
E-Go: A sub-$1000 electric longboard - vladgur
http://e-go.com/
======
rickdale
I was an early backer of the boosted boards on kickstarter. Got my board just
over 2 months ago now. Its really impressive. Goes forward and backward with
ease, which is really nice, and it can get moving pretty fast. Bonus, my dog
loves to chase me while I am riding on it. And it runs over everything.
Overall, I would sum up my boosted board experience as feeling the same way I
did when I used the iphone for the first time. So in essence, I feel like with
these boards you will get what you pay for.

~~~
thinkbohemian
Had you previously looked into other boards? Why did you choose boosted over
all the other options out there?

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thinkbohemian
I've had an Altered skateboard (600 watts, 20mph max speed) for over 7 years
now and it costs $700. An electric longboard at this price point isn't exactly
revolutionary. What makes this board different?

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lolwutf
It's not 42 pounds, like an Altered board? This is, in fact, a main selling
point directly on the page...

~~~
thinkbohemian
That's a good point. I did my senior project (mechanical engineer) on the
boards. Developed a NiMH replacement to their lead acid batteries which
dropped off 10-ish pounds. I also milled out a handle so you can carry it by
the back (leave the front two wheels on the ground and roll it like a
suitcase). Both of those things combined the board ends up being 18 pounds in
your hand. It's totally not stock though, and I sometimes forget that :)

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dchichkov
That's great! Note that the going board weight now is 14 pounds (they are
claiming 6.3 kg)! We should say our thanks to BoostedBoards for paving the way
and setting the target weight number to 14 pounds, down from 40.

As a BoostedBoards kickstarter backer and a rider of both 40 pound bords and
14 pound ones, I can tell that we've got to the point when they are actually
finally usable!

And I'm looking forward to a 8 pound carbon fiber board with electronics and
battery integrated inside the board and 4-weel drive brush-less out-runner
motors integrated into the wheels. (BTW, if anyone is interested, no promises,
but say 500k and 1 year of time and I can try making you a prototype of a
board like that ;) )

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dantiberian
Interesting timing, Boosted have just announced final pricing at $1995 USD. It
certainly looks impressive, it's slightly lighter than a Boosted board. I
couldn't see a top speed though, Boosted has always seemed on the verge of
terrifyingly fast (20 mph, 32 km/h) but the riders in this video seemed to be
going slower than that.

~~~
yuhao
It says on the site under the "Controller" tab that it can go 13 mph.

It's certainly interesting, as you could literally buy almost three of these
for the price of one Boosted Board. I'm on the preorder list of Boosted, and
was actually pretty upset/angry that they increased the price by more than
50%.

~~~
skdoo
I'm really sorry about the price increase. We honored the promised price for
everyone we asked for money from, even though we lost money on each one. If we
could build our technology at the original price estimate for all our
preorders without shutting down, we would absolutely do so. But the only other
option is compromising the quality or performance of the board, and we'd
rather build a few great boards than a bunch of mediocre ones.

~~~
thmcmahon
I wouldn't sweat it too much, the cheap knock-offs will come and go. If you
guys can deliver quality, then it will be worth it. That being said, 1300 I
can justify as a toy, 2k is pushing it a little.

~~~
YuneecE-GO
The E-GO is far from a cheap knock off. It comes from Yuneec.com who make real
electric aircraft and are experts in Electric Propulsion Systems. It is our
ability to do mass production which has brought the price down. The design and
testing was done by an international team in including several ex-pat
Europeans and American employees of Yuneec. We make most of the components in
the E-GO and our own motors have a 15 year development history. We also now
use auto short circuit protection Panasonic batteries, the best and most
expensive in the industry, just like Tesla does.

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gk1
I honestly didn't realize there's a market for 1,000-dollar boards.

