E-Longboarding has arrived and is today quickly populating the streets of Provo, Utah. Chloe King is one such active longboarder who has powered up a four-wheeler with innovative, electric technology to advance her reach and speed. “Four or five years ago” Chloe began using a longboard as her sole means of transportation in Provo, after spending the prior year riding a board with friends in Chicago. Chicago streets might sound a bit intimidating to us, but Chloe’s experience with learning to ride her Dad’s skateboards while growing up gave her all the confidence she needed. “He bought some skateboards and let me and my sisters use them.”
This year Chloe decided to check out electric skateboards (still active transportation), as one of her Chicago friends had mentioned that he had recently bought an e-board. It was just one of those routine days, Chloe had told her roommates that she was on her way to the grocery store to buy some bread. On her way to the market she happened to stop off at Board of Provo, 465 N. University Ave., specialty Pro Snow and Skate Shop, to take a quick look at possibilities; she came back home that same day surprising her roommates with the purchase of a new Evolve Stoke Electric Skateboard. Consequently, Chloe named her new e-longboard “Bread,” although I never did find out if she actually made it back home with the aforementioned food product.
Much more expensive than a standard longboard, the newly purchased e-longboard cost Chloe $1,200. This isn’t small-change for a fourth year student attending BYU, but I’m sure Chloe’s declared major, Mechanical Engineering, also helped her in getting her money’s worth of this technology. Fortunately, the skate shop had just begun a program that awarded “big-spenders” with free add-ons, so she received a new helmet and some other items with her board as gifts, compliments of the shop. The motor is easily controlled with a hand-held R2 Bluetooth Remote, it has a range of ten miles and a top speed of 22 mph, and comes with a battery charger, tools, and accessories.
Speed and range are important, as Chloe rides the board everywhere and often makes trips from home to campus to Center Street, shopping at local stores, and even to Home Depot, where she finds components for her class project—designing accessories for skateboards. A friend has recently made a board that will do up to 30 mph. But even more Chloe just enjoys “the ride,” one can see that as she quietly glides around street corners and passes up cars during rush hour on her way about town. She “likes going fast and riding at night,” too and plans to bring her e-board along with her on her next vacation to Denmark, a visit she makes every other year.
