
New Electric Skateboard Models - lelf
http://boostedboards.com/new-electric-skateboard-models/
======
aidenn0
Too bad they are still illegal to use in California:

[https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/pubs/vctop/vc/d11/c...](https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/pubs/vctop/vc/d11/c5/21968)

~~~
skdoo
This law was written in the 70s for gas-powered skateboards. We and others are
working to change this, possibly as soon as the upcoming legislative session.

------
revelation
Why does an electic skateboard need 2kW motors when motorized bicycles work
just fine up to 18mph with 250W of support?

~~~
stevenrace
Because it's fun.

To be fair, 250W on an ebike is 'not fun' or anywhere close to the legal
limits in the US (750-1000W).

The happy spot seems to be 2500-5000W for most hub driven ebikes. I turned my
bike down to 1000W this afternoon and couldn't imagine running anything less.

Endless-sphere [1] is the place to go if you're interested in
eskateboards/ebikes with a bent towards DIY/highpower.

[1] [http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=35](http://endless-
sphere.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=35)

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gphil
An alternative to this without a remote is ZBoard
([http://www.zboardshop.com](http://www.zboardshop.com)), which uses weight
sensing (like a Segway) to control the speed instead of a remote which seems a
little more natural to ride to me than something with a hand remote like this.

~~~
erso
I've owned both. Had a ZBoard, have a Boosted Board.

The ZBoard is utter trash compared to the Boosted Board. Build quality, ease
of operation, sound of operation, ride quality are all far superior on the
Boosted Board.

~~~
johnyzee
As someone with a fair amount of experience on an electric board (ZBoard
type), I like that Boosted puts the battery packs and electronics at either
end of the board. Other boards have the battery pack in the middle and it gets
in the way of clearing obstacles.

Also, hand controller works nicely for me so I see no obvious advantage to
having my weight distribution impact the board's motion.

------
skdoo
One of the founders here. If anyone would like to try one, please email us at
community@boostedboards.com!

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nextstep
From the FAQ ([http://boostedboards.com/faq/](http://boostedboards.com/faq/)):

>BRAKING DOWNHILL ON A FULL BATTERY WILL CAUSE BOARD SHUTDOWN since the regen
will overcharge the battery. To prevent this from happening, the remote will
warn you by beeping, and you’ll lose your braking power. Safely come to a stop
before this happens, and ride on flats or uphill to drain the battery.

This seems like a pretty big design flaw.

~~~
jamesaguilar
It's not so much a design flaw as physics. Without adding brakes, what else
could they do? They only have two energy sinks on board. The wheels aren't a
sink when going downhill and the battery isn't a sink once it is full (unless
you enjoy explosions[1]).

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQ27lAAwGsY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQ27lAAwGsY)

~~~
Ecio78
semi joke: what about dissipating energy in excess via heat, sound and flames?
:)

more seriously: what about having a setting for not fully charging the battery
(let's say 80-90%), possibly user configurable, so if you don't risk your life
if you forget about it?

and finally a question: how does a Prius work? according to this[1] _The
amount of electrical energy capable of dissipation is limited by either the
capacity of the supply system to absorb this energy or on the state of charge
of the battery or capacitors. Effective regenerative braking can only occur if
the battery or capacitors are not fully charged. For this reason, it is normal
to also incorporate dynamic braking to absorb the excess energy._

Searching online I found this[2] that seems to be not that far from my semi
joke :) as a user says "instead of taking that energy and putting into the
battery, the engine throws it off as heat." But it's also true that a Prius is
way more complex and bigger, so it could have more features put in place
compared to a small board like this.

[1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regenerative_brake](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regenerative_brake)
[2] [http://priuschat.com/threads/fully-charged-hv-battery-no-
reg...](http://priuschat.com/threads/fully-charged-hv-battery-no-regenerative-
braking.93230/#axzz3JsRbhwcD)

~~~
jamesaguilar
Prius regeneratively brakes until the battery is full, then engine brakes.

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shawn-butler
Boosted used as an adjective where I come from means stolen.

What is the lifetime on the wheels? At $1500 I would almost want a grease port
to maintain it on my own.

~~~
skdoo
Many boards have run over 1000 miles, and we have yet to replace wheels due to
wear. Maintenance involves replacing bearings, and eventually wheels, but no
grease port.

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j00lz
They imply that providing a firmware update for free is a massive gesture of
good will for existing users. When is this not the norm??

~~~
mschuster91
Just take a PC... Windows is it's firmware and if you want to upgrade it, then
you have to pay. (Or, switch to Linux).

Or take some cars which are different models, with different power/torque
ratings, but mechanically they are the same - the only difference is made in
the MCU software. Or cars with their maximum speed locked and only unlocked
after paying a nice sum of money (iirc it was the VW Golf GTI).

