The World's Lightest Electric Vehicle (opens in new tab)

At a 1,000$ pricepoint I'm not so sure it will be good enough for the masses, especially for such a standard powered longboard setup. Longboards can be found for 100$, add two 50$ brushless motors, a belt-drive setup and a controller, I don't think they can justify that profit margin. I'd expect that with a BMW StreetCarver truck setup, it would be a much easier sell (in fact I would probably buy one). With regards to the product design, I think you'll find the unsupported belt pulley to cause motor failure in normal use (these type of brushless motors are not designed for sideloading, even with dual ball bearings).

I remember you wrote in an essay, that the Segway 'failed' because it makes people look lazy, like a 'smug', when they ride it and that changing the position to skateboard style might be the only change required. [1]

Well, its not a Segway yet, but seem like we're getting there. But maybe this is the optimum already.

edit: found it [1] http://www.paulgraham.com/segway.html

    One says it "changed his life."

I would genuinely like to hear more about this.

This is a dumb question - but they be illegal to ride powered on public roads/sidewalks in the US?

They'd certainly be illegal in the UK... which somewhat reduces the possibility of fun things.

I wonder if applying this technology to something like this: http://www.diytrade.com/china/pd/2572648/Kick_Scooter.html would lower the perceived learning curve and greatly expand their potential market?

Paul, any chance we can see a video of you riding one? :)

I can see its a life-changer. Among the skateboarding crowd. I just think its a smaller demographic than they'd hoped.

Are they street-legal in Cambridge?

It might be pertinent to add that Booster Boards are a YC company.

It looks pretty awesome.

Are you suggesting that, because it takes skill to operate, it's a bad idea?

I commute on my longboard every day between the parking structure on campus and my building, which is about a mile away - takes me 10 minutes of kicking the board around and working up a sweat.

An electric longboard woud fit right into my current commute, except I'd arrive at work without my shirt soaked through.

For this type of commuting, a couple of days practice in a empty parking garage or lot gets you good enough to safely commute, and if the SF hills are intimidating, you can always walk down them.

As for braking, they indicate that the remote does have a brake slider, and by using regenerative braking, they can slow the board down (to some extent). You would still need to know how to brake the board, but the board can stop itself.

This would also be a super fun toy - I already take my longboard out to race down hills, with this I get to ride up before I fly down.

But, a rollerblade version? Can you explain how that doesn't have the same concerns you raised? Rollerblades are even more difficult to brake than skateboards, and you're committed on rollerblades, while on a skateboard you can jump off and carry the board whenever it's inappropriate or too difficult to ride it. There's also zero cost to hopping on a skateboard, while rollerblades involves sitting down and changing your shoes.

I doubt this product will fix all of the transportation woes of the US (which their marketing seems to point to), but it's great for current longboarders and people already interested in unconventional transportation options.

Your posting just made me realize how smart the segway concept is. The brake force automatically matches how much you lean back.

Disclosure: I have never "ridden" a skateboard.

Wouldn't it be very different braking by yourself than being slowed down by anything on the road? You control exactly the speed and brake force you apply to the board so you can balance/react. I see the guys in the video doing pretty well.

Physics of a table attached to a car using a rope are very different from this.

I agree that yes, you should definitely be experienced if you're going to be going 20mph on a longboard. It's fast. But, if you've got brakes, and I've ridden both electric skateboards with brakes and non-electric skateboards with brakes before and both are easy to use, you'll probably never end up going that fast in the first place unless you're being reckless.

A power slide is one way to stop, but brakes work just fine. The reason the sand throws people isn't because they're slowing down, it's that they don't expect it and can't predict how quickly it will slow them down. Decent brakes have neither of those problems.

It would seem that 180HP is indeed a bad idea. These boards are aiming for 2.5 horses, which sounds like a blast.

Thanks for point that out -- I probably would have just assumed it was legal. Would be helpful to see a breakdown of all states it's illegal in under the Legality section of the Kickstarter. Seems like a great way to get around while traveling so I'd want to make sure it's useable in most states (or at least the ones you frequent most).

We're still researching all the legal issues that vary from state to state. So far, we've never heard of a ticket being issued, and all the cops who have seen it think it's a fantastic idea. I think the biggest factor will be how responsible our new users are.

Well, shoot. Looks illegal in Florida too, from a combination of http://www.flhsmv.gov/fhp/misc/News/ScooterRel.htm and http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Displ... (definition #27).

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Displ... section (83) seems to have been added specifically to make Segways legal, so perhaps someone with the resources for lobbying and/or a court battle could make these boards legal.

1977 - was probably gas powered but must have been impressive tech for the time to warrant a ban!

Illegal in Australia, too. In my state, over 1/4 HP classifies as a vehicle and must comply with vehicle codes. Which includes the need for brakes, tail lights, indicators, etc.

The pricing seems like a complete rip-off, to be honest. $10 for a sticker? $40 for a t-shirt? $1000 for a skateboard?

For comparison, you can buy a top-of-the-line longboard for $200, full kit. An essentially equivalent product [1] is selling for $500 a pop, half the price. That's more in line with what I'd pay for a luxury product like this.

Also, I'm not sure how comfortable this would actually be to carry around. Most longboards are around 7 pounds... this says "12 to 15" in the description. So, basically, this is going to feel like I'm carrying two skateboards around, not one.