When I used to skateboard (not longboard), I enjoyed the simplicity and flow
of just pushing and coasting. I also didn't have to worry about holding
controllers, damaging the board (a replacement cost $30-$50), or battery life.

~~~
dantiberian
The job to be done here is quite different from traditional longboarding.
While you could skate 6km to work, you are likely to get sweaty and need a
shower. I see this as somewhere between a bike and a moped in the travel
capabilities it gives you.

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vladgur
Im a lucky owner of a Boosted Board and i can tell that with my 220lb frame
the board can go much faster than I would feel comfortable and its torque is
scary good. Whether its 3 times better than this board, I wouldnt know untill
i try the E-GO if ever.

One thing that jumped at me right away from the E-Go pics is that the singular
compartment that probably holds the battery and the controller is placed
across almost entire length of the bottom of the board. And when somebody
flexes it by moving around, the whole compartment flexes. [1]

I think that makes the plastic more prone to cracking than that of a Boosted
Board where controller is placed on one side and the batteries are placed on
another with nothing in between them.[2]

[1] [http://youtu.be/_MqTg2bGv3E?t=41s](http://youtu.be/_MqTg2bGv3E?t=41s)

[2] [http://boosted.staging.wpengine.com/wp-
content/uploads/2014/...](http://boosted.staging.wpengine.com/wp-
content/uploads/2014/01/Boosted_Board_Front_Quarter1.jpg)

~~~
khrynisx
As an owner of a Boosted Board, how realistic is the range that they spec? Are
you getting a full 6 miles?

I'm the same size as you and I have owned 2 electric skateboards (e-glide /
evolve). Both of my previous boards promised much farther range than I have
been able to get ... with both actually delivering about 6 miles of real range
with real world riding.

~~~
vladgur
HEre is what somebody shared on facebook

[https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152007349208170&se...](https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152007349208170&set=o.380746445290426&type=1&stream_ref=10)

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dmazin
This appears to be a pretty straight ripoff of Boosted Boards, down to color.
Though with an obvious price difference.

~~~
sizzle
I thought Loaded Boards was attributed for creating this style?

~~~
dmazin
I'm honestly just talking about logo design and color. The Boosted board is
from Loaded.

~~~
veemjeem
I fail to see similarities between boosted's logo and e-go's logo. They are so
incredibly different. E-go's logo looks more similar to ubuntu's logo, so one
could argue that boosted borrowed their style from ubuntu?

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Jack000
I actually bought an e-go a couple of weeks ago (had a boosted preorder but
couldn't wait)

to address some of the comments on this page:

\- flex: the orange things on the side of the battery are rubber, conceiling
gaps in the plastic. This allows the entire battery enclosure to flex.

\- range: I was sceptical about the 30km claim, but so far I've only been able
to run the charge down to 50%. I opened up the battery enclosure, and they're
using 28x samsung ICR18650-26F cells, so it does seem there's quite a bit of
juice.

\- planes: note that the battery is above 100Wh (more than 200?) and can't be
brought on a plane. I did not know this and took it in my luggage..

\- downhill: I noticed that the braking has a maximum force, so on very steep
hills (20% ?) it would be braking at its max but you'd still be accelerating.
Probably not a big issue for experienced boarders, but scary for a beginner
like me.

~~~
headwai
I ordered mine today and am super pumped to get it! When I got the email today
about boosted raising the price to $2000 I was bummed. Then I saw this post on
hacker news and it totally made my day.

How long did it take to ship and arrive after you ordered?

~~~
Jack000
Pretty quick, like a week. They didn't ship to Canada at the time so I had to
use a mail forwarding service.

~~~
headwai
Sweet!

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brdrak
As someone who's been longboarding for years (including commute), I would be
interested in something that:

* Would let me ride normally, without using the motor at all (e.g. gear in neutral).

* Would recharge going down hill.

* Would assist me going up a steep hill.

My current board is 40+ inch Arbour board that I got for around $200 5-6 years
ago. Every couple of years, I spend ~$40 on new barings (too lazy to
maintain).

I don't actually want an electric board most of the time, as it's one of few
sources of exercise for me, but it'd be nice to have an assist going up hill.

Not sure I'd spend more than $400-$500 though.