~~~
stinos
_Windows is it 's firmware_

For a PC I'd rather call it the software, or the OS, and call the BIOS it's
firmware. Which can usually be updated for free.

~~~
mschuster91
A PC with just a BIOS is unusable, though.

~~~
kaoD
A skateboard without wheels is unusable too, and wheels are not firmware
either.

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arm
Ha, what a coincidence. I see this on Hacker News a day after reading this¹
(found here²).

――――――

¹ — [http://endless-
sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=904577#p904...](http://endless-
sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=904577#p904577)

² —
[http://www.ebikes.ca/news/Electrafest/](http://www.ebikes.ca/news/Electrafest/)

------
mahyarm
Because electric skateboards cannot be used in the rain, I'm wondering if
there are any other last mile commute vehicles that are electric but wouldn't
require a special bike rack on the train, since they are usually full at
commute hours. The nice thing about the skateboard is its compactness

~~~
whyenot
Maybe RocketSkates?

[http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/10/feet-on-with-
rocketsk...](http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/10/feet-on-with-rocketskates-
which-are-exactly-what-they-sound-like/)

------
gvr
I wonder if Boosted Boards has tried putting the propulsion system on a
regular skate deck instead of a longboard. Looking at the powered truck design
it seems it should be doable. It seems the market would be bigger since most
skaters don't ride longboards.

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marvin
Can these boards be used in the rain, or when the road is damp? Where I live,
roads are wet ~40% of the time, so if not this would be a huge no-go.

~~~
ngokevin
Normal boards shouldn't be ridden in the rain anyways. The trucks and bearings
will rust, rendering your board into a piece of wood.

Which is unfortunate, since I live in Oregon, and I used to cruise my
Miniglider everywhere. When it rained, I had to resort to walking.

~~~
Gracana
Your trucks are probably aluminum and will be fine, and you can run sealed
bearings. Riding in the wet really isn't such a big deal. The biggest problem
is spray off of the wheels.

~~~
jonesetc
The board damage (if made of wood) is unavoidable though.

~~~
jamesaguilar
You can seal the wood with some kind of lacquer, though, right?

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27182818284
I was kind of excited to buy one of these, but you know, winter is coming.
Look forward to the improvements that are out when spring arrives.

~~~
Titanbase
Christmas is coming!

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coralreef
I'd love to own one of these one day.

Anyone think they can get the top model's quality at a price below $1k in a
few years?

~~~
skdoo
The top model has the best performance, but the quality of all models is
equally high. There's a floor to how cheaply this technology can be built
today without compromising quality and long-term reliability.

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eCa
What is the advantage of something like this compared to something like an
Airwheel [1]?

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz05Cyzuo1Y](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz05Cyzuo1Y)

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pkrumins
$999 seems a bit pricey.

~~~
lnanek2
How so? A brand new 49cc moped is around $2k in the states. This is a low
production scale electrical vehicle with no gas use for half that.

~~~
jdhawk
Mostly because I can get a 12-15mile range foldable scooter for $500.

[http://www.amazon.com/Super-1000watt-Electric-Scooter-
button...](http://www.amazon.com/Super-1000watt-Electric-Scooter-
button/dp/B001T8E6KM/ref=sr_1_8?s=action-
sports&ie=UTF8&qid=1416674161&sr=1-8&keywords=electric+moped)

~~~
conductr
I'd gladly pay a little extra to get the size and weight of the board vs this
75 lb scooter; that despite folding does not seem practical at all.

Also, there's obviously a cool factor built in the price. This board is the
tesla to your Nissan Leaf.

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mkaroumi
Wow, I WANT ONE!

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Jochim
I genuinely see nothing good about this product...

~~~
scrapcode
This is entirely personal opinion as-is. Perhaps you could discuss what you
see as being _bad_ about this product.

~~~
Jochim
Mostly its combined drawbacks making it worse than the alternatives.

It's pretty heavy, a bicycle of around the same cost doesn't weigh much more
than some models.

It has low range, you can get a motorised bicycle for much cheaper which has
more than 3 times the range.

It can't be used in the wet, while this might not be a problem depending where
you live, you're kind of screwed if it rains on your way somewhere or before
you go home.

It's fairly sensitive, you're specifically recommended not to do fairly common
things with it.

It's expensive, if it was fairly cheap I could see people overlooking the
drawbacks and maybe using it for messing around on.

I guess it'd be OK if you really hated bikes and lived in an area where it
never rained with everything nearby. The whole thing just seems really
underwhelming to me.

~~~
scrapcode
Good points. It's best to avoid wet weather with skateboards, electric or not.

