Any chance these will ever get down to ~$300? I guess what I'm asking is if this is the Tesla Roadster and there's an economy model a few generations down the line? Or will this always be for people more serious about using them for commuting, etc?
It looks amazing, but I'm having trouble understanding where the power comes from.<p>The Kickstarter says 20 mph, 6 mile range, 2000 watts, which gives an energy of 600 watt hours.<p>A Macbook battery is around 60 watt hours, and weighs about 1.5 pounds; 10 of those would weigh 15 pounds - and take up a ton of space. I don't see the volume of even ONE in any of the photos I've seen.<p>Where's 600 watt hours of battery hiding?
I love this post because it shows some real engineering. The fact they put so much effort into the test equipment shows that there's some serious characterization going on vs. just throwing together parts.
I really hope the link between the remote and the board is secured properly, it would be a really nasty prank to overpower the transmitter from some vehicle and to cause it to accelerate or come to a sudden stop. Griefers are not limited to being active online.
I think this is still, by far, one of my favorite "last mile" solutions. It's got a pretty slick look, it'll do basically all of the work for me, and I could carry it inside somewhere pretty easily.<p>Biggest downside I'm wondering about is only being able to use it when it's dry out (not sure there much to be doe about that while staying reasonable).<p>I'm a fairly avid cyclist, though. I think than between a boosted board and my trusty bike, I'd cover a pretty huge swath of my use cases.<p>Really interested in this.
One of the reasons for which motors in scooters and other electric vehicles are large and bulky is that they have to be designed to last a long time in real world environments.<p>The motors being used for this project are hobby model aircraft motors. These motors put out a lot of power per unit volume but are most definitely not designed for continuous duty at anywhere near to full output. They are also not sealed against the elements and have bearings selected for reasonably balanced loads with relatively low radial loads.<p>I have piles of these on my workbench ranging from cheap Chinese units to top of the line German designs. I use these on our planes, helicopters, multi-rotors, boats and cars. At the top end you have amazing hand-crafted quality with a prohibitive price (unless you want to pay $8,000 for a skateboard). At the low end they are cheap and they are junk. I've seen everything from magnets coming off, coils burning out, power leads coming off, bearings going bad prematurely and shafts bending.<p>In short, while the design process is interesting, I think the most fundamental flaw is being ignored: The motors are not designed, nor are they suitable for, this kind of an application.
Obligatory: <a href="http://xkcd.com/139/" rel="nofollow">http://xkcd.com/139/</a><p>What are the safety concerns of something like this? A top speed of 20mph will definitely be unstable for general usage, and even 15 seems more like bicycle territory, where you're seated and have an aerodynamic shape.<p>We might see many people falling off of these in the future...
Can you apply this to folding kick scooter?<p>Lightweight electric kick scooter could be useful to larger audience as a "last mile" solution.
Awesome.<p>A go pro video of going from Filbert and Lyon to Filbert and Van Ness, now that would be rock: <a href="http://goo.gl/maps/OlHc7" rel="nofollow">http://goo.gl/maps/OlHc7</a><p>For those that don't live in the city, it's one of the steepest streets in the western hemisphere.
I'd love to see a mountainboard/pneumatic tyre version of this for us poor souls cursed with terrible road surfaces. I'd also love to see compatibility with Original Skateboards spring trucks.<p>But anyways fantastic product, I'll definitely be picking one up at some point.
On the image showing the brushed vs. brushless... How much of that size difference is due to gearing? A scooter shaft's output is much lower RPM than a skateboard. Your gearing seems to be via belt drive.<p>Any chance you'll sell just the motors...? ;)
I really wish the city I live in has much better bike lanes or sidewalks so I could use this thing to get from point a to point b further than just my suburban neighborhood. I can't wait to see people riding these things in the city.
I wonder if they ever considered hub motors for better efficiency and quieter operation (no belt), or would it be too big technical challenge to custom-build (basically the wheel and motor would be single integrated unit).