Once again, a new Electric Skateboard on Kickstarter has earned a substantial amount of press before anyone has even ridden the dang thing.
Although, hey, when you see a company seeking funding for an awesome electric skateboard with incredible specs and sleek design, it’s easy to get excited.
The latest electric skateboard of the hour is the Swiss Co. SoFlow’s line of Lou Board electric skateboards. I say “line” because they have three versions of the board in the works, the Lou 1.0, Lou 2.0, and – you guessed it – the Lou 3.0.
Lou Board Electric Skateboard: Design and Features
A quick glance at the Lou Board will reveal its major differentiator – it’s not a long board! The majority of serious electric skateboards are longboards. And this isn’t just because motors haven’t been sufficiently optimized yet and the space is required. Longboards just make more sense when going electric. Longboards are better for cruising around, which makes them more ideal for purposes of commuting – the purpose that many companies have chosen to market their products for.
In contrast, traditional skateboard decks with the curved nose and tail are engineered for stunts and tricks, activities that the heavy weight of electrical components hinders.
Nevertheless, in the past year we’ve seen a handful of smaller e-skateboards hit the scene, most notably Spectra, so there’s definitely a demographic of riders who hold portability above other factors.
The Lou Board is modeled after the penny board style, weighing in at 8.8 lbs. The lightweight and small size makes it an ideal option for someone who rides the bus to work but then has to hoof it ten blocks or so. It’s small enough to fit in a backpack and light enough to carry anywhere.
The deck composition for the Lou 2.0 and 3.0 is carbon fiber and the Lou 1.0 uses polyurethane. Both materials are super stiff and won’t provide much flexibility. This isn’t necessarily a good or bad thing, but something to be aware of.
While the Lou board has an impressive speed with the 3.0 reaching 21 mph, the range is only so-so at 9 miles per charge – especially considering the 2-hour charge time for the li-ion batteries that power the board.
The Lou board uses in-wheel hub motors for power with the 1.0 and 2.0 having a single motor, and the 3.0 possessing dual hub motors in two wheels.
The Lou Board also has all of the luxury features you’ve come to expect from higher end electric skateboards, such as a mobile app for settings control, water resistance (this doesn’t mean waterproof – basically you can ride through puddles but not submerge the board), and regenerative braking. Regenerative braking is when the kinetic energy created from braking charges up the li-ion batteries a bit every time you pump the brakes.
A cool feature of the Lou Board that you don’t often see is the replaceable wheels. This can be tricky sometimes with in-wheel hub motors, but with the Lou Board you can easily replace or rotate wheels when they start to wear down and become uneven.
The Lou Board also comes in four colors: red, blue, black, and purple.
Prices for the three different models are below:
- Lou Board 1.0 – $449.00
- Lou Board 2.0 – $790.00
- Lou Board 3.0 – $990.00
It’ll be interesting to try this one out once it starts shipping. But until then, it’s just another hyped-up Kickstarter page. Only time will tell….
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