Yes it's a 48V, 500Watter and I can confirm that the older version runs cool and happy when geared appropriately (and now boosted to 750w). I'm also anticipating long mechanical service life too from the lower gearing. To get to higher speeds, higher than 23mph which I really don't need much around here, I wish i had a fourth gear. But I'd rather keep the torque and response (and longevity) of the lower gearing. I disabled the PAS and just ride/shift like I would any 3-speed motorcycle, cutting the throttle on each shift, and no ebrakes either. It's intuitive and stays in my control. In the rare case that I need more acceleration, I pedal thru the acceleration on each gear, but the motor spins up so fast (in seconds) the cadence is so high that there is not much I can do with it spinning so fast. The exception is the steep hills of SF, and 'we', the motor and my legs tackle them easily, though on all of them, first gear will get me up, just more slowly. I'm very happy : )