TheEnginerd
New Member
Probably aesthetics. The gen 3 has an enclosed downtube for weight, but easily removable battery via sliding out the bottom.I’m still scratching my head as why they went side load… and they only way I see something special happening is if the side load battery is modular in some way. Let’s say the 840wh battery in total weighs 9 pounds and is broken into three sections. You can take 1/3 or 2/3 of it out and make it basically an sl weight bike (just run it with less power), or keep it fully power for a quick after work ride that lasts 1 hour.
A modular approach would make the hole in the side smaller as well. Just a wild guess.
To make that work, the motor has to be rotated up, which people complain about it looking pregnant.
A side loading battery allows easy battery removal with a more traditionally mounted motor for better aesthetics, at the cost of a downtube with a big hole in the side.