You raise some very good points there, and so have some others. I don't see it as a fault from Kalkhoff. They're simply responding to what customers want. To me, the fault lies with the understanding of their products on the part of their customers. As you say, what's the point of 10-speed gears on a powerful ebike? Well, some people don't want a powerful ebike. They want to provide as much power as they can themselves, in which case they turn the power down to the minimum and use the 10-speed gears to optimise their own power, but other people want the "best" ebike, so they get the one with 10-speed, thinking it's better than a 9-speed.
The power of the motor can be turned up or down, so it can be the same power as the old Panasonic, if that's what you want. It wouldn't make sense to sell a restricted power version, when you can restrict it yourself, but it's logical that if you put four times as much tension in the chain as a normal cyclist, it's going to wear out much more quickly. 0 Wear goes up exponentially with tension. If you live in a hilly area or you're unfit so that you turn the power up to the maximum, a 10-speed is a poor choice. You need the one with the strongest chain and sprockets.
To me this whole situation is more a matter of fashion over function, and one-upmanship. Choose a bike that suits your needs, use it in a way that's commensurate with the design, and you will get many happy miles out it. Of course some people don't care. They're happy to pay the price for their one-upmanship. Horses for courses.
