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Would you ride an electric skateboard? YikeBoard hopes you will

When we think of skateboards, “innovation” is not the first thing that usually comes to mind. After all, their operation is pretty simple: you stand on it, push forward on the ground with your foot, then put your foot back on the skateboard as you go forward. Human-powered transportation at its finest.

But what if your skateboard could be… electric?!

Yup.

Say hello to the YikeBoard.

The lightweight, rigid carbon fibre board can be powered by a removable battery, which allows for a “range” of about 11 kilometres before it needs to be charged again. And think these things just help you toot along at speeds similar to a slow walk? Think again – they can go up to 30 kilometres per hour.

And did we mention you take these puppies on a plane? Cool, eh?

The YikeBoard is made by Yike, a Christchurch-based company that has been in the “personal electric transport business” for the past seven years. As the company claims: “We love cool gadgets and freedom. We don’t want to create boring and ugly products, but desire for something that would genuinely give you more freedom to rapidly move around a city. YikeBoard is built for people who love that mix of quality, design and usability. Our solution is to create high performance, high quality, and great usability giving you more freedom in your life.”

These people aren’t just fly-by-night innovators, either: their last product, the YikeBike, made the cover of Time Magazine. No joke.

And why is it based in the Garden City? “Christchurch is an internationally recognised High Technology hub where we leverage our relationships for technology with local development and component suppliers to ensure leading edge and robust solutions.”

Those are fine reasons, sure. But we’re most impressed by what the thing is. Repeat: AN ELECTRIC SKATEBOARD.

Who knows what cool things humans will come up with next. Teleportation, hopefully. And maybe a skateboard that’s also an actual time machine. That’d be pretty sweet as.

But if you’re willing to settle for an electric skateboard: the YikeBoard is on Kickstarter. They’re trying to raise $50,000 by October 14. 

Good luck.

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