I've had the single stage EGO for ~4 years and just replaced it last weekend with an Ariens 2-stage because the batteries could no longer do my driveway in one go with more than a few inches of snowfall. IMO even if their 2-stage is a solid machine (I agree their single-stage sucks ass), the main weakness will be the batteries needing replacement every 4-6ish years at $250+ each ($350 for the 7.5 Ah batteries recommended for the 2-stage).