Is getting water on the electric hub motor or controller a big worry? Will it short out?
ZEV has a sealed hub motor and controller. None of the Chinese bikes have a sealed motor. There is a double seal at the axle and a seal around the motor housing. Riding in the rain or on a rain soaked street is not a problem. However, ZEV are not offroad bikes meant to be used to ford rivers or run through the mud or into salt water. The battery box is the main concern. Driving the bike into water that is deep enough to cause water to scoop into the body front air inlet and roll over the battery terminals would surely cause damage, the electrical equivalent of running water into a gasoline engine. Our ZEV Trail model can run in mud and water, but not over the battery box or battery top. Considering that the water would have to be well over one foot deep, that is a lot of water.
