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The World's Lightest Electric Vehicle

kickstarter.com

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Re: The World's Lightest Electric Vehicle

#101

Post by andrewjshults »

eurleif wrote: post #96
jonnycowboy wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd like to add, I love the controller design. That alone must be worth a couple of hundred ;) Does it use bluetooth? I hope it is not a standard RC transmitter because they can get jammed fairly easily (leading to injury and death, etc etc) even on the new(ish) frequency-hopping 2.4Ghz models. PS. are you hiring ? ;)

>they can get jammed fairly easily (leading to injury and death, etc etc) Wouldn't a failsafe that activated the brakes if contact with the remote were lost pretty much avoid any serious problems? I don't think getting rear-ended should be much of a concern, since the maximum speed is 20 MPH, and cars will (hopefully) be careful behind someone on a skateboard in general.

Sudden deceleration (or acceleration) is probably the last thing you want if the remote disconnects. I'd guess some audible alarm letting you know the remote is no longer functioning + disconnecting the drive system (motors and brakes) so it functions as a regular skateboard would be the safest way to handle that issue.

Re: The World's Lightest Electric Vehicle

#102

Post by eurleif »

andrewjshults wrote: post #101
eurleif wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>they can get jammed fairly easily (leading to injury and death, etc etc) Wouldn't a failsafe that activated the brakes if contact with the remote were lost pretty much avoid any serious problems? I don't think getting rear-ended should be much of a concern, since the maximum speed is 20 MPH, and cars will (hopefully) be careful behind someone on a skateboard in general.

Sudden deceleration (or acceleration) is probably the last thing you want if the remote disconnects. I'd guess some audible alarm letting you know the remote is no longer functioning + disconnecting the drive system (motors and brakes) so it functions as a regular skateboard would be the safest way to handle that issue.

That might be less than ideal if you were going downhill. Or if you had accelerated to maximum speed, were heading toward an intersection, and planned to hit the brakes before you got there.

Re: The World's Lightest Electric Vehicle

#103

Post by Brashman »

skdoo wrote: post #73
jonnycowboy wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At a 1,000$ pricepoint I'm not so sure it will be good enough for the masses, especially for such a standard powered longboard setup. Longboards can be found for 100$, add two 50$ brushless motors, a belt-drive setup and a controller, I don't think they can justify that profit margin. I'd expect that with a BMW StreetCarver truck setup, it would be a much easier sell (in fact I would probably buy one). With regards t…

We're starting with a longboard setup that costs over $300 retail. The reason those sell is because they have lots of advantages over $100 longboards. We are still refining our transmission design, but even in its current form, we haven't had a bearing issue or motor failure in the past year of continuous and rigorous testing.

I've tended to find the $300+ price tags on Loaded boards to be a bit high, but they are head and shoulders much better than anything you can find for $100. This is really exciting to see a motorized version of an actual good longboard.

Re: The World's Lightest Electric Vehicle

#104

Post by ladyada »

skdoo wrote: post #95
ladyada wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi! Did you choose to go with LiFe or LiCo's?

Still deciding on that

for what my word is worth, please let me put in a vote for LiFe - i know they're not as energy dense but you may not need as much armoring on the pack. you can say its good for 2ce as many charges and uses a safer battery - which can increase perceived value.

let the ultra-modders swap in LiCo's on their own - they'll do it anyways.

there's a techcrunch-story-future that i'd really like to see you avoid! :(

Re: The World's Lightest Electric Vehicle

#106

Post by wwweston »

muraiki wrote: post #51
HyprMusic wrote: post #28

I can't help but think if you're willing to carry around a long board for your journey, the extra effort in pushing it manually is not much and probably more fun (I can't really judge, having not used the product). If you were really against walking or pushing, then a foldable bike would be a lot more useful, safer and cheaper.

Where I live, there are many urban areas but also many hills / roads with long inclines. Longboarding isn't that popular here because: 1) You can't longboard up a hill, or even much of an incline. 2) More importantly, when you go _down_ a hill, it's pretty difficult to stop quickly (this is why I personally stopped longboarding) This device would help with both problems!

> More importantly, when you go _down_ a hill, it's pretty difficult to stop quickly (this is why I personally stopped longboarding)

This might help you stop the longboard quickly, but will it help you stop quickly (but not too quickly)?

