Urban Transport

Dropboards motorized carving board powers over dirt and pavement

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The Dropboard Carve Motor 50cc
The Carve Motor 50cc at ISPO
Tackling a grassy hill with the Carve Motor 50cc
The Carve Motor 50cc at ISPO
The Carve Motor has shock absorbers on the axles
The Carve Motor 50cc at ISPO
The hand controller includes throttle and brake
Tackling a grassy hill with the Carve Motor 50cc
Tackling a grassy hill with the Carve Motor 50cc
A 50cc engine with one-liter fuel tank meets a carving board
The Dropboard Carve Motor 50cc
The shock absorbed axles give the board plenty of carving ability
The shock absorbed axles give the board plenty of carving ability
The shock absorbed axles give the board plenty of carving ability
The shock absorbed axles give the board plenty of carving ability
The Carve Motor travels up to 21.7 miles (35 km) on a full tank
The Carve Motor 50cc is capable of more 21.7 mph (35 km/h)
The all-terrain tires are designed to roll over obstacles
Despite the weight of an engine, the Carve Motor can go airborne
The carving board platform allows riders to get low
"Bjorn" the polar bear was part of a street theater group wandering the floor as a sort of advertising stunt
Bjorn is a "fully animated pod-puppet" from U.K. performance art group Los Kaos
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Walking the floor of the recent ISPO Munich sports show, there were a few things that were almost impossible to miss – the automated polar bear walking the corridors, for instance (see the gallery). Outside of that oversized white teddy bear, and maybe a scantily clad promo girl or two, the Dropboards Carve Motor 50cc spun my head faster than anything. This burly, all-terrain motor board looks more like a go-kart than a skateboard.

We've seen a number of motorized skateboards here at Gizmag – from mind controlled electrics to tracked, gas-powered all-terrain rovers to ultralight EVs.

The Carve Motor 50cc distinguishes itself in a few ways. Perhaps the most obvious is that hulking outboard engine that makes it look like a power boat out of water. As its name informs, that's a 50cc engine – the same 2.5-hp 50cc two-stroke engine used in some of Dropboard's scooters and minibikes. The motor and drum brake are controlled via a hard-wired hand controller.

Another aspect of the Carve Motor that stands out is its sheer size. That size is partly a factor of the large, knobby tires designed for off-road use, and partly an effect of its carving-inspired construction. In addition to motorized vehicles, Dropboard specializes in carving skateboards – big, long land surfboards designed to get low and flow. The carving board influence can be seen in the board's length and axle shock absorbers.

The carving board platform allows riders to get low

The combination of 50cc engine, carving construction and off-road tires results in a board with the grunt to push you around town, the maneuverability to slash dirt and hit jumps, and the versatility to roll over bumps, rocks, potholes and other landscape surprises. It is capable of traveling up to 21.7 miles (35 km) per fill-up in as little as an hour (top speed = 21.7 mph/35 km/h) and can carry riders up to 220 pounds (100 kg). It weighs just over 50 pounds (23 kg). The front end retracts more than half a foot (17 cm), allowing for a more compact travel footprint.

Dropboards has been selling the Carve Motor in its home market of Brazil for several years and was at the ISPO show in hopes of broadening its distribution. Toward that end, it opened a European branch in Portugal last year.

The Carve Motor 50cc is available for R$2,990 (US$1,530). For those that prefer a greener skate, Drop also offers an 800-watt electric skateboard for the same price. Its line of non-motorized carving and mountain boards hovers around the R$1,000 (US$510) range.

Source: Dropboards

Update: This story was modified on Feb. 20, 2013 to correct an error regarding pricing information. Prices were mistakenly listed in US$, when they were actually in Brazilian Real. The correct prices and currency conversions have now been added. Our apologies for any confusion and thanks to commenter Adam Valdes for pointing this out.

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6 comments
Milton
Interesting, but gas-guzzling skateboards are a thing of the past. They have been replaced by cleaner/quieter/quicker electric versions. I'd put a decent electric skateboard up against a gasser any day.
First impressions tell me these guys are just selling cheap knock-offs. Their non-motorized "boards" on the website look almost Identical to the "made in USA" Carve-Boards. They seem to have taken the bottom truck from MBS Mountainboards (who has their stuff made in China) and mated it to a knock-off carve-board. Not only do they appear to be knock-offs, they also are selling 'em for 2X the price of the real-deal. These guys should not be promoted if this is in fact the case.
Neon
@Milton Batteries have a lower energy density than petrol/hydrocarbons, therefore not the thing of the past. In addition the manufacture of high capacity lithium-ion batteries are extremely environmentally unfriendly, and the energy used to charge the batteries comes from a hydrocarbon source. why is quieter good? so people aren't aware of a moving vehicle.
Milton
@Neon
In a skateboard application petrol-powered is a thing of the past, as are petrol-powered bicycles. Next will be motorcycles, followed by automobiles. When the performance of an EV starts to kick petrol ass, the petrol becomes a thing of the past. For the 3K dollar price tag one could have purchased a Gnarboard electric skateboard, which has a 28 mph top-speed, a 20 mile range, and a 2-hour recharge time. Not to mention it can reach top-speeds in as little as 1.9 seconds, which out-accelerates any petrol-powered skateboard ever made. Aside from the "refueling time", petrol loses.
As for the "electricity comes from burning coal" argument, I'd like to point out to you that: 1. Electricity is increasingly becoming "cleaner", and 2. Even if 100% of your electricity were to be coming from a coal-powered plant, it is still less polluting to drive an EV. Go check out the Tesla Motors "go electric" page for some awesome info-graphics on the subject. They get their figures from the US Energy Information Association. It's pretty hard to debate against the "efficiency" of electric when it is proven that electric motors can achieve 95+ % efficiency while gasoline is stuck at 25 - 30% efficiency... not to mention the wasted gasoline from "idleing" in traffic.
As for noise-pollution: I don't think you are going to find many supporters of noisy petrol-powered skateboards. If you think having noise is so crucial to a moving vehicle, then I'd encourage you to solve that problem without the use of polluting our air with an ICE. But I think you would find the lack of noise to be a great benefit, as the "loud pipes save lives" argument is not quite as powerful as the "paying attention to your surroundings saves lives" one.
sk8dad
Are those hand dolly tires?
theselfbalancingscooter
these are great but no matter how much you weigh the weight/range of gas vs electric scooters/skateboards you cant get round the real world problem of NOISE and even if you use a 4 stroke these things have no place in a civilised environment. You will get complaints from some busy body. This is the whole reason why we only plan to sell electric scooters. http://www.theselfbalancingscooter.com
unklmurray
One of the commenters think gas boards are on their way out" I dis agree,a gallon of gas weighs about 8 pounds and will propell me for about 140mpg,I would be spending my time waiting for the battery to charge.......ride for 1 hour wait 4hours ,ride for 1 hour wait for 4 more hours......wait a minute I rode for one hour on my E board then I had to find a place to plug in then ding around waiting for it to charge.....I know I can buy a gas generator to charge the battery.........YEP,YEP dem gas powered boards are on their way out..YEP,YEP!!