10 ms·
Boosted Boards (YC S12) Unveils Its Magical Electric Skateboard
- BryanBeshore 14y agoBoosted Boards are wicked fun to ride - awesome team, too.
- qq66 14y agoInteresting that YC companies are now raising money with Kickstarter instead of VC... great if you can get it.
- brittohalloran 14y agoMakes a ton of sense for a company like this that will likely be able to self-fund after a few hundred pre-orders.
- staunch 14y agoIt's just the newest way to handle pre-orders, which companies (including YC companies) have been doing for years.
- pclark 14y agowith kickstarter raising capital is now a user acquisition strategy. way cooler than some old dude with money that distracts you for months, takes equity and doesn't bring you users nor added visibility.
- nostromo 14y agoThey are likely doing both. KickStarter allows them to show proof of interest without actually having to build the product, which paves the way for a big VC round.
- Robby2012 14y agoI love the promo video, it's awesome
- mahyarm 14y agoAre they waterproof? Could I ride this in Seattle & SF rain all the time without damaging it? Otherwise it's just a fair weather vehicle and it's not something I can rely on. If not, why would I choose this over all the other electric skateboards? Is it safe to use on the steep downgrades you have in SF? Is it useless to use when going uphill on those same hills?
- skdoo 14y agoThe electronics will be somewhat water resistant, but we don't recommend riding in the rain. A big reason for that is the wheels (from standard longboards) are slicks and are somewhat dangerous in wet weather. It is very capable at uphill climbing and downhill braking. Our ability to stay standing on it is usually the limiting factor. As for why you would choose this over others, it's the lightest, has way more power than most, and has a fantastic design and riding experience.
- mahyarm 14y agoIt's unfortunate nobody has made a waterproof electric skateboard yet, it's what makes me stop buying any of them. How would it perform with knobby all terrain tires?
- boostednoob 14y agoReread the statement you are commenting on. The reason that you don't want to ride this board in the rain is inherent to longboarding, not to electronics. It is entirely possible to design the mechanical enclosures of electronics to withstand rain, it is simply a design choice. If people shouldn't be longboarding in the rain, why design for it?
- gtani 14y agoI had these exact same questions: riding in Seattle/SF and Cleveland. I don't think there's any way to make a safe powerful brake system for skateboards unless you're ready to do the stale fish maneuver, i.e. hit the brake button and grab the board, which, if there's a kiteboard-style handle, seems plausible OTW, you have to learn power slides to make drastic decelerations, or bail off the front and kick the board behind you, but I almost got run over a few times in SF doing that. This also only works if you're not going faster than you can run. I found that out empirically too Not really relevant, but i saw somebody a couple years ago ride a shopping cart full of bottles (probably weighed a couple hundred pounds) down the steep hill on Haight st from Baker to Divis. He's my hero
- tmuir 14y ago"all I could think was that this will change how we interact with our cities." Anyone else reminded of Dean Kamen's predictions for the segway?
- Lukeas14 14y agoUnfortunately, this device could run into the same legal issues the segway did. Since it's a motorized vehicle it is technically not allowed on sidewalks in many jurisdictions. But I also wouldn't feel nearly as safe riding this on the side of a busy street as I would on a bike. Hopefully forward thinking cities will come up with a legal solution because it's definitely a more practical mode of transportation than the segway.
- garry 14y agoHaving riden mine in traffic, it's actually pretty reasonable to ride in a bike lane. Cars give a wide berth and are usually paying a lot of attention because it's unusual for a skateboarder to be able to ride alongside cars at bike speeds.
- rokhayakebe 14y agoThis is a bit different, I believe. Segways just do not look cool, and you would be kind of embarrassed riding one, unless you really don't give a fuck what the world thinks. These on the other hand are cool enough that you are ride them without looking like a clown.