Re: The World's Lightest Electric Vehicle

#107

Post by [deleted] »

dhugiaskmak wrote: post #59
pg wrote: post #41

This is one of those things that's like Google in the sense that it seems to be just an improvement on existing technology, but in fact is enough of an improvement that it's qualitatively different. In all the startups we've funded I don't think I've seen one whose product was so enthusiastically embraced by YC partners. Three bought one of these boards. One says it "changed his life."

One says it "changed his life." I would genuinely like to hear more about this.

[deleted]

Re: The World's Lightest Electric Vehicle

#108

Post by aaroniba »

dhugiaskmak wrote: post #59
pg wrote: post #41

This is one of those things that's like Google in the sense that it seems to be just an improvement on existing technology, but in fact is enough of an improvement that it's qualitatively different. In all the startups we've funded I don't think I've seen one whose product was so enthusiastically embraced by YC partners. Three bought one of these boards. One says it "changed his life."

One says it "changed his life." I would genuinely like to hear more about this.

I said that.

I realized my world was divided into: places I could walk to, places I could bike to, and places I could drive to.

Where I live (downtown Palo Alto), driving is a hassle because of traffic and parking. Driving is annoying, boring, frustrating, life-wasting... basically I hate driving and use it only as a last resort.

Walking is great, but it's slow. It's really time-consuming to walk anywhere beyond a few blocks.

Biking is pretty fast, but still a bit of a hassle because I have to bring a heavy U-lock and worry about my bike. "Where is my bike and is it OK?" is always in the back of my head, which makes it harder to enjoy whatever I'm doing. Also biking doesn't leave any hands free to carry things.

Now I have a Boosted Board with a 6-mile range. For any trip under 3 miles, it is:

* Faster than walking, biking, or driving.

* More fun.

* No extra hassle, nothing to worry about.

* Leaves 2 hands free to carry stuff like groceries.

So it's opened up this whole 3 mile radius of things around me that I previously wouldn't go to. Now these places feel like they're at my fingertips. It feels like my world got smaller.

Re: The World's Lightest Electric Vehicle

#109

Post by wheels »

jonnycowboy wrote: post #60
pg wrote: post #41

This is one of those things that's like Google in the sense that it seems to be just an improvement on existing technology, but in fact is enough of an improvement that it's qualitatively different. In all the startups we've funded I don't think I've seen one whose product was so enthusiastically embraced by YC partners. Three bought one of these boards. One says it "changed his life."

At a 1,000$ pricepoint I'm not so sure it will be good enough for the masses, especially for such a standard powered longboard setup. Longboards can be found for 100$, add two 50$ brushless motors, a belt-drive setup and a controller, I don't think they can justify that profit margin. I'd expect that with a BMW StreetCarver truck setup, it would be a much easier sell (in fact I would probably buy one). With regards t…

They're expensive, but keep in mind that almost by the nature of the product, the customer base is going to be mostly 20-something urban professionals -- i.e. folks that make $1000 in two working days and are less likely to have a family cutting into their gadget fund.

Re: The World's Lightest Electric Vehicle

#110

Post by malvim »

Scene_Cast2 wrote: post #5
typicalrunt wrote: post #3

Great idea. I'm surprised nobody has done this before (but they probably have, I'm no longer a skateboarder). But I'm wondering about the prices. $10 stickers and $40 t-shirts are still advertising, so people are paying to advertise for your company? That doesn't seem right. In reality, they are really trying to push people to spend $1200 for a board. Even the $1099 pledge is a complete rip-off since you spend $100 l…

The stickers and t-shirts are meant as a way to help the project while still getting something in return - think of it as a donation with a perk. As for 1.2k / board - that's quite steep, their BOM (Bill of Materials) should be at most 1/2 of that. A very substantial off-the-shelf 4x (motor + ESC + LiPo) combo will run at the very most for $400.

"The stickers and t-shirts are meant as a way to help the project while still getting something in return - think of it as a donation with a perk."

I feel that's how we should think of most stuff we back on Kickstarter. Since at some levels the "reward" is the product itself, though, it gets harder to think like that.

That's why when you pledge to donate on Kickstarter you're called a "backer" instead of a "customer", I think. You're a customer AFTER you get the product, but till then you're a someone that believes in that project and wants to help.

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