Personally I am torn on this COT deal or maybe more accurately brushless and Lipos in general. From a consumer and racer standpoint here is my personal feeling. I really hate messing with batteries. Building batteries, cycling batteries when not racing for a period of time, charging, discharging, equalizing in DPD or equivalent systems… It is just a pain. Motors are not quite as bad but still a lot of work. Cut the coms, buy brushes, change springs, use cases of motor spray, and then run on the GFX and/or Dyno to be sure you have done a good job. The prep is even more intense if you do not buy a good motor from a quality motor builder to start with. From a racers standpoint I would much rather have a motor that is purchased and does not need maintenance. I would also much rather have a battery that could be purchased at the beginning of the year and last a full calendar year or more without losing performance. On top of I that I understand some are using the same pack all day long. This will give the racer much more time to work on the chassis and chat with the other racers.
On the other side of the coin what will it do to the hobby? This has already been debated on other threads I have not read I’m sure but it seems to me this will really put a hurting on the battery matches and motor builders that have supplied use with quality products for years. Then there is the hobby shop owner who will no longer sell nearly as many packs nor motors per year simply because the products are not as consumable as before.
Spending all of my time at the track working on the chassis, practicing, and chatting with fellow racers sounds great to me but yet I hate to see matchers, motor builders and hobby shop owners get hung out to dry once everyone switches over. Either way one thing is for sure we are going through a definite time of change in the hobby.