The saddle woes are pretty much common from my point of view, we have last year’s E-Zesty AM and the E-Zesty Ltd, both saddles have needed a good dollop of Evostick to keep them working, other than that they are spot on e-mtbs.

Had my 150mm since the launch 2 years ago, swap it between 3 bikes using a Crank Brothers seatpost shim, same saddle, though I swapped it over a fair few times before settling on the ‘one saddle to rule them all’. No issues with battery life even with multi day camping trips, use AXS gears so I do have a spare battery. Absolutely no issues and I love what I call the ‘bump’ feature, a quick tap and the post drops 5 to 10mm to give a bit more maneuverability on techy climbs. Yesterday I rode a demo bike with a cable operated dropper and missed this ‘feature’ so much. As for cost when I purchased it was the same as 3 x service for my Fox Transfers so pretty much a no brainier, at current prices it is a luxury option if you are just replacing one post. The only negative is that by just undoing the traditional hex bolt on your clamp the whole thing can be carried away by a light fingered thief, sorted this by using a ‘security’ hex bolt on both clamp and trigger bolts. The mechanics at Bike Park Wales thought it was a neat idea and it does the job.

I’ve been using this since it first came out, so around 18 months and about 4000 miles, I’ve ridden bike parks, bridleway, trail centres and through some decidedly dodgy undergrowth when deciding to try a different track and the system has never missed a beat. The battery life is misleading as I reckon it’s 20hrs of continuous gear changing. Most of my rides are 2 to 3 hours and I’ve gone months without charging the battery at 2 to 3 rides per week, if you are constantly changing gear then it will reduce life but it is not something that should be an issue for the majority of riders…though forgetting the battery is :-( which I’ve done on a few occasions!
I like it’s simplicity, reliability and that you can pretty much fit and forget. I upgraded as needed to replace components and the cost difference at the time was around £90 so for me it was an easier choice to make at the time. Now I’m saving up for one for the wife :-)

I’ve got an E-Zesty with the removable Fazua system, I wouldn’t want a bike that didn’t come with a removable battery as it is impractical in my circumstances. As for how far can you go? That is the $6 million question.