For the spare battery price I am the wrong person to ask. For the procedure be patient -- there are some differences between the prototypes and the preproduction bikes. That is likely why they are hesitant to give you an answer; they want to verify how long it takes on the preproduction bikes. It should be better than on the prototypes.
STARK VARG (Something new is coming!)
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For the spare battery price I am the wrong person to ask. For the procedure be patient -- there are some differences between the prototypes and the preproduction bikes. That is likely why they are hesitant to give you an answer; they want to verify how long it takes on the preproduction bikes. It should be better than on the prototypes.
B. FRANK
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is it possible to carry a spare battery in a back pack with extension cables...just thinking out loud. I know there are battery life extenders for the surron.
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I have a weighted vest that is made for training. I sometimes wear it when I do mountain biking. It weights 20 lbs. I am thinking you might need an exoskeleton to help you carry a 75-85 lbs structural battery in a backpack.
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I think it is important to have the spare battery option available to those who want it. What good is a $13K bike if it can only be used for 30 minutes and then it has to be charged for 1.5 hours?
Sometimes 1.5 hours is not available. Other times, people may not want to haul around a large, noisy and smelly 240V generator, which is not very sexy, convenient, or neighbor friendly.
Racers and racing teams who want to win races are are willing to pay a lot of money for a spare battery in order to be competitive. It just has to be cheaper than buying a spare bike just for its battery.
I have been working on adding lithium batteries to my van, first 6 kWh, then 14 kWh, and a 4 kW inverter to charge the Alta at the track without making noise. That cost me about than $6K. Bringing an entire extra bike is simpler but costs twice the money, and then I need to wash two dirty bikes af the end of the day. A spare battery that is easy to replace is a much more cheap and elegant solution.
If a spare filly battery can be installed by 1 person with an impact gun in 3-4 minutes, I am sure many people will want it.
Just need a special jack stand to hold and lower/raise the battery while somethins else is holding the bike. That whole contraption will definitely be easier to bring to the track than a 4000-6000 kW generator.
B. FRANK
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ok then how about a real long extension cord? only for closed course, but be careful passing!!
How long does it take you guys with Alta's to change the battery?
This does not add up to me, by the time you have added extra structure to the battery case to be a major part of the frame on an off road bike that will need to take bad landings and extra strength at the bottom to take a big hit when cased on a landing even with the "patented" sump guard which I guess is a lump of rubber or foam, could that extra weight be better used to have made the bike with a more conventional frame which gives a proper mounting for a sump guard and allows the battery to be removed without the bike folding up in half.
What if the "flying V"
battery case as part of the frame did fail or even rip open on a bad landing, I read these batteries have enough power to kill a man? Could the rider or a marshall who goes to pick up the bike be electrocuted?
Along with the fancy chain adjusters that do not pull through the center fitted to a bike with more torque than most and subject to big shock loads on landings, I think the designers are trying to run before they can walk, either that or have been pushed in to adding these gimmicks by the marketing department.
By all means Flame me for my comments but also come back in the future and say I was correct if that turns out to be the case.
This does not add up to me, by the time you have added extra structure to the battery case to be a major part of the frame on an off road bike that will need to take bad landings and extra strength at the bottom to take a big hit when cased on a landing even with the "patented" sump guard which I guess is a lump of rubber or foam, could that extra weight be better used to have made the bike with a more conventional frame which gives a proper mounting for a sump guard and allows the battery to be removed without the bike folding up in half.
What if the "flying V"
battery case as part of the frame did fail or even rip open on a bad landing, I read these batteries have enough power to kill a man? Could the rider or a marshall who goes to pick up the bike be electrocuted?Along with the fancy chain adjusters that do not pull through the center fitted to a bike with more torque than most and subject to big shock loads on landings, I think the designers are trying to run before they can walk, either that or have been pushed in to adding these gimmicks by the marketing department.
By all means Flame me for my comments but also come back in the future and say I was correct if that turns out to be the case.
I went and verified a couple of things. Some things have changed from the prototypes to the pre-production bikes. This is now more feasible (no danger of cross threading into battery case, etc). I suppose you could make a jig to make the swap easier and faster.
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A jig at a track is not the most ideal condition. For production? Sure, we made quite a few ways to load the pack.
Call it what you want. A tool or simple jig; something to aid in battery swap.
So, was it designed to be quick swapped? No - that was made abundantly clear.
However, if you want to swap anyways, you can make a tool (simple jig) to make that easier.
Nowhere did I claim "ideal".
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Call it what you want just like you said, there are potential ideas/possibilities to help. Especially when quite a few owners have dealt with this condition in real-time.
Forgive me if you've said it before, but if you had to estimate how long it would take someone to swap the battery out at a track out of a truck and they had plenty of experience working on bikes in the past, how long do you believe it would take? What do you think you could optimize the time down to with a simple jig as you are saying as well? Really excited to see more in the coming months.
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Well, I can swap an Alta battery in well under 10 minutes. I think the Alta team at Erzberg was able to do it in around 3 minutes.
The more important question is whether or not Stark provides a way to charge a spare battery when it's not in a bike. Now that would be handy!
I would expect an additional battery would be in the $5k plus range. You must really want a spare battery at that price.
I suppose a pro rider would go for a spare battery, but not many others.
The more important question is whether or not Stark provides a way to charge a spare battery when it's not in a bike. Now that would be handy!
I would expect an additional battery would be in the $5k plus range. You must really want a spare battery at that price.
I suppose a pro rider would go for a spare battery, but not many others.
You might be able to get it down to a little over 5 minutes. I helped in a swap a few times (on prototype bikes) but we didn't time it. Some of the plastics had to be removed to reach the connectors, etc. We were careful when screwing the plastics back on because we didn't want to cross thread into the magnesium alloy case. The production bikes will have helicoil inserts to eliminate that risk. The production design may be simpler in some other respects -- I don't know yet. The bike needs to be supported as one bolt goes through the frame, battery, and motor/inverter case. We just used an adjustable stand for that.
There is also another aspect to consider -- the production ramp up. Unless the battery production rate exceeds the production rate of the rest of the bike, I doubt Stark will be keen to sell spare batteries initially. So don't be too surprised if you have to wait some time for your spare battery.
OneLapper brings up a good point. It would be nice to be able to charge the battery outside the bike. Technically nothing prevents that. Unlike with the Alta, the DC/DC converter (360V to 12V) is not in the battery. The cost of the DC/DC is not insignificant, so the Varg has that going for it (DC/DC is not in the battery).
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So you have a DC/DC externally from the pack? Or are you using the inverter to charge? That packaging is going to be interesting.
Hmm...production ramp up...where have I heard that before??? @Judaslefourbe....
Hmm...production ramp up...where have I heard that before??? @Judaslefourbe....
As I said, the DC/DC is not in the battery. We are not using the inverter to charge. Several things are done differently than in the Alta. The solution is simple and elegant; it is easy to package. Take a pencil and a piece of paper a play with a schematic if you like; you will likely figure out how simple it is
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Right....if its easy to package, hopefully then its easy to support/repair. Or is it packaged for DFM?As I said, the DC/DC is not in the battery. We are not using the inverter to charge. Several things are done differently than in the Alta. The solution is simple and elegant; it is easy to package. Take a pencil and a piece of paper a play with a schematic if you like; you will likely figure out how simple it is
Sounds incredibly simple, definitely easing my mind on my purchase
. Can’t wait to do it myself in december.I believe they got them about a week ago or so