- Newky 14y agoAre these boards common in America or elsewhere. Here in Dublin, Ireland I have seen perhaps one long board in my life. Is there a certain terrain or area which suits these boards or are they good for any urban street type scenario. At that price, I can see no advantage over a bike or even a small motorbike. Wondering is this something that people think will do very well in the market they are targeting?
- lancefisher 14y agoYes, these are pretty popular in college towns in the U.S. I live in Missoula, MT and see them all the time. I'll often see a dog on a harness pulling the rider along too. That looks pretty fun.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- cgil 14y agoIt's difficult to group this directly with the segway. The segway had to adapt it's users to a new form of transportation, the boosted boards already have a large consumer base to dip into. It's a great enhancement.
- tlrobinson 14y agoOne feature suggestion, which you've probably already thought of, is automatic braking in case you fall and the board starts rolling away.
- jazzychad 14y agoNo motorized skateboards in CA :( http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc21968.htm http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc21968.htm However, I wonder how strongly this is enforced...
- starpilot 14y agoThere's another electric skateboard company already in CA, www.zboardshop.com, so I guess there's more to this law, or it's just not enforced at all. I see electric skateboards by the beach all the time. Edit: Another .ca.gov page says they're only legal on private property: http://www.chp.ca.gov/html/motors.html http://www.chp.ca.gov/html/motors.html.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- qq66 14y agoIf the company is successful to the point that this law starts being enforced, they can get a well-connected investor who can help lobby to get the law changed.
- ditojim 14y agoyou can however drive a motorized scooter in the same places you can ride a bike, which is a skateboard with handlebars: https://www.dmv.ca.gov/motorcycles/motorcycles.htm https://www.dmv.ca.gov/motorcycles/motorcycles.htm
- brokentone 14y agoThis is way cool, but the company has a few challenges to face to be "serious, eco-friendly transportation devices that could replace your bike, scooter, or maybe even your car." I live and work in manhattan and for the summer I've been skating to and from work nearly every day (40ish blocks). According to my research, skateboards are considered "play" devices. Whereas bikes and all motorized vehicles are required to be in the street, skateboarders under 14 must wear a helmet and are not allowed to ride in the street. Older skateboarders have the option, but not the requirement to ride in the street. With the narrow streets, stop and go traffic, out of control cabbies, and people not used to looking for skateboarders, I feel much safer on the sidewalk. There is a law that prevents the reckless operation of skateboards on sidewalks (http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/nycode/ADC/19/1/3/19-176.1 http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/nycode/ADC/19/1/3/19-176.1), and I always take care to be courteous and provide plenty of space to all pedestrians. Where there are bike lanes available, I'll take them, as that also seems to be a legal option, but I've had more run ins with pedestrians in bike lanes than on the sidewalk. I've been stopped by cops twice and told I could not ride on the sidewalk, yelled at by private security and pedestrians, and had pedestrians step out in front of me without looking when I had complete right of way in the bike lane--causing me to have to bail. This said, for any company looking to use skateboards to revolutionize urban travel, education campaigns at all levels will be necessary.
- bryanlarsen 14y agoYou may feel safer on the sidewalk, but just like a bicycle, you may be safer on the street than the sidewalk. Most collisions happen in intersections. Cars do not expect vehicles to be crossing the street from the sidewalk at high speed, so don't check very well. Being closer to the center of the intersection makes you more visible, and ensures you're coming from an area where cars expect high speed objects to be coming from. Being in Manhattan changes that somewhat. There are a large number of pedestrians there, so that helps with driver awareness.
