Boosted is a company best known for its electric skateboards, but now it’s looking to offer a new mode of transportation to the masses: electric scooters.
To be clear, Boosted isn’t looking to enter the scooter share business. Bird and Lime already dominate that market, and Boosted says it’s looking to offer something more stable than a skateboard but more compact and economical than a car.
In a press release, Boosted stated:
Despite the increasing demand, products available today are poor quality, and the shared vehicle model isn’t reliable or economical for daily use. It’s time for a high-quality, exciting, vehicle-grade electric scooter, and that’s where Boosted Rev comes in.
The Rev can hit a top speed of 24mph and climb hills with a grade of up to 25 percent, making it a lot more powerful than most of the scooter-share options on the market. Boosted showed me the scooter in comparison to a Xiaomi scooter which has become quite popular with consumers. It was clear Boosted packed a lot more brawn into the Rev.
The most interesting thing about this scooter is how you operate it. Unlike most electric scooters, which require you to twist the handle forward or backward, the Rev uses a system extremely similar to their Boosted Board controller. There is a tiny wheel on the handle which you shift up and down with your thumb, pushing the bike forward or braking it. This helps increase stability since bumps in the road can cause unexpected speed variations on a traditional system.
The Rev also uses Boosted’s electric brakes, which can stop the scooter on a dime. There are also traditional backup breaks installed, but it says the electric brakes are so good you’ll probably never feel the need to use the physical ones. They’re just there for redundancy. There is a physical brake switch on the front right handle and a brake above the back wheel like you would find on a traditional toy scooter.
Boosted says the Rev will be compatible with the Boosted app it already uses for its skateboards, and it will be able to show you things like lifetime miles, last location, and more. I asked if it would consider adding geofencing to stop the bike from being moved past a certain zone, and it says it is looking into this.
During my time with the scooter, I found it to be a joy to use. The deck is extremely wide so people should feel comfortable using it right away, and the handlebars are tilted that an angle that naturally corrects the front wheel to steer straight. I didn’t feel uncomfortable hitting max speed, and it climbed hills much better than other scooters I’ve used. This is due to the dual-wheel drive and proprietary powertrain, which Boosted also uses in its skateboards.
The one downside to all these features is weight. The Rev weighs over 40 pounds so you won’t want to haul this up stairs very often. If you live in a building without an elevator, you’ll have to get used to getting this thing up and down floors, which will definitely be a drag.
If you want to get your hands on one of these scooters, you can pre-order from Boosted.com, with shipments arriving later this summer. It will retail for $1,599 which is quite expensive, but if you live in a metropolitan area and don’t want to deal with a car, this could be a great mode of transportation.