Live on Kickstarter! Dash, patent pending modular electric longboard

General Discussion
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KickstarterHey Guys!

So I’ve been working on an eSk8 business for awhile now and we’re about 1 week away from launching on Kickstarter. I wanted to give you the heads up to ask questions and give you some details on what we’re building and why.

Our company is called Dash Electric, can be found on Facebook or www.DashElectric.com

I’m a huge fan of the DIY community and our product reflects that(will cover that more later).

But the quick rundown is that we have an electronics package including hub motors that can be mounted to most longboards. We also are offering pre assembled boards, a short board with a kicktail and a 40" drop through with our kits ranging from $500-650 and our completes ranging from $650-800.

Battery: We use LFP batteries and we put them in a beautiful anodized aluminum enclosure(think macbook aluminum) that not only protects the cells from road grime and water but also can contain a fire in the unlikely event of a fire. Our pack is also hot swappable, no screws to undo.

Remote: We have a 2.4Ghz remote that is in an anodized aluminum housing. It comes with different rider modes to help teach new riders. Our beginner mode is REALY easy to use, we made it so you can press full forward on the throttle and the board accelerates smoothly and slowly. You can also hold back on the remote to engage the motor brakes to help hold the board in place as you get on. We also smooth the braking in beginner mode.

Motor: I worked with Jacob awhile back to help design/fund the hub motors in their early stages. Dash has already addressed the tire slipping issue and we are sealing our motors, and including sensors as standard. Really wonderful motors and can’t wait to ship them. Hub motors are so smooth and require pretty much no maintenance which is really great for commuting.

ESC: We have our own ESC that we are planning to use, however, if the VESC 6 turns out to be better and is reliable we will likely offer that as well (and will of course donate to Vedder)

Options: So headlights and tail lights are standard, but our offerings will be either a single or dual motor.

So the DIY community is near and dear to my heart and as a company we don’t want to exclude the DIY community from progress that is made through a funded company, so our product is fully modular. That means every component is user swappable, all the way down to the wireless receiver. So once we are launched we will be selling parts of the board separately so that you can have a tested battery pack and hook up your own ESC, receiver, and motor if you’d like!

This sort of user accessibility into the product also lets us create improved parts over time and you can upgrade components without buying a new board. Eboards are expensive and we want to help keep you on the most up to date tech without breaking the bank!

I’d love to answer any other questions you guys have but we’re really excited to launch!

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Actual Photo

We’re really interested in engaging new riders, particularly 18-34yr old urban commuters who maybe haven’t considered esk8s in the past. From our polling one of the number one complaints we received from people about why they don’t skate to work is that they feel unprofessional bringing a skateboard to the office. So we’re packaging dash in aluminum with a no graphics bamboo deck. No belts to collect dirt and grime. So this results in a really sleek professional board that you can be proud to carry in to work or class!

edit: Kickstarter has been submitted for review

edit: KICKSTARTER IS LIVE Kickstarter

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Looks interesting…the hot swappable batteries are definitely a plus and the wave of the future. Can you share more detailed specs on the board?

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Sure! What would you like to know?

For our pack it’s 12S1P A123 LFP cells with a BMS. This lets us have a pack we can charge super quickly and safely and still get 1000+ charge cycles from. Also as the pack drains you don’t get any reduced power as the cells are capable of 70A constant and 140A bursts.

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Also sick Ruroc helmet, I have one for skiing!

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This seems very cool! What is the speed? Is the aluminum enclosure on the image the final one or a render? I cant really tell.

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Thanks! Loving the helmet so far. Id be interested in the expected range, top speed, motor wattage, and the duro of the wheels

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That’s a photo!

The top speed definitely depends on weight but 22mph seems to be where it tops out. We just want it to be powerful enough to take you up hills and be able to pass the occasional cyclist :smiley: We’ll make more powerful motors down the line that can be swapped in for the speed freaks but these motors suit beginners and experienced riders really well!

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Range is always a tricky subject but we’re looking at 7-10 mile range depending on rider weight, terrain, and riding style. Top speed is around 22mph, we’re still dialing specs on the motor so I don’t want to advertise a false wattage so I’ll get back to you on that. But 80A for the wheels!

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So with the 12s1p and hub motors I assume you are controlling the speed since your selling it right? Any more info on those decks?

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Yep! We are limiting the current from the pack to keep the pack happy and the motors from drawing more current than they can handle.

To keep manufacturing costs and risks down we’re partnering with a deck manufacturer(not a brand name) to make some pretty nice bamboo decks with moderate flex. We’ll have more photos on this with the kickstarter page!

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Nice. Last question. :sweat_smile: What makes your product better or more unique over other very similar products such as EON?

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Quick note on something i didn’t mention above. We actually designed our pack to be front wheel drive. This helps encourage riders to keep their weight over the front axle which promotes stability at speed and increases traction. It also lets us have headlights and tail lights built into the package.

So Eon seems like a nice product, their standard battery can only handle 20A which in my experience is not enough power to handle living in a hilly area, so you need to run their double pack to hit 40A which drives up the cost.

We really want to keep things simple for new riders so our base model is plenty powerful for most people, and a dual for those that live in hilly areas. Our pack charges very quickly and we use LFP which is the safest high power battery out there. Our price range of 500-800 is fairly wallet friendly as well and over time as we develop improved parts you only will need to spend a small fraction of that to get the newest motors, batteries, or ESC.

Personally from speaking with people the aluminum housing / sleek design is really responding well with commuters who want something clean to take into work or class and is one of my favorite aspects of the product.

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how though

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Aluminum with plastic at the ends, works really well!

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What is your kickstarter price going to be, I am about 10 years out of your target demographic (on the old side) but would consider buying for my littles.

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For a complete longboard our price is $650 for a single motor, and $800 for a dual motor. For kids I would probably recommend the single motor. :slight_smile: We also offer 2 different deck lengths, so the smaller of the 2 is a bit easier to carry around.

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She is going to make her own deck so just interested in components. Thanks~

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Cool. Thanks for sharing. I like how you are keep things open and modular. That’s what is keeping me away from buying a pre-made board. If it breaks, I can’t easily fix it.

Just a general question for you and the people on here. Do we really think that swappable battery packs are the future? Remember how batteries used to be swappable on most cell phones, laptops, etc. and now they are all integrated. Is anyone really going to carry a second heavy battery pack around with them. If I want more range I’m just going to build a big battery like the 10s4p 26650 I’m working on now!

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This looks very promising! Price is crazy good, if you think that a yuneec ego would cost the same and be way worse, specs wise. If I hadn’t taken the diy route I would probably have considered one of these, also seeing that you consider the diy community and not just random hipster folks in kickstarter. Let’s see how it ends up, I may recommend it to somebody

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Oh that’s awesome!

Our single motor kit is $500 Our Dual motor is $650

All she needs is to have the standard 4 hole mounting pattern on the deck and it’ll fit perfectly.

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