- awolf 14y agoI agree with your sentiment and would like to take it a step further. As someone who lives in San Francisco and commutes using all three of bike, foot, and car (and back in college rode a skateboard around a large and busy campus) I don't think skateboards belong on the sidewalk - and definitely not motor powered ones. Anything that has the potential to move much faster than a person running at full speed is extremely dangerous on the sidewalk for everyone involved: cars, bikes, and especially pedestrians. It breaks everyone's mental model for what could possibly be coming from where. Cars making a right turn do not expect bikes or skateboards to entering the sidewalk at 5-10 mph from their blind spot and so they almost never check. Pedestrians turning a corner don't expect the possibility of something oncoming that is moving too fast to stop before hitting then and so they almost never look. And so on.. As an individual YOU might be a considerate skateboarder who has learned when and where to be careful. That's great, but it doesn't change the fact that there are still idiots and assholes out there that are going to do idiotic and asshole things. The only system that makes sense is: fast-stuff in one place where everyone knows to look out for fast-stuff, and slow-stuff on the sidewalk.
- coryrc 14y agoYou can buy one right now, made in Portland OR, for cheaper: http://metro-board.com/low_cost_electric_skateboard_buynow.htm http://metro-board.com/low_cost_electric_skateboard_buynow.h...
- mmaunder 14y agoSome context: The average electric bicycle has a 300 watt motor. These baby's have 2000 watt motors (or 2 x 1000 watt motors, I couldn't tell) that are roughly a 5th of the size of an electric bike motor. Include a battery big enough to power that motor and the fact that they're adding regenerative braking, which electric bikes don't have, and this is a seriously awesome engineering challenge.
- jamesaguilar 14y agoWow. Which leads one to ask, could you just take the motors off the board and put them on a bike? What's the new tech that makes these motors possible?
- jonnycowboy 14y agoBrushless motors. You could put them on a bike but then you'd break the laws governing electric bicycles (500w or 1000w limits depending on the jurisdiction).
- wildmXranat 14y agoI'm not familiar with how a bike mounted motor can be tested, but unless the motor has '2000w' stamped on it, you're good to go.
- tisme 14y agohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamometer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamometer
- mmaunder 14y agoMy first intro to brushless motors was on a delta RC plane. The power makes a gas engine look like a joke. If you've not seen these motors, the basic difference IIRC is that brushless motors don't have brushes so they have less friction, longer battery life and greater power to weight ratio. They remove the brushes by moving the permanent magnets to the rotating part of the motor and use a controller to switch the stationary electromagnets.
- Inufu 14y agoHow is this different from: http://www.alteredelectricskateboards.com/pro-line_600.htm http://www.alteredelectricskateboards.com/pro-line_600.htm Except that it has twice the price and half the range? Ok, seems like it's significantly ligther (12 vs 40 lbs). Any other differences? Stronger motors, but still same speed .. strange
- veb 14y agoThat's ugly. It doesn't even look like a skateboard. I think the reason Boosted Boards looks so awesome is the fact it actually looks like a longboard... with a motor!
- Brashman 14y agoIt's not even just that it looks like longboard, it is an actual longboard that's been modified. It's a Loaded Vanguard from what I can tell which is a really nice board. The existing electric boards tend to be made specifically for the electric board and the result is a not very good skateboard/longboard. Also, the difference in weight is huge. 40 lbs is something that I need two hands to pick up and is a pain to carry. Bringing the weight down to just +4 lbs over the original longboard means this is something I can actually carry under my arm.
- cfinke 14y agoAdd a handle, a steering device, a seat, and make it wider, and I would definitely buy one.
- jamesaguilar 14y agoSomething I've always wondered about longboarding as a form of transport. What do you do if you're going downhill like in San Francisco?
- RandallBrown 14y agoIn most cases you don't go down them. Bombing hills is a huge part of longboarding, but that's not something you can really do on a typical commute with vehicle and pedestrian traffic. I haven't been able to figure out how to control my speed on a hill on a sidewalk (not wide enough for turns, and I can't really powerslide yet).
- riviera 14y agoThat's when you charge the batteries with the regenerative brakes.
- brc 14y agoI saw an invention once which was a foot-operated brake for the back wheels of a long board. I think it had tiny drum brakes for the wheels or something like that. It had a big metal heat soak to absorb the heat from braking. Given I've never seen one, I guess it flopped.
