Zero Electrical System: 12V/24V/48V Battery

Zero is recalling about 218 vehicles over a problem with the electrical system. An electrical short can increase the risk of a fire.

Campaign
18V215000
Manufacturer
Zero Motorcycles Inc.
Reported
4 April 2018
Vehicles
218
Built between
Oct 2011 – Jul 2012
Models
3
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
Manufacturer
Owners notified
30 April 2018
Repaired
67%
Unrepaired
73

Safety advisories

Do not drive this vehicle

NHTSA and the manufacturer advise that affected vehicles should not be driven until the recall repair has been completed. Contact your dealer to arrange the repair, and ask about transport in the meantime.

Does this affect my vehicle?

This recall covers vehicles built between October 2011 and July 2012. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.

  • 2012 Zero DSPBuilt October 2011 to July 2012
  • 2012 Zero Zero DSBuilt October 2011 to July 2012
  • 2012 Zero Zero SBuilt October 2011 to July 2012

Repair progress

73 of 218 vehicles in this recall had still not been repaired as of Q1 2020.

67% repaired — 145 of 218 reported

Manufacturers file these figures with NHTSA each quarter. Vehicles the manufacturer could not trace, or that have been scrapped or exported, are counted separately and are not included in the unrepaired figure.

What the defect is

Zero Motorcycles (Zero) is recalling all 2012 Zero S, Zero DS, and Zero DSP (Police) motorcycles. Cell pouches in the battery packs may wear from contact with the holders, allowing humidity to enter the pouch and cause an electrical short within the battery.

What could happen

An electrical short can increase the risk of a fire.

What gets fixed

Zero Motorcycles will notify owners and offer them a choice of either the repurchase of their motorcycle or a financial trade-assist towards a newer model year Zero Motorcycles motorcycle. The recall began on April 30, 2018.

Timeline

  1. Vehicles builtOctober 2011 to July 2012
  2. Recall reported to NHTSA4 April 2018
  3. Owners notified30 April 2018
  4. Latest repair reportQ1 2020 — 67% repaired

Your rights

A safety recall repair is free. Under US federal law the manufacturer must fix a safety defect at no cost to you — no charge for parts, labor or diagnosis — whether or not you are the original owner. A dealer cannot charge you for recall work, and cannot require you to have bought the vehicle from them.

That entitlement is not unlimited. It applies where the vehicle was first sold less than 15 years before the recall was announced — 5 years for tires. Past that a manufacturer may still do the repair free of charge, and many do, but they are no longer obliged to. This recall was reported on 4 April 2018.

To arrange the repair, contact any franchised dealer for the brand. If a dealer refuses the work or tries to charge for it, you can report that to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/recalls or on 1-888-327-4236.

Manufacturer contact

Owners may contact Zero customer service at 1-888-841-8085. Zero's number for this recall is SV-ZMC-018-383. Note: Since owners are advised to no longer ride or charge the affected motorcycles, Zero Motorcycles dealers will arrange for the collection of the affected motorcycle at no charge to the owners.

Official source

Manufacturer's recall number
SV-ZMC-018-383
Recalling manufacturer
Zero Motorcycles Inc.
Recall initiated by
MFR

Everything on this page — the models listed, the build dates and the repair figures — comes from the manufacturer's filing to NHTSA and describes the vehicle line as a whole, not any individual car. Only the manufacturer can confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected, and whether its recall work has already been carried out. Check yours by VIN and read the official notice at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

Additional notes

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

Check your own vehicle

This page describes the recall, not any one car. To see which recalls cover a specific vehicle, search by make, model and year.

A VIN lookup here identifies your vehicle and shows recalls issued for that make, model and year. It cannot tell you what is still open on your individual car - only the manufacturer knows that. Search by VIN instead, or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov for whether a recall is still open on your individual car.

Same component

Same brand