The latest mode of transportation to be “revolutionized” with the addition of electric motors is rollerblades. France’s Atmos Gear brought its last-mile mobility solution to CES this year in the hopes of convincing the world to glide to work.
The Atmos Gear inline skates basically look like a normal pair of rollerblades, but the big difference, is that the middle wheel is powered by an electric motor to help whisk you down the road.
The French company says that the motor is strong enough to get rollerbladers up to 25 km/h (15 mph), and they can be controlled by a hand-held remote. Alternatively, the company says the product also come with a smart mode that attempts to help you move faster as you skate.
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The rollerblades come with a battery that can get users up to 20 km (12 miles) away from where they started on electric power alone. Despite the long range, the skates weigh just 800 grams (1.7 lbs) each. That low weight, though, is only possible because the batteries aren’t actually in the skates themselves.
Instead, riders will have to wear a fanny pack that contains the batteries. Wires that run down your leg to the skates themselves must then be attached. Atmos Gear says it chose this setup because otherwise the heavy batteries would have made the rollerblades weigh 3.5 kg (5.5 lbs) each.
The company claims, though, that the solution was tested extensively in the field that the company says it tested in the field at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. So, let us all hope that fanny packs don’t fall out of fashion again for the sake of this product’s buyers. When the battery runs out, though, it takes just one hour to recharge. It can also be recharged as you skate, but Atmos Gear doesn’t say precisely how that works.
Atmos Gear is currently looking for a total of 200 backers who are interested enough in these rollerblades to pre-order them, and allow the company to put these electric skates into production. If you’re interested in this futuristic technology, though, the bad news is, it isn’t cheap.
Buyers can choose to buy the whole rollerblade for €550 ($590 USD at current exchange rates), or just the propulsion system for €500 ($536 USD), which can be attached to any rollerblading boots you already own. The skates come in three colors, and Atmos Gear says that it expects to start delivering its first rollerblades in May.