Sanjay here from Boosted S12. Garry and Alexis and team were one of our first investors and have been some of the best people we've worked with. I am so excited for them and for all the new founders who will get to work with them.
Agreed. But we've discovered from users of the board that in hilly or hot areas, having exercised on their way to work and arriving sweaty is a non-starter.
Actually, we see people using it because they prefer it to a bike in certain situations. It's compatible with most public transit and ridesharing, and there's little to no risk of theft. Compared to a normal skateboard or bike, you also don't risk being sweaty when you arrive at work. Bikes also require more regular maintenance, which isn't expensive but can be time-consuming.
We've seen it enthusiastically adopted in many cities outside SF and NY.
Hi - one of the founders here. I'd never skateboarded or longboarded before working on this project. I found I used a Boosted board very differently than I would use a longboard - for me it's replaced many car trips and many Uber/Lyft rides. This made up for the price quite quickly.
The top model has the best performance, but the quality of all models is equally high. There's a floor to how cheaply this technology can be built today without compromising quality and long-term reliability.
A very rare use-case (living at the top of a hill, pulling it off the charger and immediately riding downhill and braking) would result in overcharging and damaging the battery. Riders who have this use-case run the board briefly before heading downhill. In practice this extra step has not been a problem.
Many boards have run over 1000 miles, and we have yet to replace wheels due to wear. Maintenance involves replacing bearings, and eventually wheels, but no grease port.
The power and top speed upgrade exceeds the original specifications, and we have quadrupled the warranty coverage. This would be similar to your car getting more acceleration, more braking, a higher top speed, and a longer warranty, all remotely and for free.
Firmware update capability should be the norm, and to our knowledge we are the first and only board that can do this.
The power multiple between a Boosted board and others' technology is the same as between a Tesla Model S and a Nissan Leaf. Both cars can go at highway speeds. The extra power of a Boosted board is important for practical reasons, like hill-climbing and braking, and for fun.
This law was written in the 70s for gas-powered skateboards. We and others are working to change this, possibly as soon as the upcoming legislative session.