After 2,200 Miles, Crashes, and Rain—My Electric Scooter Finally Gave Out

It looks like my scooter has finally given up on me. After taking a pretty bad crash a few months ago, it seems one of the hub motors has failed—and in the process, it might have taken out the entire Battery Management System (BMS).

This scooter has been through a lot. Between the 2,200+ miles I’ve put on it, the major crash, and several smaller ones, it really was a trooper for enduring my aggressive riding style. Honestly, the fact that it lasted this long is impressive. Today, I decided to void what was left of my warranty and crack it open. I’ve still got a lot to learn, but I’ve already picked up so much about electric scooters along the way.

Over time, I’ve replaced the brakes and pads, swapped wheels and rims, and now I’m starting to dive into the internal mechanics of the motor itself. I’m no technician or electrician by any means, but it’s been fun researching online and learning how my model actually works.

The breakdown itself was sudden. While riding today, one of the hub motors started making a loud grinding noise, and the ride became really rough and “coggy.” After stopping several times to check it, the motor eventually gave out completely. Not long after, the entire battery system shut down. I don’t know yet if it was a short, an emergency shutoff from the BMS, or something else entirely. It had been raining lightly, but I’ve ridden in the rain before without issues, so I’m not sure that’s the culprit.

When I opened the scooter up, I did notice some water inside the chassis—though it wasn’t exactly flooded. Everything looked pretty normal compared to past inspections. The only major surprise was finding that the chassis frame itself had snapped. Weirdly enough, despite that, the scooter still felt stable when riding, so I doubt that’s related to the motor failure.

For now, I’ll let the controller sit unplugged overnight and plan to run some tests with a multimeter tomorrow. Hopefully, I’ll get closer to figuring out exactly what went wrong.

Although, I do plan on replacing the entire scooter (which was my plan regardless if this scooter was working or not), I'm going to continue diagnose this one and see if I can fix a few things (except the chassis.lol). If I can salvage some parts, you definitely know I will.