~~~
akrolsmir
It looks like the E-GO hits the first two points, and, purely speculating, I'd
imagine that at full power it would assist you uphill as well.

~~~
mschuster91
On the website it says it supports up to 10%, so I'd say yes on that.

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thekevan
Am I the only person who would rather buy a $1000 beater Jeep, a moped, a
camper, a couple bicylces or some mid 70s, so-ugly-it's awesome car than a
$1000 skateboard?

~~~
m_mueller
Don't forget cost of ownership - $1000 for a car is just the start - after
that you need to insure it, service it and pay for the gas - that's probably
more per year than the initial price.

~~~
thekevan
If you were looking for a beater, many of what I listed could be purchased for
$500. The bike has almost no cost to upkeep, the moped very little, the camper
a little more. Any vehicle that would be bought as a nice weather toy could be
insured at a lower rate and would not be used as much as most vehicles, so it
would have a much lower maintenance cost.

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xcambar
Sorry but I think (long time) riders won't go for it. I've been riding a
longboard for 15 years, every time I do is pure bliss, and it comes at the
price of some old-fashioned muscular effort, and believe or not, the effort is
part of the bliss.

As I once said to a rider friend, I think of electric longboards like "the
lazy hipster version of the electric shopping cart". Useful, but not fun.

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JFarkas
I got mine E-Go Cruiser about a month ago and it really has brought back the
love of skateboarding in me. Now I take lunch breaks to just hit the streets,
which has a nice zen-like quality.

It is light, fast, can bowl over anything, and the charge lasts a spooky long
time. The one note is the brake takes some getting used to in how touchy it
can be, but by far worth the money.

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gamegoblin
The video shows them riding these around Shanghai, which, having been a
pedestrian in Shanghai, seems like a really good way to get killed (though
Shanghai is MUCH better the many other parts of China).

Cool board though! Looks a bit sluggish. I'd probably shell out the extra
grand for a Boosted Board.

~~~
YuneecE-GO
The team is made up of plenty of International ex-pats and yes we designed and
manufacture the Yuneec E-GO at Yuneec HQ (www.yuneec.com)just outside
Shanghai. It is not sluggish, we experimented with many speeds before deciding
on the final one to satisfy 90% of people, 90% of the time and we put safety
first.

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glenntzke
As a long time skateboarder (mostly street and transition with dabbling in
longboarding with some friends' boards) I see this as the segway of
skateboards. Looks like a neat commuter ride for those who want minimal effort
and minimal excitement, but it removes much of the joy of skating.

You don't see anyone sliding these boards or reverting (180) - I wonder what
the effect on the motors is if you try that. And several posts here mention
speed and this really looks spiritless. I suppose their target audience is a
far cry from the street skater, but even my purely commuter long boarding
friends opt for quality bearing/wheel combos for speed, control, and certainly
fun in their ride.

~~~
YuneecE-GO
See
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-d5pZ6lmsM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-d5pZ6lmsM)
some seasoned skateboarders trying out an E-GO for the first time. As far as
speed goes, an E-GO Cruiser travelling at 20 km/hr or 13mph can \-- Cruise
along at 5.5 meters / 18 feet every second \-- Can cross a doubles tennis
court in under 2 seconds \-- Can do a length of an Olympic size Swimming Pool
in 9 seconds before the Olympians have even got half way \-- Can do an
American football field end zone to end zone in under 20 seconds \-- Travels
at about twice the speed of an average marathon runner over the same distance
\-- After your friend gives up after 500 metres running along side you, you
carry on for another 20,000m +

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aray
Why are Boosted Boards ($1995) at a 6 mile range and E-Go ($700) at a 15
(Edit: 18!) mile range?

With the huge price difference I would expect just the opposite.

Edit: [http://e-go.com/feature-1](http://e-go.com/feature-1) apparently E-Go
has a 18.6 mile range when not in winter (< 50 degrees F) temperatures.