[1] - http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1645804961/the-zboard-th...

Uhm.. I read it the way you did it for a couple of times and then decided that it's really just a bad way of saying 'back early (25 max) and get a board for $100 less than the next 25 people on the first batch'. In other words: No, I really don't think they give you a $100 rebate for ~$1100 and a full board for $100 more..

Not my native language though..?

There have been plenty of electric longboards before, but none even close to this size. Someone else linked to this: http://www.zboardshop.com/ which is basically the same idea but the difference in implementation is night and day. This board weighs 12lbs, the Z board weighs 37lbs, and it's one of the lighter competitors.

The stickers and t-shirts are meant as a way to help the project while still getting something in return - think of it as a donation with a perk.

As for 1.2k / board - that's quite steep, their BOM (Bill of Materials) should be at most 1/2 of that. A very substantial off-the-shelf 4x (motor + ESC + LiPo) combo will run at the very most for $400.

There's actually a bunch of companies already making these - definitely not an original idea or even an original implementation.

Back in 2007 we used to ride electric boards around UC Berkeley, and they only cost $600.

Part of our tech is very efficient, compact, and (relatively) cheap brushless motor controllers. It's not easy.

2KW sounds a hell of a lot, when a 250W motor on a bike can get up to 20mph? Do you actually use the full 2KW of power? it seems like it would throw the rider to me.

I'm willing to bet from ebike knowledge that the regenerative braking is more of a marketing feature, and may not even break even with the added weight. Have you done tests on this?

Others have touched upon price so i'll ask if you had any concerns about liabilities? and are you hoping to grow organically post-kickstarter, or a funding round?

Are the boards waterproof? I would love to have one but I live in an area that gets a lot of rain, and I'd be terrified of getting caught in a storm and ruining my $1200 board. On the flip side, if it does handle water okay, then I imagine boarding in the rain could be a lot of fun :)

Why the price is so expensive, it would help people to understand and eventually invest?

(Ignore the horrible website) What are your thoughts on this? http://www.metro-board.com/ How does your board compare to the metro board? What makes it special?

Hi! Did you choose to go with LiFe or LiCo's?

It looks like the board uses some kind of modified orangatang wheels, and possibly other custom parts. Long board parts need to be replaced occasionally due to natural wear-and-tear. Will the replacement parts be sold through Boosted? How much do you expect these parts to cost?

How does the board handle inclement weather? Is the board designed to be exposed to rain (even while being transported/carried)?

Do you recommend or discourage riding in say, light rain?

Are there any security features (such as cryptographic authentication linking a remote control and a board) to prevent people from using stolen Boosted Boards?

I have a friend who is a manufacturer of premium long boards in China. Let me know if you are interested in his details.

Any freebies? :-)

I can't even skateboard, but I'd love to try this round London.

The battery casings look pretty small. What's the watt-hour number?

(I'm not critising you massarog just using your post as a hopping on point :)

Kind of a big difference in battery size from the Zboard to the Boosted Board. Quoted mileage is not that different either. Given that the board has to move a human at 20Mph I would wager that the smaller of the two batteries is not big enough. Its barely larger than a couple of mobile phone batteries.

They say the motor is rated at 2kw. Something that size using that much power is going to get pretty hot and the wires and battery are also going to get hot. I'm pretty sure that brushless motors don't like working at low RPM (anything less than about 10,000rpm) Looking at the transmission and wheel size, at 20mph those wheels are going at 1,100rpm. Which means the motors are probably doing about 2-3 times that. Under high load (like this) brushed and brushless motors are comparable efficiency.

I'd love to see a prototype of this but the motors and batteries don't seem powerful enough (having been a model car enthusiast for many years) - I'd love to be proved wrong. I wanted to put some brushless motors on my bike but after doing the calcs never got any further than the drawing board.

ZBoard seems more realistic to me.

The zboard is a different design in that you don't have a hand-held remote, you press on footpads to accelerate/brake.

I would have to try them both out to see which is a better solution to the control problem.

edit: another key difference is that this is 12 pounds vs the 30 to 37 pounds for the zboard. That difference is HUGE.

"Last mile" is a transportation (and telecommunications) term that doesn't mean a literal mile. It's the last leg of your trip. Solutions to the last mile problem will revolutionize transportation, though this probably isn't that solution. I'd bet on bike sharing systems.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_mile_(transportation)

Putting a skateboard on top of a $100 RC car would be less elegant.

Regarding folding bikes, even the smaller ones are still somewhat of a pain to take on the train. But a really tiny one like the "CarryMe" from Pacific Cycles might fit the bill if your "last mile" commute is in the city.

Where I live, there are many urban areas but also many hills / roads with long inclines. Longboarding isn't that popular here because:

1) You can't longboard up a hill, or even much of an incline. 2) More importantly, when you go _down_ a hill, it's pretty difficult to stop quickly (this is why I personally stopped longboarding)

This device would help with both problems!

We are looking into what the final product will do. In our prototypes, we can swap in about 15 seconds with no tools.

Or can it come with a larger pack to begin with? Avoid changing it at all.

Also, it would be really cool if a few years from now, the board became the battery.

Yes.

And on top of that, we've added regenerative braking, accomplished using the motors.