There are plenty of electric skateboard designs on the market – a whole lot of them, in fact. There are also electric mountain boards. The Altered Pro-Line V3 DS lays claim to being the first wireless design that combines both styles into one board. Users can rip through the dirt and zip across pavement with one modular board.
California outfit Altered Skateboards has been building wireless electric boards longer than we've been covering them, having released its first model back in 1997. In fact, it claims that build was the first wireless skateboard, period.
Its latest project adds dual-terrain functionality to the existing Pro-Line V3 electric street board, which launched last year. That board is already highly modular, allowing the owner to customize it with decks, wheels, bushings, trucks, etc, and the "DS" option adds the ability to swap between smooth road wheels and larger off-road knobbies. To make this as easy as possible, each set of wheels is pre-mounted to front and rear trucks. Each rear truck assembly includes its own pre-installed motor, so all the user has to do is pop two bolts out, unplug the motor, bolt in the new trucks, plug the new motor in and ride.
The V3 DS rider powers the motor with a 3G/2.4 GHz RC hand gun. He or she can trigger the board to its max speed of 20 mph (32 km/h) in as little as three seconds, stopping from top speed within 40 feet (12.2 m). The available 5-aH lithium-ion 7 aH lead acid and 10-aH li-ion battery options return between six and 16 miles (9.7 and 26 km) of riding for two to four hours of charging.
Altered has turned to Kickstarter in an effort to raise funds to develop the off-road hardware. It's offering a variety of pledge packages, including a US$575 street-only V3 ($125 off MSRP), a $650 V3 off-road and a $750 Dual Sport version. Those that already own the street V3 can secure an off-road kit with a $225 pledge. Since they're already in production, the street models will start shipping next month. Estimated shipping on the off-road and dual versions is February 2014.
The board can be seen in use, in the pitch video below.
Sources: Kickstarter, Altered