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Is it too soon to upgrade my 18L to an 18XL?


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I got my 18L in late July (my first wheel) and have been riding several times a week since. I bought a 16X mid-August and am also enjoying it very much, however I can tell the difference between the 16" and 18" wheel. The ride on the 16X is exciting and agile while the 18L feels smooth as butter and almost meditative. I use either depending on what I'm feeling or whether my girlfriend wants to join (she prefers the 18L, at least for now while she's still building confidence).

I've gone on a few long-distance rides now and expect they are going to become a regular thing. For reference, I'm 6", 180lbs and my longest trip so far took me from 100% to 35% after 22 miles. After about 15 miles I started feeling the need to plan my route back to base, watching my speed/acceleration, and taking steep hills more cautiously. So now I'm thinking about upgrading the 18L to an 18XL for that extra range and peace of mind.

Despite that, I feel I haven't quite outgrown the 18L yet and it feels a little soon so consider upgrading but the battery shortage has me a little concerned there might be a limited window to make this decision. Getting a V11 has been another consideration... though it sounds like they've got reliability issues and I'd rather wait for the S20 if I wanted a suspension wheel. An Abrams or Sherman also sparks my interest but given that I'd want to wait a few batches before I'd consider getting an Abrams and that Shermans are facing supply issues, it'll be a while before I'd be ready to get either of those.

I've also heard arguments for what the 18L does better than the 18XL. The batteries in the 18L sound like they're better protected than in the 18XL; I ride conservatively and haven't yet had any major spills, though I have needed to bail from a near-standstill occasionally after taking the shallow curb up my driveway too slow. I also read that the 2200W motor in the 18XL was actually less stable at higher speeds than the 2000W motor in the 18L; though as a counterpoint I've also heard that the torque is better with the 2200W motor and may be more suitable for my size and weight.

I've got the 18XL in my cart and was just about ready to checkout. However, I'm aware I have an affinity for frivolous spending (this purchase is well within my means it's just a question of whether it's really necessary) and so I'm checking in here first to see what you all think. Should I go for it?

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What @ShanesPlanet said. Click it! Buy now!

Now that that's out of my system.

Range is a deal, and comfort becomes more of a deal when you get more range. Normally I'd say "take the 16x on long rides", but you already know it's not as comfy as the 18". I start thinking about my time to bingo based on how tired I am and whether or not I'll be too pooped to be having fun near the end of the ride... my 16X can go farther than I want to go in one spell***—and knowing that there's very little chance I'll be walking a dead wheel the last mile(s) is soooo nice.

See, it's not frivolous at all. Soundly reasoned. Well thought out. Rationalization complete.

 

*** longest fun: 62 miles (hilly terrain), 5 hours (kinda slow on dirt roads/paths/trails with liberal stop and take in the scenery breaks), 32% battery remaining (I weigh 5 stone less than you so you'll use more battery). I was flat out exhausted.

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6 hours ago, meepmeepmayer said:

Sure you have a problem: you have only 6 EUCs!

As far as problems go, that’s absolutely NOTHING! I only have TWO!! Imagine that! And I only use ONE!

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  • 1 month later...
44 minutes ago, ACupOfAvgJoe said:

I'm looking to pick up a used 18l hopefully this weekend, very excited! unfortunately it's the older 2000w motor and not the XL, but still looking forward to learning on it! 

THere's nothing wrong with the 2kw motor. My first wheel (18L) and current daily rider (18XL) are both of the 2kw. Only reason I traded my 18L for an 18XL, is I like to accellerate like a retard and was hitting safety margin beeps a lot. Somehow I still do the same on my XL. Just goes to show that some of us demand more as soon as more becomes available. The 18 series was my first wheel and its still my favorite. Just be sure to check the batteries fully charge.

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4 minutes ago, ShanesPlanet said:

THere's nothing wrong with the 2kw motor. My first wheel (18L) and current daily rider (18XL) are both of the 2kw. Only reason I traded my 18L for an 18XL, is I like to accellerate like a retard and was hitting safety margin beeps a lot. Somehow I still do the same on my XL. Just goes to show that some of us demand more as soon as more becomes available. The 18 series was my first wheel and its still my favorite. Just be sure to check the batteries fully charge.

