Evolve electric skateboard review — A speedy longboard, but be careful
Our cities are getting crowded, and people are trying alternate means of transportation, like electric bikes, scooters, and skateboards.
In that spirit, I tried out one of the latest Bamboo GTX Street electric longboards from Evolve Skateboards. Or rather, I had my college kid try it out for me. She was a little better at staying on the board.
Evolve likes to combine power, performance, and versatility in its electric skateboards. It’s a solid board made out of bamboo, and it flexes when you step on it.
The 3,000 watt motor is quite powerful, powered by a lithium battery that lines the bottom of the board. The 97 millimeter Evolve GT street wheels with a super carve truck system for stability while doing tight turns. It has black grit tape on the surface with the orange Evolve logo.
Evolve said it could go up to 26 miles per hour, but when we flipped it over and turned on the motor with the remote, it could hit a speed of up to 29 miles per hour.
Of course, when there’s someone on top of it, that’s another thing. My kid said she was able to get it to go up to 19 miles per hour, but that turned out to be too dangerous. She took a spill on campus in front of a bunch of dudes. She scraped her knee, but got back up and they were impressed with that.
She figures about 10 miles per hour is safer. Going faster than that requires a lot of safe straightaway, so it’s kind of overkill in speed for a crowded college campus (where these things are banned in some places). But it gets you where you need to go fast.
Above: A 3,000-watt motor powers the back wheels of the Bamboo GTX electric skateboard.
Image Credit: Dean Takahashi
You control the speed with a remote control, using your thumb to speed it up. You can glance at the remote’s screen to see how fast you are going. You can adjust the speed quite quickly to suit the road conditions. You can also set it to certain modes, like slow for easy control. You can also set the top speed, which is good for beginners.
The board has a range of about 31 miles per charge. The Eco mode gets you the longest range. If you try fast mode, you’ll be going as fast as cars going through a residential neighborhood. The GT mode lets you accelerate up hills up to a 25 percent gradient.
Above: That’s a big battery on the Bamboo GTX electric skateboard from Evolve Skateboards.
Image Credit: Dean Takahashi
It’s not cheap at $1,780, and you can get cheaper models that don’t go as fast. The board is available in the Bamboo GTX Street (which goes slightly faster), or the adventurous Bamboo GTX All-Terrain, or a two-in-one options. It takes about four to five hours to recharge.
The board is big, with the Street version weighing 19.4 pounds and the All-Terrain version weighing 21.6 pounds. You can ride it on smooth and hard surfaces with the Street version, or on any kind of surface for the All-Terrain version.
My kid likes it. As for me, I’ll stick to my car.
Source: VentureBeat
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