~~~
gridspy
It takes far more energy to travel at 20 miles/h (Boosted) rather than 12
(E-Go).

Also range measurements can be deceptive. Perhaps the boosted board was
measured in harsher conditions (more stops and starts say, or different
weight, or different incline).

~~~
skdoo
Boosted's battery has 99 Wh of capacity, while E-Go's has 230 Wh. Barring a
significant difference in system efficiency, we would guess about a 2.3x
difference in range under similar testing conditions.

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listic
I wonder if a Solowheel is better for the rest of us, who are not into boards?
Their site is down for now, though :(

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rahimnathwani
Accessing this site from China redirects me to
[http://e-go.com/geoblocked](http://e-go.com/geoblocked), which says "CONTENT
NOT AVAILABLE. We're sorry, but this web site is not available in your
country."

~~~
YuneecE-GO
Sorry but Yuneec Technology do not sell our products in China, after 15 years
in business we have many patents which have been abused too many times in
China, so we do not sell there.

~~~
jotm
Can that really help? I mean, they could purchase a board outside of China and
reverse engineer it there...

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sterlingross
I got excited at the prospect of a new surfboard. Alas, this is a long
skateboard.

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xal
Boosted send an email this morning that their boards will retail at $1,995

~~~
samstave
SO their MFR cost is ~$650....

~~~
skdoo
Incorrect. If that was the case, we would fulfill all our preorders at the
original estimated price.

~~~
samstave
Mfr cost ==??

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mahyarm
Is it waterproof? Almost all electric boards aren't, which doesn't make them
something you cannot rely on. It could be sunny when you go out and raining on
the way back for example.

~~~
malandrew
You don't want to be longboarding when it is raining anyways even on a non-
electric longboard. I've done it tons of times myself, but there are the
following issues:

* bearings will get dirt in them that will greatly reduce their life * if you don't have expensive ceramic bearings you'll want to pull out the bearings and make sure to get the water out and get them dry, otherwise they might experience some rusting (even the stainless steel ones). * Stopping distance is way way longer when its raining.

If you're riding in the the rain you're greatly limited to fewer conditions
under which you can ride and any time saved by riding will be offset by the
time spent drying, cleaning and maintaining your board.

~~~
projct
For the rainy season around here (FL,) I got a cheap set of bearings and put
some lithium grease in them to keep the water out. The grease will eventually
wear the bearings down but it definitely keeps them from rusting, and they
actually get a bit of vibration dampening out of it, which is nice on our
gravelly-textured roads.

Stopping distance would be the real problem for an electric board in the rain,
though.

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sukuriant
It may be the season, but I'd love for it to be able to go faster (15-20?),
and for the rider to be able to attach the board more firmly to themselves,
more like a freebord.

~~~
ngokevin
You don't want to get stuck to the board in case you want to stop on your own
(foot-brake) or bail (college-brake). The grip/concave is enough to lock in.

~~~
sukuriant
freebords don't actually lock you in, they're hooked. I'm thinking of the ease
and control you have. I was never a skater, so I don't fully understand how
you can do hard turns and the like when you're not strapped in, so that is my
weakness there. I still think it'd be cool.

~~~
pandler
I think the control of a freebord comes from the hooks in combination with the
third wheels, not just the hooks. Having done a fair amount of downhill
longboarding, I don't think having hooks on a longboard would give you any
more control and would probably just make it easier for you to face plant. The
control would still have to come from body positioning, legs, and weight
distribution.

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welly
"The future of personal transport".

Is it? Is it really? I skate but this certainly isn't the future of personal
transport.

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morganherlocker
I am not sure why you would want to use the ios app. This is definitely a use
case that requires tactile feedback.

~~~
Zigurd
Look at the unboxing video. It looks like it comes with a physical slider-
switch control.

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projct
Wow, I want this, but I can't justify buying another board for at least a few
more months :(

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trhway
>The E-GO CRUISER by Yuneec Technology, is the future of Personal Electric
Transportation.

nope, it doesn't fly.