- nikatwork 14y agoThere are various basic braking techniques like dragging your foot or reverse pushing. More skilled riders will periodically slide the board sideways to create friction and control speed.
- etrautmann 14y agoRode a prototype on Stanford campus. This is the real deal, amazingly fun and powerful. $1200 is past my cutoff but I'd love to get one if the price comes down.
- nazgulnarsil 14y agohopefully v2 will be $600
- ssebro 14y agoTwo questions: Can it be used as a normal skateboard when the battery is dead? How loud is it?
- riviera 14y agoIt's pretty quiet, just a bit of a hum. Kind of like a Prius at low speed -experience.
- at-fates-hands 14y ago"Nothing’s scarier than getting going too fast down a hill on a skateboard." Actually if you know how to power slide, going down hills is actually quite fun. Also, is this a full electric board, or do you have the option of pushing and then you can use the motor when you want to?
- riviera 14y agoI haven't ridden it, but I know it's got regenerative brakes so it's safe to ride downhill. Not sure how they're activated. Based on your position on the board perhaps?
- frankus 14y agoSince the motors are engaged full time (no freewheel) and are self-exciting, they're going to give some drag due to iron losses, which is magnified by the gearing of the belts, as well as some stored angular momentum. So I think it could work as a non-powered board, but not very well.
- ecaroth 14y agoI have been longboarding for 10+ years, and riding Loaded boards for most of it (the company that makes the deck they are using). Loaded decks are friggin amazing, and i'm super excited to see a product like this exists. If they can make it function with similar flex as the normal loaded board, and disengage the motors as needed to ride like a normal longboard this could be the best short-range commuting vehicle ever!!
- luser001 14y agoPretty interesting idea! Serious question by a non-skateboarer: Unlike the Segway this doesn't provide any stability assistance, right? How safe would it be for a newbie to start using this? I'd be worried about falling off this thing. AFAIK, the Segway goes to great lengths to mitigate that risk [although GWB managed to defeat those systems :)].
- frankus 14y agoSegways are actually pretty hard to ride if you've ever ridden a standard skateboard. The stability control gain needs to be super high because it's so tippy, so you can easily get it to oscillate if you're not used to riding a self-balancing vehicle. The acceleration stability problem for electric longboards is actually totally solvable (and solved, just not in a commercially-available machine) by detecting the rider's weight distribution. I built a prototype back in '06 that (unlike the zboard) had the weight sensing system distributed over the entire deck, so there was no fiddly stance that you had to maintain. It was super intuitive to ride, even for beginners, and had just an on-off switch as a controller (I used a little car-alarm-style key fob). I teamed up with a buddy in Vancouver to improve it, and we converted it from a single rear hub motor to dual front hub motors (so no belts or anything to wear out or break). We showed it off at the Bay Area Maker Faire in '07. On the trip back our prototype got stolen, and real life intruded, and we haven't done much with it since. I'd love to get another unit put together soon though. http://3wdm.blogspot.com/ http://3wdm.blogspot.com/ for more info.
- qq66 14y agoWhy is there an obsession with calling things "magical"? Technology is the opposite of magic. The word "magical" both creates unrealistic expectations and handwaves over all of the incredible technology inside.
- argumentum 14y agoI've ridden the board.. calling it magical is not a stretch.
- qq66 14y agoThe industry should use words like "brilliant" instead of "magical" to emphasize the skill and dedication required to create amazing products, instead of tacitly implying that they are outputs of inscrutable black-box processes. Kids who ride this skateboard realize that someday, they could engineer something even better than it.
- zekel 14y agoI'm not sure kids with imagination get stuck on semantics like that.
- qq66 14y agoWord choice absolutely does affect how people think. Terms like "intelligent design" exploit this by cloaking nonsense in the guise of logic, and if you explain to a kid that a lightbulb or an electric skateboard works by "magic" that's a lot less inspiring than saying "a kid just like you studied how things work and invented it."
