Alan B said:
Ego has 7.5 amp hour packs for additional range. Some vendors have reduced pricing on these packs. A pair of these in parallel at 15 amp hours is a fairly long range setup.
For the same power the mid drive may have the best hill climbing, the geared hubmotor second best and the direct drive the least.
However the direct drive will generally handle more power and with more power it may exceed the performance of the other two.
The direct drive hub motor, if properly set up { laced to small rim, phase amps set properly, ferro fluid , hubsink heat fins, proper tires, properly matched to controller/battery upgraded phase wires, etc} can generally handle most hills/ torque that the majority of ebikers will ever be subjected to. The problem with direct drive hub motors is most people expect to much out of them, when they are improperly setup/matched for their desires....for example, buying a sondors ebike and thinking it is setup to be a torque monster and propel a 200 lb rider up a road that has a 7-10% incline for 1/4 mile. Generally speaking, anyone that is using a direct drive hub motor in a 26" wheel, and is wanting high torque, is doing things wrong.
I really like the setting on my ebike. 3kw-5kw direct drive hub motor, with the controller set so it can achieve 45mph top speed on flat roads with it programmed at 80amps max output and 120 amps phase , which gives me good torque to go up hilly roads, but not so much torque that it overheats the components. I weigh 210 lbs and my setup is damn near perfect. If I hammer the throttle, I can feel it has good torque, but not to the point of it wanting to pull wheelies, because I have no need for that much torque nor would I want to stress the compnents by doing wheelies.
I guess if a person wants a wheelie machine ebike, or needs to constantly be adjusting their ebikes torque/top speed ratios for many different terrains, then mid drives are the best way to go. So in that respect, the hub drive may not keep up. I personally dont like having to switch gears or the stress on the components that a mid drive offers. Simplicity often means less worries and less breakdowns. Direct drive hub motors are the king in those area.