Typical Lifespan of an EUC?

[skunkmonkey]

I'm curious what the typical lifespan of your EUC's has tended to be?

[Cerbera]

I stopped riding my Airwheel all those years ago after about 3 years, when it no longer held enough charge to get me into town and back...

My MS3 that followed did a majestic 5 years, and is still rideable to this day, where it sits on the relegations / emergency spare wheel bench...

The Master that followed that has been going just over a year, and I will be trying get at least another 2 out of it if I can, which seams like a reasonable expectation if I keep looking after it, ride it regularly and check it over often. I suspect that the loss of range in this one won't be a reason I stop riding it, as its pack capacity was so huge and over what I needed in the first place...

I suspect I will only sell or retire the Master when it becomes too expensive to repair, I can't get parts for it, or another wheel comes along that I like much more.

Edited November 26, 2023 by Cerbera

[litewave]

Lifespan depends on the availability of replacement parts, the durability of the wheel, and the longevity of the design.

The availability of parts is obvious, so let me clarify "durability" and "longevity". 

Durability means how long the components, principally the shell, motor, and battery, will last before requiring replacement.

Longevity means how well the wheel is fit for purpose for the desired use case(s). If a wheel is just too slow, uncomfortable, or unattractive compared to newer wheels, then its useful lifespan (for that owner) has expired.

My Ninebot E+ wheels (yes, I bought more than one) have indestructible shells, but I wore the bearings out on my original one. After four years, I had to admit to myself that they were just too slow for me to enjoy riding, despite having numerous attractive traits: aesthetics, hot-swap battery, numerous spare battery packs, relative availability of spare parts, and indestructibility. However, I have kept all of them to use as training wheels for myself (tricks, riding backward, etc.), friends, and family, and for collector's reasons.

Long live Ninebot!

Edited November 26, 2023 by litewave

[techyiam]

I will likely retire a wheel when one of the battery packs breaks down. I don't want to spend the money to replace the battery packs.

Using this metric, I surmise my wheels will last 3+ years.

[Funky]

28 minutes ago, techyiam said:

I will likely retire a wheel when one of the battery packs breaks down. I don't want to spend the money to replace the battery packs.

Using this metric, I surmise my wheels will last 3+ years.

Isn't it worth fixing/replacing the battery and trying to sell it afterwards? Or right-out sell wheel without batteries for cheap.. 

 

 

 

I have been riding my wheel 3 years now and i plan to continue riding it till i find something "better" that can replace my ks18xl. If nothing better comes along, i may get ks16s or A2 one day..

My plan is at least ride 5 years, before buying anything "new". And i have not seen anything better made(speed to power to weight wise) my plan goes according.. Doh i have been searching for new euc. It simply hasn't been made yet.  

 

 

Lifespan for euc can be very long. As long you got replaceable parts - Simply replace parts and continue using it.. Or till you get bored and want something new/better. If nothing "better" will be made for my specific needs, i may ride my wheel for decade. 

Most people on this forum will be replacing their wheels like "socks" every year, or second year.  So they don't even need to think about replacement parts and things like that.. (OFC if they don't damage their wheels and ride properly. If he/she don't drop and abuse the poor thing.)

Edited November 26, 2023 by Funky

[Cerbera]

I think it might be fair to speculate that risk of problems might start to increase exponentially after around 3 years. The trust in a machine built up over those first few years should not necessarily be paid forward to those that follow it... we have to up the vigilance the older these things get, and watch out for frame, case and fixings getting dulled, lost or cracked over longer time span; plastic starts to fatigue from light and climate exposure and becomes more brittle. Screws rust, or become stuck, or the contact area gets smoothed over, connectors become stiffer and more 'stuck in place', and wiring can become worn after many cycles of heating and cooling. It's all stuff to keep an eye on as time marches infinitely on...

Edited November 27, 2023 by Cerbera

[xafofo]

How do you measure lifespan — time or mileage or a combination of both?

As others have said, it's easy to get replacement parts, so the EUC could last as long as you're willing to fix it and parts are available

[woke rider]

I have a King Song 14D that is 6 years old and has just over 2000km on it. It works perfectly and has never had a cut out. I have taken it apart twice and I have crashed really hard a few times that has pretty much broken all of the plastic screw holes so I am holding the shell into perfect position with tape. One time when I took it apart I noticed that some of the wiring was showing conductor through the wire casing so I repaired it with electrical tape. I don't see any reason that this wheel won't continue to function for at least 4 more years, so for my KS14D I would give it a life of at least 10 years.

[techyiam]

57 minutes ago, Funky said:

Isn't it worth fixing/replacing the battery and trying to sell it afterwards? Or right-out sell wheel without batteries for cheap.. 

Replacement battery packs are not cheap. And I would have moved on to newer wheels.

1 hour ago, Funky said:

i may ride my wheel for decade. 

It may be possible with your 18 XL. 

[mhpr262]

I have well over 12.000 kilometers on my V10F which is a little over three years old at this point. No noticeable range degradation so far.

[Funky]

11 minutes ago, techyiam said:

It may be possible with your 18 XL. 

Yup - i really may.

 3 years and i have put only over 2000km on it. Only thing i have changed/replaced on it - the motor sensor connector that is in middle of wire motor/motherboard.

Some have driven over 10.000km in same time or even 20.000km. Usage of said wheel also plays role.

