I've been close to pulling trigger on a new road-oriented eBike several times, but then I plunge into reviews of the motors and it scares me away from a purchase. The road bikes I look at are $2,999 Scott Addict to the $5,000 Cervelo Rouvida (yes I have found one in my size at that price). In between are the comparable BMC and Orbea models. It all comes down to motor capability and reliability. I don't want to spend that much $money$ on a bike that is in the shop for motor/ electronics issues that no one can figure out shop or manufacturer. eBikes have that major technical complicated failure point requiring specialized support and wrenching that non-electric bikes don't have - the motor and motor electronics. That is a big game changer now - it's not just frame geometry and metal type, or Shimano vs Campy vs SRAM components that most every bike shop mechanic can work on.

So for me it comes down to MAHLE X20 or X35, or the Fazua Ride60. All seem to have many frustrated owners venting on the 'net. Which is why I'm still electric-less.

I had a turbo creo, around 5k miles with no issues, and have a Scott addict eride, less miles but also no issues. no doubt there are issues but they might be overstated….

Bosch and Shimano motors are pretty close for reliability, Yamaha and Brose (Specialized), a close second.
after that, I don't know the others.
Motor issues are very rare, but do happen. If you really want an ebike, go for it. Being worried about technical issues is perhaps your conscience saying you should not spend all that money

Bikes are durable goods that should last decades. If you don't plan on trading in every few years, buy an electric that has replacement motor, control unit, battery, etc, easy to obtain and at reasonable cost. For ANY motor. My hope is that over time, the industry will adopt standards for frame interface (mid-drive), and have multiple brand motors available as replacements.

When Bike Friday designed a new electric bike because their previous motor and battery suppliers went belly-up, they chose Bosch, as they felt they were the least likely to have supply issues in the future, and have a good quality reputation. Unfortunately, the Bosch motor cannot be retrofit into older electric Bike Fridays, it's completely different mounting, the Bosch is mid-drive. The older bikes were hub-motors, so a new wheel could be built up. The old batteries separated into 3 layers to be legal to fly with, the Bosch battery cannot do this, but BF just debuted new batteries that have that feature.

I own 3 electric bikes and no issues, one is Bosch, the other is Mahle/Specailized Mid Drive and the final is Brose/Specialized. In terms of motor replacements having done warranty going on 10 years now I have replaced very few motors in quality bikes. Probably of the bikes my previous shop has sold we have replaced maybe 2-5% of the motors in them and that is being generous and that is talking about 7 years of big sales.

I know some of the early Fazua stuff wasn't all that exceptional for some people but I have yet to really put any time on one and we never had anyone that sold them in our vendor list that we would have stocked so I cannot speak to that stuff. Mahle at least with their Mid-drives they do with Specialized are excellent but hub drives are known for more issues generally but not always motor quality more broken spokes and stuff like that at least on the higher quality stuff.

I do know that getting a bike with good support is handy. Bosch is the absolute best out there hands down. However Shimano, Brose, Specialized...all have excellent support and are easy to deal with and I can still get parts for some older bikes.

I prefer to add an e-assist system to the bike I choose. I have a local shop do it and then I have local support if anything goes wrong in the future. It's also easier to replace with newer lighter systems in the future since it's external. There are many excellent add-on options available now with good reliability history. I've even moved the e-assist system from a trashed bike hit by a car to a new bike.

I've ridden a BBS02 for seven years off road (and three more by my son) and three with a second one with neither maintenance nor problems and I'd feel just as confident with a Bosch or Yamaha system. However, Fazua, Mahle or RM aren't in my future. JMO! I appreciate that Bafang didn't change the BBS02 for about 10 years (although I think it's been removed from their inventory) and almost all parts are available to repair it even though it was not necessary, and the fact that the battery is removable so the bike is easier to put on a rack.

I would think Bosch and Shimano will back their products w/ service and parts for a good long while, going forward and make relatively "safe" choices in 2025.

Like my TQ drive a lot but it's on upper-tier bikes only from what I can see.

I have the Fazua Ride 50 on my Pivot E Vault, it has worked wonderfully and the option of removing the entire battery/motor assembly was a big selling point to me.

Fwiw I have a Stromer ST1 with a bit over 18K miles and have had no motor issues (rode in rain, snow and sleet). Due to wrist issues I’ve switched to a Cattrike, and at the time the factory E version was scarce locally so the dealer put in an aftermarket Ekit, I did need to replace a motor due to rain damage (cracked case). The factory kit is Bosch and I doubt I’d have had issues with it (my wife has a Haibike with a Bosch motor).

good luck.