My wife picked up an electric scooter and after riding it for 5 minutes I already wanted more speed, that's what got me looking into eucs! Good to note, being new, would checking the batteries fully charge just be confirming it can reach 100% in the app? 

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1 hour ago, ACupOfAvgJoe said:

checking the batteries fully charge just be confirming it can reach 100% in the app

you want to see that the wheel's voltage, as reported by the app, is somewhere very close to 84V after it's been on the charger for an hour or two past "green LED". This is the fully charged and balanced state, the % is a conversion... indicative but imprecise and often optimistic. If it only gets to 83.5, a little concern is in order but this is within measurement error. Less than 83.5 and I'd be planning to replace the batteries sooner than later. (they're eye wateringly expensive). Less than 83V and I wouldn't buy it unless I already owned new batteries because the pack needs immediate help (unless the wheel has 10,000 or more miles on it, then it's not as worrisome)

Edited by Tawpie
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Thanks Tawpie, that's definitely helpful! Is there anything else that I should be on the look out for in regards to buying a used 18L/XL? I actually just found someone with a 18XL for not much more, again with the 2000w motor. It has about 600 miles on it and a few more battle scars, I'm not too worried about looks, I'm sure I'll beat mine up quite a bit learning on it. 

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On 10/22/2021 at 4:03 AM, ACupOfAvgJoe said:

unfortunately it's the older 2000w motor

I’m not sure if there were any changes in the motor that would benefit the rider in any way. After all, the motor is not the source of the power, nor does it determine how much power the wheel uses at any given moment.

Wattage is one of the best values to fool the customer with, since very few know how they are measured or how the measurements should be interpreted.

 I’d be just as happy with a 2000W 18XL than a 2200W 18XL.

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To provide some input since I've had both the 2000W 18L and the 2200W 18XL for a couple months now, the difference barely noticeable if at all. The 18L still rides great and is a fantastic learner wheel and should hold up until you're ready to upgrade to a current/next gen wheel provided it's not been excessively abused.

I have noticed that I'll get overcurrent alarms from the EUC world app (not from the wheel itself) when taking steep hills at >15mph on my 18L and not with my 18XL, but that could just be the way I've configured the custom alarms rather than an issue the wheel itself. Additionally, both my girlfriend and I agree that the difference in the feeling of the ride is that the 18XL responds with you while the 18L responds to you if that makes any sense; i.e. the 18XL feels like it's acceleration capability is just a tad better than the 18L. I'm not entirely convinced that it's not some kind of placebo effect knowing that the 18XL should be more powerful on paper. We haven't proven this by doing a blindfold test and I'm not willing to attempt that myself :P.

To further reassure you that the 2000W 18L holds up. After over three months of riding now I finally felt confident enough in my skill to attend a local PEV group ride; I brought my 18XL. There was only one other EUC rider that attended and he brought his 4 yo 18L, almost everyone else was on scooters (the chonky ones that can reach highway speeds). Our cruising speed was between 25-30mph and while I could keep up I was riding closer to cutout territory than I usually feel comfortable doing on my 18XL and kept towards the back of the pack. Meanwhile, the guy on his 18L was vibing with the faster scooters way up front riding with full confidence in his wheel. I can't say I'd ever trust any wheel enough to cruise at the cutout/tilt-back threshold but his 18L was able to keep him upright the entire 1.5 hour ride.

Edited by Spaghetteh
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9 hours ago, Spaghetteh said:

the 18XL feels like it's acceleration capability is just a tad better than the 18L.

As it should be, but not because of the arbitrary 10% increase they possibly invented just to make the old wheel stand out from the bunch and look like  a current model again.

 The 18XL has 50% more cells in parallel, directly resulting in 50% more current output capability from the battery. Even if the difference in nominal power handling value was related to the torque output of the wheel, it would still be just 10%.

 That doesn’t mean that the 18XL is 50% more powerful though, since the battery current is not the only determining factor. They have practically the same controller, which is the actual engine that takes in the fuel from the battery and creates the actual power that drives the wheel.

 So, in short, whether you get the 2000W or 2200W 18XL really doesn’t affect the amount of magic, happiness and practicality the wheel brings into your life!

Edited by mrelwood
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