Boosted Boards (YC S12) Unveils Its Magical Electric Skateboard

These contraptions are illegal to use in public and if they become popular the laws against them will be enforced immediately, because they're incredibly dangerous.<p>It is impossible to provide effective braking on a skateboard. The rider has absolutely no means of impeding their forward movement, so even if the board has effective brakes it's just going to throw them off. This is a minor problem if you're rolling around a skatepark, but it's a Big Fucking Deal if you're commuting in traffic.<p>It might be conceivable to overlook this failing if it weren't for the fact that tiny unsuspended wheels have almost no capacity to absorb bumps and road defects. Anyone who skated as a teenager will remember being thrown to the ground by a small piece of gravel stopping the wheel.<p>Add 2000w of tractive power and city traffic and you've got a recipe for disaster. Someone is going to die, their family will sue and they will quite rightly win enough money to bankrupt a small company. Boosted Boards are marketing their device as a vehicle and advertising it's suitability as a means of transport, which completely obliterates any defence they might have had. The laws against unlicensed motor vehicles will be enforced and the police will start confiscating them on sight. The electric skateboard returns to it's rightful place in the gimmick section of a sporting goods store, next to the mini-scooters and the moon shoes.<p>The bicycle has been a safe, practical and sustainable means of transport for over a century. Modern bicycles are lightweight, efficient and have excellent ride quality and braking. Short-range urban transport is a solved problem in all but marketing - Americans remain inexplicably certain that cycling is not for them.

I have been riding an electric skateboard through Copenhagen for a few years (Evo 600: <a href="http://en.evo-skate.com/street600wood/" rel="nofollow">http://en.evo-skate.com/street600wood/</a>). We have great bicycle tracks all over the city which is ideal. The principle of the board is the same, board strapped with an electric motor, controlled by IR remote in the hand. I'll share a few thoughts.<p>First off, my board has a 600 watt motor and does around 20mph, which is <i>fast</i> in the city. I overtake most bicycles (people's faces are priceless). I cannot fathom what a 2000 watt motor would do, seems kind of life-threatening honestly. I haven't had any accidents, flew over the top a couple of times when I hit a high edge, par for the course when skateboarding, but I wouldn't want to go any faster.<p>My board does around 10 kilometers per charge, which is enough for a commute in the city. Not sure how well a 2000 watt motor would fare, I definitely could not accept less range. But my board has the older SLA battery, a lithium battery probably evens the score, while being lighter.<p>How easy is it to drive? You need experience skateboarding or you'll have quite a learning curve. The accelleration needs a good stance to not get dropped off the back, same with breaking vs. flying over the front. Turning is even more cumbersome than with a real skateboard because the board is so heavy, so you need pretty good technique (and space).<p>About safety: If you fall off, drop the remote etc. the board stops, the IR must be in your hand to activate and has a short range either way, so no chance of the board running away from you. As soon as you stop accellerating the board slows right down, and you can brake with the engine too (big advantage over a real skateboard). The engine is engaged all the time so you can't just roll like on a real board. Hopefully these guys solve this problem, would be useful if you're out of battery.<p>About sound, it's not annoying but not quiet either, your regular medium-sized electric motor. In the street it's not particularly noticeable.<p>About legal issues: It's illegal in the street but no one cares. I pass patrol cars all the time and most don't notice that it's not a regular skateboard, or don't care.

This is way cool, but the company has a few challenges to face to be "serious, eco-friendly transportation devices that could replace your bike, scooter, or maybe even your car."<p>I live and work in manhattan and for the summer I've been skating to and from work nearly every day (40ish blocks). According to my research, skateboards are considered "play" devices. Whereas bikes and all motorized vehicles are required to be in the street, skateboarders under 14 must wear a helmet and are not allowed to ride in the street. Older skateboarders have the option, but not the requirement to ride in the street. With the narrow streets, stop and go traffic, out of control cabbies, and people not used to looking for skateboarders, I feel much safer on the sidewalk.<p>There is a law that prevents the reckless operation of skateboards on sidewalks (<a href="http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/nycode/ADC/19/1/3/19-176.1" rel="nofollow">http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/nycode/ADC/19/1/3/19-176.1</a>), and I always take care to be courteous and provide plenty of space to all pedestrians.<p>Where there are bike lanes available, I'll take them, as that also seems to be a legal option, but I've had more run ins with pedestrians in bike lanes than on the sidewalk.<p>I've been stopped by cops twice and told I could not ride on the sidewalk, yelled at by private security and pedestrians, and had pedestrians step out in front of me without looking when I had complete right of way in the bike lane--causing me to have to bail.<p>This said, for any company looking to use skateboards to revolutionize urban travel, education campaigns at all levels will be necessary.

