Stopped by the police!

There has been one nagging doubt when I received my longboard. Like a lot of other electric skateboards, control is achieved by a Bluetooth wireless controller. And also like a lot of other electric skateboard models the controller is a pistol grip speed controller with trigger which can be said to resemble very much like a gun. I can see why the electric skateboard manufacturers make them as pistol grips. Its a natural fit to the hand.

However, the controller shape has slightly concerned me from the start. Imagine how it looks, UK on a continuing high terror alert, a  6 foot 3 tall bloke speeding passed on a skateboard, rucksack on his back and what appears to be a gun in his hand.

Well, after the unfortunate events in Northen Barvaria, Germany, where a teenage Afghan refugee armed with an axe and knife injured four people on a train in July, there is now  a much stronger police presence at my train station. I don't skate on the roads but rather through the park to get to the train station. So I didn't expect to get stopped by the police for any reason. But, I got stopped in the train station whilst walking up the stairs to my platform! Admittedly I was walking up the stairs in a speedy fashion as I was late for my train.

The VoLo-E longboard has Velcro sticker pad attachments on its underside to fix the Bluetooth controller to when you are carrying it. I carry the board by the three finger holes made especially for carrying. I typically carry the board so that the underside which includes the motor, battery etc. are on the side facing my leg (helps reduce stares from passers by). The "gun" is also therefore on the underside.

Whilst climbing the stairs I heard someone from behind me  say "Excuse me sir please can you stop". The station is incredibly busy so I had no thought that question was addressed to me. The question repeated another time by which time I had jumped above the last step and was on the platform. I swung round after my shoulder was tapped. Imagine my surprise to see an armed policeman standing there and pointing at the underside of my skateboard. He asked me to explain what the Bluetooth controller was and said he had stopped me because it looked like a gun. Ok, it does look like a gun, but I am sure if that policeman really thought it was a gun, that he wouldn't have addressed me so politely. Rather, I would have been face down in the ground with cuffs on my hands. Anyway, I explained what it was, that it controlled my longboard, and that it was an electric skateboard - It seemed the policeman had never seen one before. After about five minutes explanation he let me go on my way. But of course, my train had departed, and I was faced with a half an hour wait until the next train.

Need to think how to change the look of this controller......

VoLo-e board Electric longboard skateboard

So this is my new baby :) When I got her, she was priced at just under £300 plus  £16 courier delivery charge on eBay.

Searching for new electric skateboards on eBay reveals many different makes and models typically ranging in price from  £230 to  £1500. There seem plenty of electric long boards from Chinese sellers, typically in the price range of  £299 to  £449. The specs look pretty good and some even look better than the VoLo-e board that I settled for. However, what brought me to the VoLo-e board was the impression that this was a supplier and manufacturer from the UK. When/if things go wrong I much prefer to speak with someone who is in the same country. That someone is called Stephen and I believe he is the man behind voloeboards.co.uk. I have found him to be very patient with all my questions both prior and after my purchase.

The VoLo-E longboard is not a high end electric skateboard in my opinion. It doesn't have dual drive motors (only one motor is powered), the motor is not built into the wheel but rather drives the wheel through a belt, the total travel distance is claimed as 4-6 miles, and the maximum speed is claimed as 14mph. But its actually a really great board and fantastic value for money! I've done more than 100 miles distance on it already and its proving very reliable. When you receive the board it is supplied with a battery charger and small tool kit. The specs for the board are as follows:

-Ride-time of between 45 mins to 1 hr at top speed (approx 4-6 miles)
-Top speed of 14mph or 22.5kph
-A powerful brushless, in-runner belt driven motor unit (fully enclosed)
-Forward and reverse gear
-A 250w 24v 5 amp unit and lithium-ion battery pack
-A Bluetooth pistol grip speed controller with regenerative charge braking for extended battery life
-Optional slower mode option for younger..or novice riders
-9 ply maple deck with blue poly centre core for maximum strength and flexibility
-A deck side grip for easy transportation
-78A PU 90mm wheels fitted with blue seal Abec-7 bearings
-2 to 4hr charge pack included
-8 kg weight

What finally sold VoLo-E and the whole idea of electric long boards to me was when I watched their video:

The future is electric!

Back in the 80's I used to ride my sister's skateboard now and again. It was a short wooden thing with very small wheels and was  incredibly difficult to stay upright on. This I suspect was because of its size and also due to the rough roads in my old neighbourhood. Little did I think that many many years later I would find myself riding comfortably  on an electric longboard! That situation occurred about  a month and a half ago but only after nearly two years of thinking about the best way  to commute to work. This commute had traditionally been undertaken in my car. The workplace is in a different town to the one I lived and the commute on a good day took 35-40 minutes either way by car.  After a long hard day at work there was nothing easier than to jump into my car and drive back home - this pattern became so ingrained in my mind, that I was blinkered and could not contemplate alternative forms of transport.

Then two years ago my company changed buildings and ended up being located very close to the train station. The train was now a real alternative. But how to get to the train station in my town (a 30 minute walk) and from the train station to my work place (a 11 minute walk) in the other town? I could walk but that gets a bit boring and tiresome doing it everyday. Bicycle? When I did go by train I saw the issues had by fellow passengers who wanted to take their bikes on the train. Every morning there's a small race to be had by the cyclists as they compete to get on the train first before the train's quota of five bikes is reached - forcing a few unhappy cyclists to wait for the next train. The alternative of leaving the bike at the station was not a viable solution. The horror stories I had heard from my work colleagues returning to their parked bikes only to find a broken lock or one remaining wheel locked to the bicycle railing. Would I do a bus to get to the train? Hmm, well now and then. But the buses here seem to be a law into their own in terms of turning up (or not) according to the timetable.

What I needed was something small enough to take on the train and fast enough to be better than just walking. Sure I could buy a folding Brompton like bike. But they look so cumbersome to carry around. I looked at Swegways - too expensive and too big. I looked at Segway/Hoverboards but they just seem like toys.

I thought about manual skateboards but recalled the experiences I had when I was a kid. Then after doing all this research on YouTube, YouTube felt like it knew me well enough to start recommending electric skateboard videos. For several months I watched and wondered, would I, wouldn't I be able to ride safely one of these things and eventually I concluded that an electric longboard was the one for me. Then about two months ago I saw the  VoLo-E longboard on eBay. After many discussions with the proprietor of the Volo-E store I bit the bullet and purchased. I created this blog to report on my experiences with this longboard and hopefully provide useful information to fellow electric skateboarders. Oh yes, I am an Engineer and a bit of a tinkerer. I do plan on making and reporting adjustments to my longboard :)