Well, this is something else.
Elos is a conventional kick skateboard funded on Kickstarter. Its main feature is its unique shape and portability. Its shape also gives it added stability over something like a straight and narrow Penny-sized board.
What got me interested in it is a surreal video: from the YouTube account that gave us the first Ninebot/Segway KickScooter ES-1 unboxing and the detailed Spectra electric skateboard unboxing. [Update, November 8, 2017: Fixed wrong link. Nope. I really screwed that up. This is an entirely different store and I had to strikethrough the original incorrect text.]
And it contained a surprise.
What? An electric Elos?
Here’s the surreal video that I can’t make any sense of whatsoever:
But from the Google Translated Description, there is more to come about this one:
elos electric skateboard (a)
Thanks joshua
Provide skateboards let me test and sell again
Basically!
I tested the following items on the following
Endurance
Speed
Broken up and down
Road test
Reviews
Cleaning and maintenance
product comparison
If there is other to be added to me
Make up with the film and the text
So, there will be another video with a test!
Of course, this made me curious. So I did some searching on YouTube.
And all hell broke loose!
At least three people have DIYed their Elos skateboards into electric ones!
From the same person:
2017.04.16 | Have fun with my eletrcoskate | Elos skateboard | sony x3000
And again from him:
My I3 electric skateboard randomly stops
His conversion was a transplant. He took the parts from an E-Wheelin i3. Seeing the kind of remote he has, I’m not surprised he’s experienced such problems. No one really likes that kind of remote to begin with.
Screensnaps from the above video:
Even with the junk it’s married to, the board managed to go up a slope in the video!
All of those are interesting. But the next video is impressive as hell:
Its Google Translated Description:
Elos electric version of the initial test
Distance of about 18km (general road to be discounted)
Average speed of 20.11km / hr, the fastest 24.84km / hr
Although the remaining 11% but can no longer squeeze
Voltage left 22.9V
Also encountered players practice card
But for commuter for the purpose of view
This configuration is very good
18km is 11 miles. 24km is 14 mph. 20km is 12 mph.
For an electric skateboard that size, with a single hub motor, that’s damned amazing! Others I have posted about here have less speed and less than half that range!
Screensnaps first:
Look at this killer setup:
Not just battery level, but a battery meter (Doug Hnut would love that bit!)
Battery getting low and decreasing speed:
The total trip:
Some shots of his mod:
That looks damn good!
The video:
If everything ended there, this would remain a mystery. How was it done?
He has two YouTube videos illustrating the process. I’ll skip screensnaps of these because it’s very involved. I’m also not quite sure what’s going on in terms of where he sourced the parts and what parts they are.
In this video, he’s testing kits to send out to others:
In other videos — my god, he has so many! — he’s sending out complete boards that have been converted.
This is a very interesting alternative to everything else I’ve been considering. It’s unclear if he’s still selling kits or doing entire conversions. There are months and months of videos still to go through. Just this single post has taken me most of the day to get out. So, to be continued. Maybe.
Additional:
His Facebook page, which contains other Elos-related posts (lighted wheels!)
A series of blog posts that are in Chinese and mangled into near-incomprehensibility by Google Translate:
First post
Second post
His blog’s electric skateboard category
Previously here:
Mike Cane's Atomic Supermen 