Evolve has plenty of fans thanks to its line of excellent electrified longboards, and the latest addition announced today appears to be another solid step forward for a company not afraid to break the mold. The newly unveiled GTR Series features all the hallmarks that made its predecessors so popular, but with some notable upgrades spearheaded by a new battery design with plenty of give.
As was the case with Evolve's previous GT Series, the new GTR line centers on what is essentially the same powertrain technology, using twin 1,500-W motors hooked up to the rear wheels. This is applied to two different types of boards, each with two options for wheel setups.
The Bamboo GTR carries the nostalgic aesthetic of old-school longboard design with an exposed timber finish and three-ply bamboo and two-ply fiberglass sandwiched in between. The Carbon GTR, meanwhile, is made from 100 percent carbon fiber with a black matte finish.
The battery is packed away neatly inside a compartment beneath the deck and, as with previous designs, doesn't protrude too much from the underside. As we've experienced in our earlier tests of Evolve's skateboards, this makes a huge difference when trying to carry the thing under your arm when on foot.
What's different this time around, however, is that rather than being flat-packed and arranged longways like a series of hardcover books, the battery pack actually flexes, to degrees far greater than you'd ever need from a longboard. This new four-piece battery design should allow for tighter control when turning, and involves no wires connecting the individual packs, making for a neater and safer design on the inside as well.
The range offered by Evolve's electric skateboards has always been a huge strength and nothing changes with the new GTR Series. Like the previous GT Series, the distance the boards will travel on each charge will depend on the wheels that are attached, and these can be swapped out easily enough with the included Y-shaped skate tool.
The 97-mm (3.8-in) urethane street wheels will allow both the Carbon and Bamboo GTR boards to cover 50 km (31 mi) on each charge, while the 178-mm (7-in) pneumatic tires built for rougher terrain will allow for 30 km (18 mi) of travel. Top speed, meanwhile, is listed as 42 km/h (26 mph) for the street setup and 36 km/h (22 mph) for the all-terrain setup.
Both boards are driven by Evolve's joystick-based Bluetooth controller, which displays battery levels and allows riders to choose from ECO mode, which preserves power and has a friendlier acceleration curve, and PRO mode, which prioritizes power and, well, has a less friendly acceleration curve.
Evolve is offering the Bamboo GTR for a price of AU$1,899 (US$1,320) and the Carbon GTR for $1,999 (US$1,390), with shipping to kick off in the first week of June. You can see the new boards in action in the video below.
Source: Evolve
Parts are now available, so I don't see how they get that price, unless longboarders are a clicquey bunch who love branding.