Nick Leason on Lift battery problems, the Lift 5 Pro and racing

If you have been putting off an eFoil purchase because of what you have read about battery reliability, this is the conversation to read. It is an interview with Nick Leason, the founder of Lift Foils, and it is not a marketing piece: the failures get discussed as openly as the new products.

Why the Gen 5 battery is heavier than anyone wanted

The weight of the new pack is the first thing raised, and Nick agrees with the complaint. The final weight came in above target, which stings on a design where half a pound gets fought over. What you get in exchange is a pack potted in resin internally so water cannot reach the cells, built to survive abuse that includes being run over during testing. The stated order of priorities was ruggedness, electrical safety and performance first, with weight reduction to follow in later iterations rather than at the expense of any of those three.

What actually went wrong with the older batteries

Two separate causes come out of this section. Structurally, the older packs could have been better, and a cracked seal letting in a little moisture is enough to affect the circuitry inside. Separately, one batch had a shelf life problem: packs were designed to sit for at least twelve months and were managing three or four, depending on the state of charge they were stored at. That is the classic symptom riders describe, a battery that goes to sleep over winter and never wakes up. It was corrected in software, which means riders who never applied the update never got the fix. The claim made here is that manufacturing over roughly the last year is in a good place and case rates have dropped off, and that the Gen 4 packs still being built and serviced today are the best version of that design.

The backlog, and when to place an order

There is no spin on the delays either. A late product launch, a trade embargo affecting key components and a weak battery supply chain combined into a summer where customers waited, and that gets owned directly. The backlog was close to caught up at the time of the interview, the supply chain is being fortified for next year, and the expectation is that product may sell out. The practical advice for buyers is unambiguous: if you want to be on the water on May 1st, order before May 1st, and April for a May ride should be safe. Go through your local dealer, because most inventory flows through them and their forecasts are what determine how many units get built six months ahead.

Lift X, wing compatibility and where racing goes

The Lift X gets described as a “Lego machine”: same architecture, smaller and narrower board, lower volume, smaller battery, shorter ride time, and a natural home for wing testing. It is the board of choice when there are only 45 minutes free to go and catch waves. One hard won compatibility lesson comes up: the larger prop is not designed for the smaller motor on that platform, and fitting it is a mistake worth avoiding. On racing, the view is that course racing has real legs, with the caveat that current course design gives a start position advantage that needs engineering out, and that events should be built so everyone gets a full day of riding rather than one fast lap. The closing message is that the Lift 5 and Lift X represent a decade of learning, and that the company is not going anywhere.

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