Some context: The average electric bicycle has a 300 watt motor. These baby's have 2000 watt motors (or 2 x 1000 watt motors, I couldn't tell) that are roughly a 5th of the size of an electric bike motor. Include a battery big enough to power that motor and the fact that they're adding regenerative braking, which electric bikes don't have, and this is a seriously awesome engineering challenge.

No motorized skateboards in CA :( <a href="http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc21968.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc21968.htm</a><p>However, I wonder how strongly this is enforced...

Are they waterproof? Could I ride this in Seattle &#38; SF rain all the time without damaging it? Otherwise it's just a fair weather vehicle and it's not something I can rely on.<p>If not, why would I choose this over all the other electric skateboards?<p>Is it safe to use on the steep downgrades you have in SF? Is it useless to use when going uphill on those same hills?

Interesting that YC companies are now raising money with Kickstarter instead of VC... great if you can get it.

One feature suggestion, which you've probably already thought of, is automatic braking in case you fall and the board starts rolling away.

Anybody not know how to skateboard, but would rather do it because of the form factor?<p>What I'm trying to say is: Is there a long board riding tutorial for people who just want to slowly roll around, aren't really in the "skater" scene?<p>In the promo video they're getting onto CalTrain. I'd love it for the quick ride over to BART/CalTrain station.

How is this different from: <a href="http://www.alteredelectricskateboards.com/pro-line_600.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.alteredelectricskateboards.com/pro-line_600.htm</a><p>Except that it has twice the price and half the range?<p>Ok, seems like it's significantly ligther (12 vs 40 lbs). Any other differences?<p>Stronger motors, but still same speed .. strange

Those battery housings are pretty small. That, and the 2KW motor, make me worry about range. (They say 6mi, but it's trivially easy to lie about range) The kickstarter page doesn't mention capacity, so let's do some wild ass guessing.<p><pre><code> It’s boards are just 12-15 pounds, only twice as heavy as the lightweight, top-of-the-line 7 pound Loaded boards they build their electric motors into. </code></pre> 12-7=5lbs of equipment. Assume the motors, drivetrain, and casings take up 3lbs, that's 2lbs for batteries. Assume 200Wh/kg Li-on batteries, which work out to 90.6Wh/lbs, for a total system capacity of 181.2 watt-hours.<p>The watt-hour is a simple unit. A 1 watt-hour battery can run 1 watt of load for 1 hour, or a 6 watt load for 10 minutes, or a .5 watt load for 2 hours.<p>A 181.2 watt-hour battery will be discharged after running:<p><pre><code> A 2000 watt load for 5.436 minutes. A 1000 watt load for 10.872 minutes. A 500 watt load for 21.744 minutes. A 250 watt load for 43.488 minutes. A 100 watt load for 108.72 minutes. </code></pre> The worst case scenario is even worse than you'd think, since electrochemical batteries don't have a flat discharge curve: the harder you discharge them, the less capacity you have.<p>Boosted advertises their 2000 watt motors in bold print, but if you actually ran them that hard for any length of time, you'd discharge the battery.

Why is there an obsession with calling things "magical"? Technology is the opposite of magic. The word "magical" both creates unrealistic expectations and handwaves over all of the incredible technology inside.

You can buy one right now, made in Portland OR, for cheaper:<p><a href="http://metro-board.com/low_cost_electric_skateboard_buynow.htm" rel="nofollow">http://metro-board.com/low_cost_electric_skateboard_buynow.h...</a>

Pretty interesting idea!<p>Serious question by a non-skateboarer: Unlike the Segway this doesn't provide any stability assistance, right? How safe would it be for a newbie to start using this?<p>I'd be worried about falling off this thing. AFAIK, the Segway goes to great lengths to mitigate that risk [although GWB managed to defeat those systems :)].

"Nothing’s scarier than getting going too fast down a hill on a skateboard." Actually if you know how to power slide, going down hills is actually quite fun.<p>Also, is this a full electric board, or do you have the option of pushing and then you can use the motor when you want to?

Add a handle, a steering device, a seat, and make it wider, and I would definitely buy one.