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- nazgulnarsil 14y agoit encapsulates the ideal of making technology seamlessly integrate with our lives.
- rnernento 14y agoThese are cool and I desperately want one but the price point doesn't seem reasonable for what it does. Also, why do they keep showing people walking their boards up stairs in the video, seems counter-intuitive.
- Harkins 14y agoI think they're trying to show that it's easy to cart around at either end of a commute.
- johnyzee 14y agoI have been riding an electric skateboard through Copenhagen for a few years (Evo 600: http://en.evo-skate.com/street600wood/ http://en.evo-skate.com/street600wood/). We have great bicycle tracks all over the city which is ideal. The principle of the board is the same, board strapped with an electric motor, controlled by IR remote in the hand. I'll share a few thoughts. First off, my board has a 600 watt motor and does around 20mph, which is fast in the city. I overtake most bicycles (people's faces are priceless). I cannot fathom what a 2000 watt motor would do, seems kind of life-threatening honestly. I haven't had any accidents, flew over the top a couple of times when I hit a high edge, par for the course when skateboarding, but I wouldn't want to go any faster. My board does around 10 kilometers per charge, which is enough for a commute in the city. Not sure how well a 2000 watt motor would fare, I definitely could not accept less range. But my board has the older SLA battery, a lithium battery probably evens the score, while being lighter. How easy is it to drive? You need experience skateboarding or you'll have quite a learning curve. The accelleration needs a good stance to not get dropped off the back, same with breaking vs. flying over the front. Turning is even more cumbersome than with a real skateboard because the board is so heavy, so you need pretty good technique (and space). About safety: If you fall off, drop the remote etc. the board stops, the IR must be in your hand to activate and has a short range either way, so no chance of the board running away from you. As soon as you stop accellerating the board slows right down, and you can brake with the engine too (big advantage over a real skateboard). The engine is engaged all the time so you can't just roll like on a real board. Hopefully these guys solve this problem, would be useful if you're out of battery. About sound, it's not annoying but not quiet either, your regular medium-sized electric motor. In the street it's not particularly noticeable. About legal issues: It's illegal in the street but no one cares. I pass patrol cars all the time and most don't notice that it's not a regular skateboard, or don't care.
- ballooney 14y agoOn motor power, note that the power rating of a motor is usually the maximum continuous power the motor is rated for, ie without overheating. Just because a motor is 2000W as opposed to 600W, doesn't necessarily mean it will use any more power for a given job it is being asked to do. Your 600W motor could produce 2000W too if you were to nearly double the voltage, but it might overheat. Regardless, the power they draw is the power asked of them. For example, your skateboard might be 200W continuous when travelling at a constant velocity, and both motors in this case will only use 200W, or rather a bit more because they're not perfectly efficient. Which brings me on to efficiency. Different kinds of electric motors have different characteristics, but it's usually the case that they will have a maximum efficiency at a lower power than maximum power. The designers of this skateboard might have chosen their 2kW motor such that it is operating at maximum efficiency at the power they are expecting it to need to produce to propel humans around. In this respect the range of the 2kW skateboard might actually be greater than the 600W skateboard, everything else being equal. That said, 2kW is a lot of power! If all that could be instantaneously put down without wheel spin by a skateboard, I image it would shoot out from under your legs like a bullet out of a gun. Fun!
- SpectralShards 14y agoI have to wonder though, that kickstarter may not be the best platform for them to get funding for such a project. It seems that most people fund projects on kickstarter because they wish to receive a sample of the soon to be made product, however in this case a long board seems to be geared towards a younger audience, of which usually wouldn't have $1100-$1200 to spend on such a luxury good. Great work though! Would definitely be interesting to see people ride uphill.
- codemac 14y agoAnybody not know how to skateboard, but would rather do it because of the form factor? What I'm trying to say is: Is there a long board riding tutorial for people who just want to slowly roll around, aren't really in the "skater" scene? In the promo video they're getting onto CalTrain. I'd love it for the quick ride over to BART/CalTrain station.
