The Premise. Skateboarding and long boarding have become popular ways for urbanites to get around. Bicycles are great, but don’t allow riders to easily take the subway between rides if need be. Skateboards are generally more portable, but don’t always offer the power necessary to get where we need to go in a hurry.
The Product. Marbel is an electric skateboard that claims to be the most sophisticated in the world. Coming in at 9.9lbs, it is super lightweight and can travel up to 20mph. It comes with an iOS or Android app that allows the rider to customize and design their ride by setting the top speed and acceleration rate or the rider can use a handheld remote to control speed. The app shows a map with a range on it so that the rider knows how far the lithium battery will last in the board’s 10+ mile range. Marbel‘s battery charges from empty to full in 90 minutes and uses a universal charger. The deck is made of carbon fiber and kevlar to protect the battery in all conditions while also remaining lightweight.
The Pitch. The campaign video shows the creator talking about creating Marbel as well as his goal for creating a sustainable form of transportation. Footage also shows the board zooming around the streets of Tampa, Florida and how smooth of a ride it provides. The rest of the campaign goes through the tech specs of the board as well as shows screenshots of the very sophisticated app in use. Marbel is going for a $90,000 goal in a 30-day Kickstarter campaign.
The Perks. Marbel offers two early-bird specials for the board at $999 and $1,099 for estimated delivery in October and November 2014 respectively. The regular price is set at $1,199 and offers backers the basic package of the board, remote and app with delivery in January 2015. For a fully customized board, backers can choose the $1,999 tier which gives the backer choices of color for the wheels and deck also with delivery in January 2015. Tiers go up to $5,000.
The Potential. Marbel is indeed as sophisticated and sleek as it claims. It provides great speed, control and portability for those who like boarding about. We’ve seen similar electric skateboards recently, like the Baja Board. The Baja Board boasts speed and power, but looks very clunky, and mountain bike-like for a board. Marbel is much sleeker, discreet and lighter making it a very cool option for urbanites looking for new ways to get around.