It's difficult to group this directly with the segway. The segway had to adapt it's users to a new form of transportation, the boosted boards already have a large consumer base to dip into. It's a great enhancement.

If this is funded, why is it also on KickStarter? I can't help but feel KickStarter is used mostly as a hype building machine in a lot of cases. People go on their with money burning a hole in their pocket.

This is so cool. I don't even care about the practical implications of using the board in the city. I just want it for walking my dog. $1199 to you. First kickstarter project backed.<p>Skateboarding today is forever evolving and the electronic skateboard should evolve with it. Way back when the mega jump was created guys would hold onto motorcycles to gain enough speed to get super air and do insane tricks. I wonder if this technology could give professional riders the ability to gain infinite (or seemingly) amounts of speed.

I have to wonder though, that kickstarter may not be the best platform for them to get funding for such a project. It seems that most people fund projects on kickstarter because they wish to receive a sample of the soon to be made product, however in this case a long board seems to be geared towards a younger audience, of which usually wouldn't have $1100-$1200 to spend on such a luxury good. Great work though! Would definitely be interesting to see people ride uphill.

Alot of people are getting down on this... I'm very excited.<p>I live in downtown San Jose, and _alot_ of people tool around on long-boards already; I've been thinking about getting one and I'm a dedicated cyclist. The city is quite flat, and the bikelanes and side-walks are wide and nearly empty. Combined with a high bike-theft rate, and this would be a great way to scoot around.<p>So even if it might not work where you live, there are places where this contraption fits perfectly.

Rode a prototype on Stanford campus. This is the real deal, amazingly fun and powerful. $1200 is past my cutoff but I'd love to get one if the price comes down.

I have been longboarding for 10+ years, and riding Loaded boards for most of it (the company that makes the deck they are using). Loaded decks are friggin amazing, and i'm super excited to see a product like this exists. If they can make it function with similar flex as the normal loaded board, and disengage the motors as needed to ride like a normal longboard this could be the best short-range commuting vehicle ever!!

Two questions:<p>Can it be used as a normal skateboard when the battery is dead?<p>How loud is it?

Are these boards common in America or elsewhere. Here in Dublin, Ireland I have seen perhaps one long board in my life.<p>Is there a certain terrain or area which suits these boards or are they good for any urban street type scenario.<p>At that price, I can see no advantage over a bike or even a small motorbike. Wondering is this something that people think will do very well in the market they are targeting?

I don't think this will ever be able to replace bicycles or cars. This thing cannot be safe. Let's say Mr.A is riding one of tbethese on a busy road and has to make a quick brake on high speed. The board will come to a stop but the momentum his body has gained will make him fall seriously injuring or killing him. So its a toy, not a serious transportation device IMO.

Something I've always wondered about longboarding as a form of transport. What do you do if you're going downhill like in San Francisco?

Seems like a lot of users not familiar with skateboard/longboarding are weighing in their opinion on the safety issues presented by this product.<p>This product presents no more danger to the user or the general public than does a normal skateboard/longboard.<p>So obviously yes, just like a bike or skateboard, don't expect to just be able to hop on and cruise from day 1.

From a former electric skateboard user: make it light.<p>Three times lighter of that first gen electric skateboard. That means 10 lbs.

These are cool and I desperately want one but the price point doesn't seem reasonable for what it does.<p>Also, why do they keep showing people walking their boards up stairs in the video, seems counter-intuitive.

For 99% of the people this is going to be just a toy. You can't expect general public to be riding these. I wish they would pivot to something similar to Segway for $1000.

Boosted Boards are wicked fun to ride - awesome team, too.

Cool, when can I get one equipped with smartwheels?

Neat. I'd like to see some real tires on it, though, as Chicago's roads/sidewalks would never permit my commuting on that thing.

Looks awesome - I'm wondering if the engine braking is reliable enough to depend on going down a big San Francisco hill?

Since the motors aren't direct drive, what happens when the belt gets wet or the trunks flex and the belt slips off?

I love the promo video, it's awesome

How many of these were brought to Burning Man this year?

the Freebord was also a Stanford engineering project which went to production<p><a href="http://freebord.com/" rel="nofollow">http://freebord.com/</a>

Just backed the project. Good luck Boosted!

What type of battery does this use? LiPo?

Don't call it magical if it can't fly.

"all I could think was that this will change how we interact with our cities."<p>Anyone else reminded of Dean Kamen's predictions for the segway?

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