Anyone who's ridden an EV motorcycle knows the fear of getting to a charger and it not working. Range anxiety is one thing, but the anxiety of a charger that just doesn't charge is another. And that's either because the charger is broken, the network fails, or some combination of the two. It's an EV's lot in life at present.
That is apart from one charging network: Tesla's.
The automotive manufacturer made early and expensive in-roads into becoming the ubiquitous EV infrastructure offering and is now reaping the benefits as more and more automotive manufacturers adopt the brand's NACS charging design. But that hasn't yet come to EV motorcycles. At least it hadn't until today, as according to a press release dropped from Zero Motorcycles, the brand will now offer what it calls a Tesla Tap Mini adapter for all of its offerings.
This NACS adapter is "designed to unlock access to an additional 40,000 Tesla Destination Chargers, UMCs, and Wall Connectors in North America. This accessory is not compatible with the Tesla Supercharger network but opens the door to thousands of additional charging points, significantly enhancing the charging infrastructure available to Zero riders," states Zero.
The idea behind it is to open up further chargers so that you don't have the range anxiety most associate with EV motorcycles, along with getting onto a charging infrastructure that's generally taken care of, routinely maintained, and easy to find and use.
Now, obviously, there's one big exception to this and that's you still can't use Tesla's Superchargers. It's unclear as to why, but the adapter will allow Zero riders to charge up to 60 amps at 15 kW. More than enough to top off a battery. It'll also work for Zero's DS (2024+), DSR/X, SR (2022+), SR/S, DSR (2024+), SR/F, and S (2024+) motorcycles. So that's a no on the FX series.
“We’re excited about what the Tesla Tap Mini means not only to the Zero Motorcycles community, but also for the continued progress of EV motorcycles within the broader market," says Brian Wismann, Zero's Sr. VP of Product Development, adding, "This adapter unlocks tens of thousands of new charging opportunities for electric motorcycle riders and provides our customers with an added peace of mind to be able to rely on charging infrastructure when it’s needed on their electric adventures.”
Zero's Tesla Tap Mini is now on sale either through the brand's website or through any authorized Zero dealership and will set you back $260. That's a good deal of cash, but given that it opens up a lot of chargers, it's probably worth it.
But what do you all think?
