Electric rollerblades go off the beaten track
There are a good many ways to get from the train station to work in motor-assisted style, including folding bikes or scooters and one wheelers orskateboards, but last mile transport choices are not so plentiful if your journey includes zipping through dirt tracks and forest trails. Poland’s Jack Skopinski, the force behind the EV4 tilting electric quad we covered last year, has come up with a stand-up contender for the off-road-with-ease crown – some electric off-road rollers with rubber tracks.
Skopinski says that his so-called “off-road rollerblades” were designed and built in response to customer demand for personal transportation that can be thrown in a bag between trips. To the rear of each boot is a 350 W DC motor that’s juiced from 26 V/26 Ah Li-ion batteries and 36 A controller. This combination drives the rubber-tracked blades to a top speed of 15 km/h (9 mph) for about 20 km (12 miles) before the batteries need topping up.
Speed is controlled by a cabled, handheld controller, with the system specs showing a 1:4 gear ratio. Bladers change direction by leaning into the turns.
Like the EV4, the tracked blades have a somewhat rough and ready aesthetic, the design certainly not as consumer-focused as motorized skating solutions like thespnKiX. Tipping the scales at nearly 5 kg (11 lb), these funky electric track boots are likely going to be quite a weighty haul between trips, too. But if the off-road antics in the promo video below are anything to go by, it might just be worth the effort.
The “off-road rollerblades” are available now for PLN 5,500 (about €1,300/US$1,400). Skopinski told us that he “plans to build normal electric rollerblades with 2 x 8 wheels” for inner city electric rolling in the near future.
http://www.gizmag.com/ev4-electric-off-road-rollerblades/42493/