Bit of a broad question, but I consider my bike motor to be of a good quality and with a two year warranty I’m not concerned. No idea who produces my motor, but I’m sure it’s gonna last longer than my warranty period. If the time comes after that, that the motor fails, as long as I love my bike, I’ll replace it

I think to say all ebike motors have issues is rather perplexing

In the case of the original post, he is talking about light weight road bikes with equally small light motors. If pushed hard, they don't have the headroom offered by the mid motors in less exquisite bikes. Then when you bring hub motors into the picture, they are even larger and can be loafed along, rarely tapping into their power. Many of us have more motor than we ever use, and in those situations, they won't fail. Still, if you run them hard, the insulation on the motor cables melts and motor windings turn black, if the nylon gears haven't already turned soft and shredded,

The short answer is "no".

However, from your original post, you started talking about higher-end eBikes like Scott, Orbea, BMC and Cervelo, which are "bike shop brands". Then, you finished by saying you're looking at a couple of cheapies: MAHLE and Fazua.

In my experience, even the cheap eBikes rarely have motor problems, and I've had eBikes ranging from $400 (Amazon junker) to over $4k. (Yamaha Wabash RT) Motors are the LAST thing you need to worry about.

What you WILL find is that the cheaper eBikes have less refined firmware that runs the motor controllers. They just don't spend the time to get it all working really nicely together. My Yamaha, Bosch, Aventon and Lectrics were all pretty well sorted.

My Ride1UP had excellent hardware, but user-hostile controller programming. However, it was fixable with a few emails to Ride1UP.

Bosch, Yamaha, Lectric and Aventon firmware of the day were locked down pretty tightly as to what was allowed, but when used within the programmed parameters, it was very easy to use and predictable.

The $400 Sailnovo junker had smooth acceleration, but was not implemented in a smart way. The bike was a single speed, geared for about 9 mph, but the motor worked up to 20 mph, so that I was ghost pedaling from 11-20 mph.

The $1400 heybike Ranger (also sold through Amazon) had a ton of user programming options, all limited within legal parameters. That bike just had junky brakes that could not be made to stop screeching.

The bottom line is to spend a bit more for a more refined bike; it won't be the motor that disappoints unless you buy the totally wrong thing. (for example, a single speed for hill climbing)

road ebike is not perfect match if you wanna 50km ride per time .

it still struggle to balance ideal range with lightweight frame.

I've rarely seen an eBike with motor problems. The cheaper mfrs. will sometimes have controller problems.

If you buy from a bike shop that makes a known line of bikes, they and the mfr. will take care of you. The higher volume the manufacturer, the quicker they will sort things out.

I've had half a dozen eBikes, most of them what you'd call inexpensive, and never a motor problem. Here are all my eBikes and the problems I've had with them:

1. heybike Ranger, Amazon folding eFatty. Loudly-screeching brakes, customer service was responsive but unhelpful. No other problems.
2. Lectric XP Lite. ("lightweight" folding single speed) QR front skewer sometimes moves a bit, causing slight disc brake dragging. Quiet and torquey, for its humble spec.
3. Aventon Level.2. (commuter) No problems. Its hub motor is always audible when on, probably has metal planet gears in the hub motor. Customer service was curt but helpful and responsive.
4. Reid Tracker 2. (eFatty) Torque sensor is not as responsive as I'd like, but no major problems.
5. Tern Vektron S10. (folding cargo eBike) No problems.
6. Electra Townie GO! 7D, (Beach cruiser) no problems. Its Hyena motor is the quietest in our fleet.
7. Yamaha Wabash RT. (Gravel bike) Electronics kept shutting down. Two trips back to the shop 70 miles away and they fixed it by over-tightening the battery to the point where it was nearly impossible to remove. Motor was really loud, but powerful and well-sorted.
8. Ride1UP Portola (Folding budget-friendly eBike). Instructions didn't match electronics firmware re. unlocking Class 3 mode. However, Ride1UP was responsive and helpful when I emailed them and it was sorted within two days.
9. Juiced HyperScrambler 2. (eMoped) No problems.

So, in answer to your original question, none of my 9 eBikes I've owned had motor problems, and only 3 of them were what I'd call expensive.

I wouldn't buy a Yamaha or heybike again, but motors are the least of your concern, in my experience. You seem to be looking at "bike shop brands", so make sure you have good brakes and that the electronics are reliable. The shop should help in case of electronics issues.

The individuals I've known who have bikes with Bosch motors haven't had problems, and Bosch has a US office to resolve anything that might occur. I prefer Bafang because they're modular and parts are accessible (although I've never had a problem with any of the three units I've built). Yamaha has also provided good systems for all that I've encountered, but IMO Bosch is superior.

I can attest to that, in 10 years we have replaced 2 motors only and we sold a ton of Bosch equipped bikes. My only issue has been a slight overload when I am using my high beams and horn it doesn't like that but I also have an upgraded taillight so I know what is causing it and not really a Bosch problem and I think they solved that sort of thing with the new gen Smart motors.

When you have a company coming straight out of automotive and consumer products you are likely to have decent support long term which is what I appreciate. They know that automotive stuff needs 11-16 years of support and they extend that to their bikes as well.