- awolf 14y agoA great way to train yourself for the type of lateral position front/back balance needed for all types of boarding (skate, snow, surf) is the Indoboard. http://indoboard.com http://indoboard.com I'd recommend the longer "Pro" model if you're targeting longboard skateboarding. It's amazing how much Indoboard helps. It will quickly give you an innate sense for where to position your feet, how far forward or backward to lean, and (for a shortbaord) when you're approaching that "oh shit" threshold where the board will fly out from your feet like a banana. After that, get a longboard and start slow in as much empty pavement space you can find. Try to always keep your knees bent. Start with kicking in front (i.e. the way you're facing) with your back foot instead of in back with your front foot. Beware of cracks.. beware of hills- even gradual ones. Mentally prepare yourself for some bloody knees, elbows, and palms. Enjoy- it is a really fun way to get around short distances.
- savrajsingh 14y agoJust backed the project. Good luck Boosted!
- gtani 14y agothe Freebord was also a Stanford engineering project which went to production http://freebord.com/ http://freebord.com/
- bitwize 14y agoCool, when can I get one equipped with smartwheels?
- vbl 14y agoNeat. I'd like to see some real tires on it, though, as Chicago's roads/sidewalks would never permit my commuting on that thing.
- HyprMusic 14y agoIf this is funded, why is it also on KickStarter? I can't help but feel KickStarter is used mostly as a hype building machine in a lot of cases. People go on their with money burning a hole in their pocket.
- 31reasons 14y agoFor 99% of the people this is going to be just a toy. You can't expect general public to be riding these. I wish they would pivot to something similar to Segway for $1000.
- jim-greer 14y agoLooks awesome - I'm wondering if the engine braking is reliable enough to depend on going down a big San Francisco hill?
- jdietrich 14y agoThese contraptions are illegal to use in public and if they become popular the laws against them will be enforced immediately, because they're incredibly dangerous. It is impossible to provide effective braking on a skateboard. The rider has absolutely no means of impeding their forward movement, so even if the board has effective brakes it's just going to throw them off. This is a minor problem if you're rolling around a skatepark, but it's a Big Fucking Deal if you're commuting in traffic. It might be conceivable to overlook this failing if it weren't for the fact that tiny unsuspended wheels have almost no capacity to absorb bumps and road defects. Anyone who skated as a teenager will remember being thrown to the ground by a small piece of gravel stopping the wheel. Add 2000w of tractive power and city traffic and you've got a recipe for disaster. Someone is going to die, their family will sue and they will quite rightly win enough money to bankrupt a small company. Boosted Boards are marketing their device as a vehicle and advertising it's suitability as a means of transport, which completely obliterates any defence they might have had. The laws against unlicensed motor vehicles will be enforced and the police will start confiscating them on sight. The electric skateboard returns to it's rightful place in the gimmick section of a sporting goods store, next to the mini-scooters and the moon shoes. The bicycle has been a safe, practical and sustainable means of transport for over a century. Modern bicycles are lightweight, efficient and have excellent ride quality and braking. Short-range urban transport is a solved problem in all but marketing - Americans remain inexplicably certain that cycling is not for them.
- locnji9308tfo 14y agoGet off my Lawn!
- guelo 14y agoOver the years I have seen all kinds of contraptions used by SF SOMA commuters[1] including plenty of flimsy electric scooters and skateboards. It's possible that it happens but I haven't heard of any deaths or seen cops hassle anyone. My objection to this business would just be that their marketing is probably overselling the idea a bit, but that's par for the course. [1] SF SOMA commuters seems to be the perfect market for this kind of thing since there are a lot of younger well-paid workers traveling 1 to 2 miles from a train stop, and the weather is nice for a lot of the year.
- ck2 14y agoSince the motors aren't direct drive, what happens when the belt gets wet or the trunks flex and the belt slips off?
