Shanghai – and possibly all of China – doesn’t allow personal electric vehicles to be used on public roads, and not even sidewalks. The enforcement of that rule varies a lot. Sometimes the traffic cops ignore me, sometimes I get a warning, sometimes I get fined. Yesterday was the first time they took away the board. It was the Exway Atlas during my 2WD street wheels range test.
The officers told me I need to go to a police station on Monday to get the board back. Sounds simple enough. That means I have to postpone the big comparison shoot I had planned for Monday. The problem is that while the board is confiscated, it will likely be kept outdoor along with the confiscated cars and scooters – and the next couple days will be raining.
That is a huge problem. Electric skateboards and other PEVs (and most electronics in general) should not be left out in the rain, even if they claim to have some kind of IP rating. Water finds its way into places if you give it enough opportunity.
Best case: some replaceable parts get rusty. Worse case: something gets corroded and the board loses performance or fails. Even worse: the board catches on fire while charging or riding. And the very worst case: everything seems fine but weeks later the board starts shooting flames at home while unattended.
When I go get the board back, I’ll find out if it was left outside in the rain. If so, I’ll have to take everything apart as much as I can and carefully inspect them. Sigh.
Update: I got it back! See video below.