I Rode A 20 MPH Electric Skateboard For A Month

I can’t remember the very first skateboard I owned—either a Nash or a CCS blank I received for my 9th or 10th birthday—but I was hooked the moment I landed my first ollie. Even though 20 years later all I can really do is ride competently and land ollies, skating still gives me immeasurable amounts of joy. So when Boosted wanted to send me over an electric skateboard to try out for a month, I couldn't say no. 

The guys at Boosted were kind enough to ship me their top-of-the-line model, the Boosted Dual+. The board comes ready to roll with twin brushless DC motors that pump out 2,000 watts of power, or enough juice to hit a max speed of 22 mph. It’s controlled by an ergonomic remote that connects to the board via Bluetooth, which I found both comfortable and simple to operate. You basically hold it like you would grip a handgun.

When I initially received the deck, I was a bit surprised by its weight (15 lbs). Although it wasn’t that cumbersome to haul around, I definitely had to throw it on my shoulder for a minute to relieve my arm. But upwards of 20 mph down the back roads of Point Pleasant, NJ, it felt sturdy, safe, and wholly responsive.

The board's range is pretty damn impressive—seven miles on "eco-mode" (or easy mode) and six miles in “expert mode,” which increases your top speed. I kept it in “expert mode” the entire time and it never died on me (full disclosure: I never used it to do a full commute to work, or outright tested the range limit, but I did spend numerous days riding it all over town). If you do happen to find yourself out of battery, you can always push the board like a boring, unmotorized, regular skateboard, which, believe it or not, is surprisingly easy to do.

After a full day riding, I’d plug the board in to charge, which took a little over an hour. And though it could get annoying to carry around the charger in your backpack, you could easily swing into a coffee shop to charge up if the battery died on a particularly long jaunt.

The boards don’t come cheap, but Boosted does offer three models of varying price and power. The cheapest model, the Boosted Single, clocks in at $999 and is equipped with 1,000 watts of power (max speed: 18 mph). The next level up is the Boosted Dual at $1,299, with 1,500 watts (max speed: 20 mph). Finally the Boosted Dual+, the king of carving, leaves your wallet thinner at $1,499. I can’t speak to the other models, but if you’ve got a spare $1,499 you’re looking to spend, the Dual+ won’t steer you wrong. (Unless of course you actually steer it wrong, in which case you should probably power down to eco-mode.)

I know purists will bemoan the fact that you don’t have to push to skate it, to which I’d reply: give it a try. One try. I was like you once. But then I skated effortlessly around Brooklyn, breezing down empty streets and up steep hills without breaking a sweat. I went through the five boroughs, gliding over cracks in the asphalt and under graffiti-caked overpasses. Then I skated some more, through the suburban streets of Point Pleasant, down to the beach and around the vacant docks.

My experience can only be described as pure, unadulterated fun. The kind of fun you have when you’re 10 years old and you’re given a Nash or CCS blank for your birthday. The kind of fun you have when you land your first ollie—untainted and irreplaceable.

Alex Robinson is a senior editor for Supercompressor. His ollie is still vicious. Find him on Twitter and challenge him to a game of S-K-A-T-E @ItsAlexRobinson.

Want more of the world's best Gear delivered straight to your inbox? Click here to sign up for our daily email.