Some little part inside all of us that refuses to let the ’90s perish quietly and admit that hoverboards and Segways shot true skating sports in the daddy bag doesn’t dare entertain Polish manufacturer EV4’s Electric Off-Road Rollerblades. The substantial inner majority that actually watched the demo video for the battery-powered inline skates built for shredding off the beaten path? That lot keeps urging us to throw bigger and bigger wads of cash at our screens in the hope that doing so might this time actually make something cool magically appear at our feet.
If we’re being completely honest, it isn’t self-inflicted injury while rolling around with a lithium-ion 26V, 26Ah battery pack pumping enough electricity beneath our feet to carry us around 20 km (around 12 miles). We’re much more concerned with the ramifications of being caught in the path of some nitwit who takes off with no self-control. After all, we can already barely resist clotheslining every other hoverboarding douche that buzzes us from behind on the sidewalk.
In any case, the battery itself weighs in at around 10.8 lbs. and must be carried in a backpack. Skaters control the juice running through the two wires connected to the skates’ motors using a third wire connected to a 36-amp handheld controller. On ideal terrain – i.e., probably immaculate asphalt – these all-terrain rollerblades’ 350W DC motor’s 1:4 ratio gearbox tops out at around 9.3 brisk miles per hour, presumably after producing peak power and torque right from idle. Even on rougher ground, that’s some serious giddyup for its 42cm-long rubber track.
EV4 hasn’t officially announced an introductory price point yet, but should we catch wind of one, we’ll let you know.
Source – autoevolution.com
