Stefan, high humidity can cause small amounts of corrosion even on plated electrical contacts that those in the battery and frame connectors, no visible condensation required. This can introduce enough contact resistance to introduce spurious signals (gremlins) into the signals reaching the controller to make it look like there's a motor problem but the headlamp, etc continue to operate OK.
I'm using a 2 step process to resolve this on my Vado;
1. Plastic friendly contact cleaner every few months or so, followed by
2. Dielectric grease on the frame and battery contacts.
The cleaner removes contaminates. The dielectric grease minimizes corrosion esp in higher humidity environments.
I haven't had a motor error since I started this. YRMV...
BTW - I frequently use battery operated tools around the shop. As the battery packs age they sometimes develop problems 'communicating' with their smart charger, analogous to errors that can develop in an ebike with lots of monitoring firmware. The same cleaner often resolves this problem, but not always. I have had to mechanically clean the contacts on a couple of the battery contacts to resolve issues with the charger reporting errors. I use fine steel wool for this, but I'd use something else for the ebike to keep the metal strands away. I have some fine grit emery cloth that I'd try first.
You guys are making me nervous because I don't do any of the steps on my Vado. I'm not cleaning contacts or using any "stuff" on them. Almost 4,000 miles (6400 km) and running just fine. It's store in dry & temp controlled location. I just ride and charge it. And I'm too wimpy to ride in the rain. Hopefully not missing any preventive maintenance steps.
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