
Boosted's Electric Skateboard (YC S12) - sethbannon
http://www.wired.com/2014/05/boosted-board/
======
nl
I can't wait to see what kind of vehicle Boosted start working on next now
they have this done.

Electric bicycles are a good, existing market (especially in Europe), but
there are already some good options there and I suspect their prefer something
where their R&D is more directly applicable (bicycles are heavier and human
power can take a bigger proportion of the propulsion load). OTOH, it might be
possible to engineer an add-on solution for existing bikes that would work
well.

Electric scooters seems like a good bet. The form factor is similar, and I'd
imagine many of the technologies can be directly transplanted. I think a
folding electric scooter could be more practical than a longboard for many
people.

There are of course more exotic options. The self-balancing electric unicycle
(which was on HN the other day) was interesting, and I'd hope there are other
things waiting to be invented.

Anyway - I'm very excited about the increased diversity in transport options.

~~~
harpastum
There's an interesting electric scooter that just launched a few months ago
called the URB-E: [http://urb-e.com](http://urb-e.com)

------
GuiA
Last time an article about Boosted Boards frontpaged HN, commenters raised
very valid concerns about the legality of it. While it's still a niche thing
it'll fly under the radar, but if this thing becomes super popular, it's
pretty certain a law will pass to end the fun.

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4506979](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4506979)

Other than that, as a longboarder who sadly can't longboard to work in
downtown SF because of slight hills on my commute, I'd love to get one of
those. If there are Boosted Boards employees/founders reading this: do you
offer the possibility to come to your office and try one out? At a third or
half the price it'd be a no brainer, but at $2000 I' m certainly not buying
one without having tried it first.

~~~
knorby
There was at least some effort to legalize them in California:

[http://blog.sfgate.com/stew/2014/03/11/california-bill-
would...](http://blog.sfgate.com/stew/2014/03/11/california-bill-would-pave-
way-for-electric-skateboards/)

Though the CA DMV seems to classify them as motor scooters:

[http://www.chp.ca.gov/html/motors.html](http://www.chp.ca.gov/html/motors.html)

It doesn't seem like the law is a serious concern at any rate, although I
didn't research other states. If the question is if you need a motorcycle
license or not, it seems like the industry is in a good position.

------
billmalarky
I'm excited to see the number of players in the electric skateboard market.
I'd like to see costs come down though, it seems like all of them are in the
$1200-$2000 range with not much differentiation. I suspect the one who can
bring costs down while maintaining quality will be the winner in this market.

I'm not sure what Boosted is bringing to the table honestly, compared to
brands like
[Evolve]([http://evolveskateboardsusa.com/](http://evolveskateboardsusa.com/))
that have been out for a while now and have better specs at a significantly
lower price.

~~~
Brashman
Boosted is using Loaded longboards which are high-quality longboards. As a
longboarder, it gives me confidence that the board will be fun to ride as
opposed to being just a plank of wood on wheels. On the other hand, those
Evolve boards look decent. The costs of all of these are really too high for
me right now, so I'll admit I haven't seriously looked into it.

~~~
billmalarky
I don't have an Evolve board but I'm considering one. I'd suggest giving them
a look (much longer distance on one charge). I think I'll end up with either
an evolve board or a onewheel. I do wish it was possible to test them out
first to see how the ride really feels but I'm sure I would end up pretty
happy with anything.

~~~
skdoo
If you want to try a Boosted board, email us at community@. There are
different boards, and some are better for different riding profiles. Happy to
help you decide.

------
jseip
The cost is totally prohibitive, even for the early adopter market. Boosted -
I was working on this problem (far less successfully than you - hat tip) and
came to the conclusion that you have to give people a low starting cost and
the ability to upgrade over time. Give me brushed motors, NiMH batteries and
cheap trucks to start with for closer to $600USD. Once you've hooked me on the
product (and I'm confident you will) offer me upgrades to LiFEPO4 batteries,
better bearings, brushless motors, RadiKS wheels, etc. Up-front pricing will
not win this market!

------
xal
I've used mine every day since I got it. It's hard to describe how amazing the
riding experience is.

~~~
skdoo
Thank you!

