When I got the Izip, my intent was to fix it up, add the lithium battery and ride it. Since I didn't know how well it would work, I thought I would try to revive at least one battery pack, give the bike a full service and test it. I was able to get one of the packs to charge by taking it apart and charging each battery separately. I also added a charge port that would work with one of the chargers I have.
The bike itself seemed to have had very little use even though it was a early 2008 model. It had been neglected though, and knocked over once or twice. The Izip is definitely a cheap department store bike and all the parts are cheap and low quality. When I started going through it, I had to align the frame dropouts and true the wheels along with a good clean, lube and touch up the rusty spots. I tried a lighter wheel off a different bike for the front as well. Here is how the Izip turned out when it was ready to ride.
I rode it on a few short test rides like this before trying to mount the good battery just to see how it would do. As I suspected, battery sag was terrible, but on the flat it would cruise around 22-24kph with some light assist. That is about what the bike was designed for, but far short of the 32kph legal limit. In this configuration, it also weighed in at a portly 73 lbs. I wanted more, so back to the drawing board.