You may think we’re all still rolling about on skateboards like plebs until our Back To The Future hoverboards show up, but that’s simply not true. We were just waiting for our OneWheel Electric Skateboard based on the hoverboard concept. Der.
So what is the OneWheel? Like the name suggests, it’s an electric skateboard with only one wheel, mounted in the middle and attached to a gyro for balance, acceleration and deceleration. Inside the wheel hub is a miniaturised, brushless motor much like the motorised bikes from Stealth Electric Bikes we tested last year.
The unique point about the OneWheel is that it doesn’t require any hand controls, gears or speed buttons to get it working. All you need to do is lean forward to accelerate, and lean back to decelerate and even reverse.
It’s designed to balance itself, cushion difficult terrain and be completely simple to use much like the Back To The Future hoverboard the team was inspired by.
The OneWheel achieved successful Kickstarter funding this week, which is impressive considering that the boards start at $1299 for the base model.