Summerboard, the board with extra caster wheels, skyhooks, motors, and batteries! The only thing missing is a speaker! ( I’ll stick with my Soundboard, thanks. ) I know you’re thinking “This thing probably weighs a ton. I hope it costs a lot.” Don’t worry, they have models starting at $899 and $1699! Oh no, those base models don’t come with skyhooks, “Freshies” or “Launch Pads.” Thankfully, they’ve got packages that range from $1799 to $1899, as well as financing. Success!

A spare cordless drill and a few parts from the hardware store is all you need to make your own electric skateboard. Start with a round wire brush, right angle bit holder, flexible bit extension, and some nuts and bolts. Just ad a skateboard with large size wheels and you’re good to go. I’m curious how long a charge on drill would last. This seems more like a fun project to do with kids than a viable transportation solution. Much nicer than this one. [Source: BoingBoing] – Thanks to MC for the tip.

Mischo Erban has allegedly NGV Nextboards has set a land speed record for an electric skateboard on level ground at 109.2 kph or 67.85 mph. According to Mischo, the speed of the actual device had not maxed out yet. He did manage to melt a couple sets of wheels in the attempt. There are a lot of electric skateboards out there, most of them seem to geared towards the campus cruiser market, so this one is a bit of an outlier. One thing the admittedly have to tackle is their proprietary wheel setup, which seems like a deal breaker for anyone who would be serious enough about this type of riding to want to spend the dough to buy one.

Yet another electric skateboard designed for the commuter. Movpak is different in that it folds in half and then slides into the a backpack that is attached to the board. So there’s that. If you watch the videos, you can see that the board looks flexible, possibly a little rickety due to the hinge mechanism, but it’s hard to tell for sure. The ride looks a little cramped with that backpack stuck on there. The overall range of 14 miles isn’t noticeably higher than other electric skateboards. The backpack can’t hold as much as a conventional backpack that doesn’t have a skateboard compartment. So what’s the true advantage? I suppose it’s portability, and the ability to not look like a skateboarder once you’re done traveling. You can preorder one now for $999, a price that is allegedly 50% off.

Yeah, yeah, electric skateboard. Big deal. The thing that makes Kickr different, aside from front wheel drive, is the ability to add the drive unit to almost any skateboard, and the fact that you control speed via your foot and a pressure sensitive switch. There’s even a “cruise control” setting which is kind of amazing. Having a foot controller may be nice for streamlining, but could lead to some situations where shifting your balance has unintended consequences. Take your foot off the sensor and you’re rolling unassisted. Parts of it look pretty polished. Others, not so much, mainly the griptape covered friction drive wheel and the dangly cords. They met their original goal on Kickstarter, but it look s like they’ve hit some sort of speed bump (I slay me!) in production. You can’t actually order the Kickr online, you can only ask to be notified when they are accepting payments again. As my 9 year old son said after looking over my shoulder at this: “It’s kind of dumb, but also kind of cool.” – Thanks to Matthijs for the tip

The biggest engineering obstacle that the guys at Marbel have managed to overcome is designing an electric skateboard that doesn’t actually look like an electric skateboard. As far as that goes, it’s got a leg up on the competition for sure. You can use the handheld controller or use an iPhone app. You can also use the app to “tune” the board’s acceleration curve and set the max speed below the 20mph it can comfortably reach. A full charge will take you at least 10mph in real world surroundings. If ever an electric skateboard could go mainstream, this might be it. It’s already reached it’s funding goal on Kickstarter, so expect to start seeing these in the wild at some point. [Source: BGR] – Thanks to Heath for the tip.

Where was the Golfboard when Schwing! magazine was in it’s heyday? Did Schwing! ever have a heyday? The GolfBoard’s primary innovation over any other electric skateboard seems to be the optional addition of a handle for holding a golf bag, which would make it more of a scooter, and the uncanny way in which the marketing manages to avoid the word “skateboard” while repeatedly mentioning surfing and snowboarding. They did appear to accidentally use the word in the title of their first youtube video. That must have been before the focus groups and marketing research raised a flag. Another possible innovation, they’ve gotten some insurance companies on board to help facilitate leases and rentals through golf courses. The’ve even got professional surfer Laird Hamilton on board. Demographically, the golfing public at large used to be diametrically opposed to skateboarders. Suddenly, the old Nike SB commercial with the golfers getting kicked off the course is moot. There are two main selling points the GolfBoard: Less wear and tear on the golf course as opposed to traditional golf carts, and a new “fun” way to experience the course that also has some health benefits through increased activity, again compared to riding in…

The Ground Surf from 1135 Garnet looks like it might be a design concept and not an actual product as of yet. There are next to zero details on the site. Sensors supposedly adjust speed by weight placement, which seems like it might be hard to control. Good news though, if you fall off those sensors will apply the brakes. Nice neo-art deco design. If Deckard rode an electric skateboard, this is what it would look like. [Source: The Khooll] – Thanks to Kathleen for the tip.

This one actually looks pretty good too, able to go uphill, but certainly not as powerful as a Gnarboard. This is probably the nicest looking electric skateboard to date, it doesn’t look like a longboard with a brick strapped to it. It’s the first ever to use regenerative breaking too. Breaking recharges the batteries a little bit. Hella expensive (Yes, I said “hella”) though. Boosted Boards has raised $297,763 do date on Kickstarter. Their promo video is heavily biased towards green transportation vs. skateboarding fun.

Electric skateboards are a dime a dozen, but Gnarboards are the first ones to have any “oomph” to them. With speeds up to 28mph and the torque to go off-roading uphill, these things look damned fun. They don’t however, look like much of a skateboard anymore. I’ll give them props when I see the first motor-assisted megaramp jump. It looks like they are massive and solidly constructed. That takes money, which requires the prerequisite trip to Kickstarter. If I was a rock star I’d buy a fleet of them, get loaded, puke on my dog and then drive them into my (full) pool. Pretty impressive product, actually, considering it can tackle the Whiskeydrome. Video after the jump. – Thanks to Concretins Nik for the tip.