Like snowboard bindings that rotate, motorized skateboards have forever been a solution to a problem that does not exist. That hasn’t stopped a slew of Northern California tech heads from trying to design the perfect electric skateboard. (You may remember Boosted Boards whose batteries “vented”). Fast Company checks in with Ryan Evans “the 32-year-old CEO of an electric skateboard company called Inboard Technology” the latest producer of unaffordable longboards few skateboarders want to buy.
With the M1, Inboard hopes to snare early adopters who the company identifies as mostly men between 30 and 55 years of age who live in urban areas and earn more than $130,000 annually. According to Inboard’s analysis, a million people fit that description, and with more than twice the median income in the U.S., they can afford the $1,399 price tag. As the price drops, the potential customer base grows. If the board costs less than $1,000, college kids are more likely to buy it, and at a price point under $600, high schoolers get in on it.
Want to roll on a skateboard without pushing? Go down a hill. Want to get to work without driving a car (or pushing a skateboard), ride a bike. Want to look like a total tool while riding a skateboard in a suit, talking on a cellphone, and swerving through pedestrians? Looks like the Inboard M1 is just for you.
[Link: Fast Company]