If there’s one thing we love here at Digital Trends, it’s definitely wheeled things with motors affixed to them. So when we caught word of Yuneec’s super lightweight motorized longboard, we just had to stop by their booth and check it out.
The E-Go electric longboard is 13.9 pounds of pure motorized awesomeness. It tops out somewhere around 20mph, can travel about 30 miles on a full charge, and, oddly enough, is Yuneec’s first foray into skateboards. The company actually got its start making electric airplanes, so it has a wealth of experience manufacturing extremely small, lightweight electric motors. It wasn’t until recently, however, that CEO Michael O’Reilly thought to attach one of these motors to something with wheels instead of wings.
The result is pretty amazing. At first glance, you can barely even tell it’s got a motor on it. To the untrained eye it looks pretty much like a regular longboard. Upon closer inspection, however, you’ll notice there’s a low-profile battery back attached to the board’s underbelly, as well as a small motor just in front of the rear wheel assembly.
But don’t let this unassuming exterior fool you – this thing can zip around quite quickly. Since it’s fully electric, there’s no need to push at all. Instead you just stand on the board like you normally would, and use a wireless handheld remote to tell it to accelerate or brake. Just push the slider up to go forward, and backward to slow down. Initiating turns is exactly the same as with a normal longboard – you simply shift your weight to the side you want to turn toward and the board’s trucks will make it happen.
We had an absolute blast ripping this thing around the convention center plaza, but in all honesty, if you’re an avid longboarder, you might not be into this thing. Due to the way it’s put together, there’s no way to disengage the motor from the wheel, so pushing doesn’t really work all that well. It’s possible, but you can definitely feel a good bit of resistance, which makes pushing feel awkward and overly difficult. Then again, why the hell would you ever want to push on a motorized longboard?
If you like to bomb hills and do tricks, you’re probably better off getting a regular board. But if you’re open minded and like the idea of doing 20 mph without ever touching the ground, this board is exactly what you’re looking for. The light weight keeps it playful and easy to control, and the super-efficient motor means you’ll be able to wheel around all day without needing to stop for a recharge.
E-Go is set to go on sale later this month, and will sell for $699. You can find further details at E-Go.com.