- frankus 14y agoLooks like they're toothed belts, so they should perform OK when wet. It also looks like they have a belt per wheel, so there's a good deal of redundancy. Because there's apparently no differential gearing it means you have to lift up the outside wheels in tight (e.g. walking speed) turns, but that often happens naturally anyway on a skateboard.
- baddox 14y agoDjfifjd third fjdid I jdjjsjj ddjdsid jdjfjdjdjdhefucisjwbejruchx wheuuvdbwejeheheheheheywhwwehdjdjehehehehehe hdhdjdjehehrjfogpgotjrhehdfifjsgwgqhwuufuvux hshababdnfjcixjsbwbtigivjcjsnanwkrogpfjxjsjw nenriguvuxhsbwjrugjfjdjahwjduhchdh
- sbierwagen 14y agoThose battery housings are pretty small. That, and the 2KW motor, make me worry about range. (They say 6mi, but it's trivially easy to lie about range) The kickstarter page doesn't mention capacity, so let's do some wild ass guessing. It’s boards are just 12-15 pounds, only twice as heavy as the lightweight, top-of-the-line 7 pound Loaded boards they build their electric motors into. 12-7=5lbs of equipment. Assume the motors, drivetrain, and casings take up 3lbs, that's 2lbs for batteries. Assume 200Wh/kg Li-on batteries, which work out to 90.6Wh/lbs, for a total system capacity of 181.2 watt-hours. The watt-hour is a simple unit. A 1 watt-hour battery can run 1 watt of load for 1 hour, or a 6 watt load for 10 minutes, or a .5 watt load for 2 hours. A 181.2 watt-hour battery will be discharged after running: A 2000 watt load for 5.436 minutes. A 1000 watt load for 10.872 minutes. A 500 watt load for 21.744 minutes. A 250 watt load for 43.488 minutes. A 100 watt load for 108.72 minutes. The worst case scenario is even worse than you'd think, since electrochemical batteries don't have a flat discharge curve: the harder you discharge them, the less capacity you have. Boosted advertises their 2000 watt motors in bold print, but if you actually ran them that hard for any length of time, you'd discharge the battery.
- branchan 14y agoSeems like a lot of users not familiar with skateboard/longboarding are weighing in their opinion on the safety issues presented by this product. This product presents no more danger to the user or the general public than does a normal skateboard/longboard. So obviously yes, just like a bike or skateboard, don't expect to just be able to hop on and cruise from day 1.
- rickdale 14y agoThis is so cool. I don't even care about the practical implications of using the board in the city. I just want it for walking my dog. $1199 to you. First kickstarter project backed. Skateboarding today is forever evolving and the electronic skateboard should evolve with it. Way back when the mega jump was created guys would hold onto motorcycles to gain enough speed to get super air and do insane tricks. I wonder if this technology could give professional riders the ability to gain infinite (or seemingly) amounts of speed.
- orangethirty 14y agoWhat type of battery does this use? LiPo?
- dchichkov 14y agoFrom a former electric skateboard user: make it light. Three times lighter of that first gen electric skateboard. That means 10 lbs.
- aliirz 14y agoI don't think this will ever be able to replace bicycles or cars. This thing cannot be safe. Let's say Mr.A is riding one of tbethese on a busy road and has to make a quick brake on high speed. The board will come to a stop but the momentum his body has gained will make him fall seriously injuring or killing him. So its a toy, not a serious transportation device IMO.
- rms 14y agoHow many of these were brought to Burning Man this year?
- Tichy 14y agoDon't call it magical if it can't fly.
- jmccaffrey 14y agoAlot of people are getting down on this... I'm very excited. I live in downtown San Jose, and _alot_ of people tool around on long-boards already; I've been thinking about getting one and I'm a dedicated cyclist. The city is quite flat, and the bikelanes and side-walks are wide and nearly empty. Combined with a high bike-theft rate, and this would be a great way to scoot around. So even if it might not work where you live, there are places where this contraption fits perfectly.