Sam Oliver
City commuters who prefer to get from their homes to their offices by longboard will soon have a new, lighter option that works with their iOS device in the form of the Marbel electric skateboard, which is seeking last-minute funding on Kickstarter where it has already blown past its initial goal.
Touted as the world's lightest electric skateboard at just 9.9 pounds, the Marbel sports a custom-molded deck made of carbon fiber and kevlar. The board's batteries sit in a compartment inside the deck, while motors mounted on the rear axle are said to have enough power to propel the board uphill at up to 20 miles per hour for 10 miles.
Riders can control the Marbel using a handheld remote throttle or via touch controls in a companion iPhone app. The app also allows owners to choose different "modes" for Marbel's power circuitry, such as a starter mode that limits the top speed to six miles per hour or an "eco" mode that dynamically adjusts power output to maximize range.
Additionally, the app provides a number of convenience features. An antitheft mode prevents the board from being used when locked with the app, and a map will show riders exactly how far they can go before the Marbel's battery dies.
Interestingly, Marbel appears to have chosen to build a Wi-Fi hotspot into the board, rather than connect via Bluetooth. That decision could prove problematic for riders who like to stream music or other media over a mobile data connection while riding.
At press time, the Marbel team had raised just over $314,000 of its $90,000 goal from 476 backers with 31 hours remaining as of Wednesday afternoon.
Marko Zivkovic
Wesley Hilliard
Andrew Orr
Christine McKee
Malcolm Owen
Amber Neely
17 Comments
Oh great... that's just what we need. It's bad enough that pedestrians have to worry about distracted car drivers looking/texting on their cellphones. Now, we have to worry about getting hit by skateboarders doing the exact same thing. Honestly, some ideas really need to get the rubber-stamp "R E J E C T E D".
take the fun out of skateboarding while your at it….Fidgeting with controls, all while trying not to die….cool sign me up. /S
If they can drive (control speed) with the app, they're going to have issues getting in into the App Store on any phone for that matter. Both Apple and Google and Microsoft's (and probably everybody else's) license agreements specifically prohibit use of the software where failure can lead to a hazardous situation, injury and death. You can imagine the phone freezing up the moment you're about to skate out of the way of a oncoming truck.
A lot of these Kickstarter ideas involve half-baked ideas coupled with unbridled enthusiasm.
Just wait until that battery is damaged and blows up. Would make an exploding phone look like blowing bubbles.
Also, do skateboard companies have to hold an extraordinary amount of product liability coverage?
It has a hand remote controller. The iOS app is to customize the acceleration and regenerative braking, see distance/range and to use in the off-chance the hand remote's battery died. It also locks and un-locks the board's circuitry.
-RJ