Also battery lifespan.. How often you charge and balance them plays a role. I charge my wheel every second week to 100% + 2/3 hours after charger turns green. Even after 3 years my pack is very healthy. (At least i think it is.)

Edited November 26, 2023 by Funky

[woke rider]

I had an Inmotion V10F that broke on me when I was doing jumps. And the rim had like 4 dents. It didn't even last me a full year. It would have lasted me longer if I had treated it better, but I don't think the build quality is as good as other wheels I have owned.

And I have my Ninebot Z10 that is extremely durable, so I think it will last like 10 years as well. I think if a rider gets an inmotion wheel then he/she would have to be careful not to break it or get rim dents. I'm not so sure about the V13 though. I did see a really old Inmotion wheel (like 20 years or something) sell on ebay a while back.

[Cyberwolf]

1 hour ago, Cerbera said:

I think it might be fair to speculate that risk of problems might start to increase exponentially after around 3 years. The trust in a machine built up over those first few years should not necessarily be paid forward to those after it... we have to up the vigilance the older these things get, and watch out for frame, case and fixings getting dulled, lost or cracked over longer time spans. plastic starts to fatigue from light and climate exposure and becomes more brittle. Screws rust, connectors become more 'stuck in place', and wiring can become worn. It's all stuff to keep an eye on as time marches infinitely on...

Excellent point, and a great case for Refurb/Rebuild kits...

[litewave]

1 hour ago, xafofo said:

How do you measure lifespan — time or mileage or a combination of both?

As others have said, it's easy to get replacement parts, so the EUC could last as long as you're willing to fix it and parts are available

Not true for all wheels - try finding shell parts for the Ninebot Z, for example. They have almost all disappeared from AliExpress, and good luck finding an American seller.

 

1 hour ago, iwantmymtv said:

And I have my Ninebot Z10 that is extremely durable, so I think it will last like 10 years as well. I think if a rider gets an inmotion wheel then he/she would have to be careful not to break it or get rim dents. I'm not so sure about the V13 though. I did see a really old Inmotion wheel (like 20 years or something) sell on ebay a while back.

 

I had the same opinion until my Z10 cut out two years ago at 28mph and tumbled for 75', cracking the inner shells. It took nine months to finally get the replacement parts from a seller on AliExpress. Also, don't let vampire drain damage or kill your battery, since finding a new one that isn't dead might be impossible.

[skunkmonkey]

8 hours ago, xafofo said:

How do you measure lifespan — time or mileage or a combination of both?

As others have said, it's easy to get replacement parts, so the EUC could last as long as you're willing to fix it and parts are available

I intentionally didn’t specify a means of measurement because I wanted to see what people assumed. That could reveal if there was a third or fourth measure that I didn’t consider that were unique to EUC’s.

From the replies, it sounds like e-scooters and EUC’s have similar lifespans. Most (non-budget) scooters seem to last about 2000-6000 miles (3200-9500km) or 3-5yrs or more, depending on how often you ride, and how well you care for them.

[techyiam]

Although an euc is a joy to ride, I ride my euc's mainly to replace car miles. Looking at costs, even if an euc last for 3 years, I don't feel disappointed; I am still saving money. AdditionalIy, I can go anywhere without the worry of wasting gas nor emissions.

[Scubadragonsan]

I have several wheels--KS18S, 5 years close to 6000 miles for work; KS16s, over 5000 miles for play/do tricks; KS18XL over 5000 miles for leisure riding--all are in good shape except tire changes. With normal riding, I expect them to go to 10000 miles. No regrets obviously with the total 8 wheels I have. Practical and a lot of fun!!!  Latest wheel, Sherman S, used for blowing off speedy bicyclists, probably will last me til I drop dead! 

Edited November 27, 2023 by Scubadragonsan

[alcatraz]

All my wheels (starting 5-6y ago) are still running fine. 

The most serious problem is with one Inmotion battery that started 4 years ago (at time of 2nd hand purchase) and the fault is still there. It can be ridden normally but it requires manual balancing every 3-12 months depending on use.

All the other 5 battery packs are healthy. 

[alcatraz]

I had one Inmotion motor deteriorate because of stripped motor cover threads. Either they weren't loctited or they were overtorqued. The motor started to make noise as the cover started to move with every revolution. It went so far as the rotor started contacting the stator and that's bad. I still haven't fixed it. We'll see how it goes when I get to it. 

In any case. It's important those covers are bolted on solid because they're structural and they hold up the entire riding weight.

Had I just loctited and torqued down all the cover bolts in time, it would never have happened.

Edited November 28, 2023 by alcatraz

[alcatraz]

Oh yes. Memory is coming back. My third failure was also "kind of" bolt related. Some of the mosfets weren't bolted down. That and leaving the euc turned on while parked during summer caused a mosfet to blow. 

Apparently some eucs can overheat by just being parked while being on in a hot environment.

I have a habit of turning my wheels off in room temperature or higher, just to avoid this problem. Also whenever they're open I check that the mosfet bolts are tight. 

One clue that the mosfets are emitting lots of heat while the wheel is stationary is if the euc reports 40C in a lower ambient temperature even without moving. That delta of 15-20C to room temp is coming from the mosfets. Imagine then if one of the mosfets isn't bolted down properly. What temp would that experience in the summer while parked for 1-2h during a lunch let's say. The answer = a lot. 

Now it didn't blow while parked but soon into the following ride.