end of trip by doing laps around park at my house which was measured at .65 miles)

measured range during daylight no rain, was about 20-22 miles. with inaccuracy, current range is about 25... which is what the Zenn dealer said...so i guess we will see.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(usbseawolf2000 @ Nov 17 2007, 10:48 AM) [snapback]540969[/snapback]</div>

look at my sig line. The Zenn fills 75% of my driving needs. upgrading the Prius means the Corolla still gets driven. my "real world" savings are actually the diff bet my SO driving the Prius verses the Corolla. right now she is on vacation until the monday after Thanksgiving so savings will not pile up very fast. but normally she drives nearly 200 miles a week. the difference bet her 30 mpg Corolla (using highest tank over past summer. real world will be lower now that its winter) and my 55 mpg Prius is a LOT

now when the Prius is a plug in with a 20 mile range, the ZENN will be dumped because there will be a better option for me. until then, the ZENN was by far the best choice. it is considered the "luxury EV".... at least that is what is says on the bumper sticker they gave me...hehehe


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(F8L @ Nov 17 2007, 10:49 AM) [snapback]540970[/snapback]</div>

check OP. the odometer is wrong. off by 10% so my perceived 20-22 mile range is actually about 25 miles after all. another thing to consider, i work 10 hour shifts. because of my northern latitude (off topic trivia, Olympia is the northern most state capital in contigious US) its dark on my entire commute, so headlights and defrost is on most of the time right now.


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hyo silver @ Nov 17 2007, 10:08 AM) [snapback]540955[/snapback]</div>

The Zenn has 6 batteries, two upfront with mini 12 volt accessory battery just above motor and 4 in the back similiar to Prius location.

as far as limitations, ya it is somewhat, but i tracked how i drove my Prius and it was a lot of drive, sit in parking lot all day, go home, sit in garage all night or for several hours. then toss in an average of 15 little trips a week of less than 5 miles RT and i realized i could be getting another 3-4 mpg on my Prius without these things. but with a 7 month old and lack of planning, last 2nd needs pop up. reducing the number of these trips was VERY difficult. (something not discussed was my experiment this past summer to reduce these trips by better planning. did it for two weeks, trips went up by an average of 3 a week)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pinto Girl @ Nov 18 2007, 01:28 AM) [snapback]541186[/snapback]</div>

The Zenn does have regenerative braking. and it regens much more actively then the Prius does, its almost like "B" mode

another reason for buying the ZENN over the Zebra is the Zenn is more car like but make no mistake, its still drives like a golf cart but is somewhat larger. the car is pretty much all front passenger space. not much else. it has storage in the back and i can see a jump seat being mounted in the middle, but the car has radio, power door locks, heater defrost, etc.

as far as build, its all plastic so not sure how durable or well made it is. but dont have to worry about door dings hehehe

and best of all, it costs me just about a buck ten a week to commute a week. granted its only 6.8 miles one way and i do only work 4 days a week... but still that is just over ONE DOLLAR A WEEK... heck, it cost me more to commute back in the 80's