------
Holbein
Boosted boards are 6.8kg. The Marbel board is even lighter at 4.5kg(!), so
it's even easier to carry, and the range is greater as well (16km instead of
9.6km):

[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1664522105/marbel-
the-l...](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1664522105/marbel-the-lightest-
electric-skateboard-in-the-wor)

~~~
nikatwork
That Marbel board has a nice form factor, interesting to see the different
choice of material for the deck. It's great to see some competition in this
space. Hopefully someone will put a spring bushings option on one of these
products.

~~~
rasz_pl
It actually looks like they made it this way to hide batteries in the middle
cavity.

------
msandford
I can't understand why these things are so damn expensive.

You can get a longboard skateboard for $100-$300 or so. I'm sure you can spend
more but that's a good starting number. That's for the board, the trucks, the
bearings and wheels. [http://www.daddiesboardshop.com/longboards/complete-
longboar...](http://www.daddiesboardshop.com/longboards/complete-longboards)

It seems like a decent, 1000W+ motor can be had for less than $200.
[http://www.e-fliterc.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=EFLM40...](http://www.e-fliterc.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=EFLM4060A)

Controllers are around $100 each, I'm not sure if you could use a single large
one or if you'd need a pair of smaller ones.
[http://www.e-fliterc.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=EFLA10...](http://www.e-fliterc.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=EFLA1080B)

One of these packs would be enough juice to get you moving, but it might take
two to get you the range you need.
[http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__45145__Turnigy_na...](http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__45145__Turnigy_nano_tech_A_SPEC_G2_5000mah_6S_65_130C_Lipo_Pack.html)
So call that $300 in parts.

Okay so $200 for the board, $400 for the motors, $200 for the controllers, and
$300 for the batteries. We're now at $1100. After that what's left? I can
think of:

A charger? $200 max
[http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__11597__iCharger_3...](http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__11597__iCharger_3010B_1000W_10s_Balance_Charger.html)

Controls? Figure what, $100 for the radio unit and the receiver and whatnot.
Probably much less.

Last are all the brackets and driveline parts. I figure you could machine the
motor brackets out of aluminum for less than $50 per pair in quantity, the
pullies are only $20 each in quantity and the belts aren't terribly expensive
either.

So that's $1400 worth of parts if you're buying them at retail. If you're
making quantities of these things of at least a few hundred you're going to be
getting better deals than that bringing your cost down to $1200 or $1000 each.

If I'm not completely full of shit here (and I recognize I might be, this is
15min worth of googling) I guess I can't understand why these things cost $2k
to buy.

~~~
qq66
You're not accounting for literally any costs besides parts. R&D, assembly,
testing, support, shipping, insurance, marketing, administrative, taxes... I
actually doubt that they are spending $1200 on parts because if they were,
they would be taking a massive loss on a $2000 retail price.

~~~
msandford
Yeah, sure but I'm also accounting for parts at RETAIL. I'm not talking to
manufacturers and getting wholesale pricing.

I get that there's R&D and all the other things you've mentioned. I guess I
didn't realize all that was going to cost $600-$1200 per board. I've always
made the assumption that when you're not talking about software that your
material costs dominate your price.

Given all that it would seem to make sense for someone moderately interested
in an electric longboard as a hobby to build their own. If they're going to
charge themselves for their time, obviously not as it would be a $20k device.
But if you're interested in it anyhow it sounds like you can get a 50% or more
discount.

~~~
argonaut
You're also forgetting... they have to make a profit on this! You're also
paying for the near-or-at six-figure salaries of the engineers that have
worked on this for a few years.

------
timhargis
Great product. I was on the pre-order list at $1299 and was disappointed to
then get an email a month ago saying the price went up to $2000.

Outside of that, awesome job on the product. Looks great.

~~~
skdoo
I'm sorry about this. I wish we had a way to keep the price that low. If you'd
like to try one for a bit, email me at community@

~~~
timhargis
I'm not in the Bay Area and am in Phoenix? Would this still apply?

~~~
skdoo
We'll figure out a way to make it happen. Email me at community@ and we'll set
you up.

------
yazaddaruvala
Anyone know how waterproof this thing is? In the north west more than half my
walking commutes are in the rain.

~~~
olavgg
They're not supposed to be used when it's wet outside.

------
brc
Seems like it needs anti-theft. Maybe a Bluetooth wheel lock if it is away
from a paired device?

------
dang
The article title is a tad too linkbaity (plus slightly misleading, given its
final sentence), so we changed it to the caption from the photo.

