Now on Kickstarter: Electric Motorized Roller Skates That Go 12 Miles an Hour

Dan Tynan
Updated
Model wearing motorized roller skates
Model wearing motorized roller skates

The ACTON R Rocket Skates. (ACTON Global)

Think you’re cool because you bike to work? Think again. Ride your Razor scooter everywhere? Color us unimpressed. And don’t even mention Segways.

In the future, if a startup called ACTON Global proves successful, then urban hipsters will commute using electric roller skates.

No, this isn’t the rocket-powered roller skate of science fiction, but it does represent a motorized version. ACTON Global, which is located in Southern California, launched a Kickstarter campaign for its RocketSkates at the Wearable Technologies Conference in San Francisco on Tuesday.

The dual-wheeled RocketSkates strap to either side of your shoes and can move over the pavement at speeds of up to 12 miles per hour. Depending on the model, they can run for up to 90 minutes, and they take about the same amount of time to recharge.

 

Co-founder Peter Treadway demonstrated a prototype of the 7-pound RocketSkates on the show floor at the conference. You lean forward to go faster, lean back to slow down, and keep track of your skating prowess and battery life using an iOS app. Brakes on the back of each skate keep your feet from getting ahead of the rest of your body and also prevent you from landing flat on your back (at least theoretically).

Just be sure to keep one foot slightly ahead of the other; riding side by side could lead to doing an involuntary split, notes transportation engineer Jennifer Choy.

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The 45-day Kickstarter is seeking $50,000; one hour in, the campaign had already collected more than $6,500. If successful, the RocketSkates will be available in three versions featuring different-sized batteries: the “Rocket Red” colored R-6, which feature a range of 6 miles (45 minutes) and cost $499; the “Terminator Chrome” R-8 (8 miles, 70 minutes, $599), and the “Deep Space Black” R-10 (10 miles, 90 minutes, $699).

Choy says the company already sells a motorized scooter and is — wait for it — developing a hoverboard. Yes, seriously. Somebody alert Doc Brown and tell him to get the flux capacitor out of hock; we may need it.

You can find out more about the RocketSkates here. And if you do pledge — please, wear a helmet.

Questions, complaints, kudos? Email Dan Tynan at ModFamily1@yahoo.com.