More options but so what?
Most electric skateboards don't have many options when it comes to configurations. Dot allows you choose decks, motors, batteries, and wheels.
However, we don't quite understand the significance of being able to choose configurations for these boards.
Lets take the dot Compact deck as an example and compare it to the Boosted Mini. Both have small decks. For the dot Compact, you get to choose between having one or two motors and between having one of two battery packs. For the Boosted Mini, you can choose between Boosted Mini X ($999) and Boosted Mini S ($749).
Both Boosted Minis are cheaper than the standard dot Compact ($1,279) but the Minis have the same or better top speed, better range and better hill climbing ability. The base configuration dot Compact has a top speed of 18 mph, range of 6 miles, and 15% gradient climbing ability. Boosted Mini X has a top speed of 20 mph, a range of 14 miles, and can climb 20% hill gradients while the Boosted Mini S has a top speed of 18 mph, 7 mile range, and 20% gradient hill climb.
Choosing the best configuration for the dot Compact will bump up its price by $370 more with increase in range to 12 miles and hill climbing to 30%. It's not great considering that it now costs $1649 compared to the Boosted Mini X price tag of $999.
On paper at least, there's very little reason to choose the dot Compact over the Boosted Mini X.
dot Cruiser and dot Transporter
These are the bigger versions of dot electric skateboards. Because they use a bigger deck, you can add more battery modules than you can of the dot Compact.
On the dot Cruiser you can now use up to 3 battery modules, which increases the range to 18 miles. You can use up to 4 battery modules on the bigger dot Transporter and increase its range to 24 miles.
In comparison, Boosted Stealth and Boosted Plus have a range of 14 miles. For a 4 mile increase in range and with a 30% climbing power (by choosing the two motor option), the dot Cruiser costs $1869, which is $270 more than the Boosted Stealth ($1,599) and $470 more than Boosted Plus ($1,399).
dot Transporter, the biggest of them all is priced at $1,599 for the base configuration with a 12 mile range. The standard configuration already comes with 2 motors but you use just one if you want to. The base dot Transporter has the same speed as the Boosted Stealth and a slightly shorter range but it has better climbing power at 30% maximum gradient compared to the Stealth's 20%.
Perhaps the dot Transporter is best of value among the other dot decks. To double its range from the standard 12 miles to 24 miles cost $400 extra. The Transporter is also the only dot deck that has the 120 mm Stable-Ride wheel ($100) option.
Other Features
The biggest selling point of dot electric skateboards is their configurability but at the time of writing, even though they say it is unprecedented, it's nothing to write home about. However, features like cruise control and acceleration and braking curve options can be quite useful. Below are the common features of the three dots:
- Extra light magnesium front trucks with built-in skate tool
- 83mm front wheels
- Precision Abec-7 bearings
- Regenerative braking
- Three ride modes: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced
- dotPUSH System fully conceals wiring through patent-pending rear truck
- The proprietary dot Hub Motor
- dot Lithium-Ion Battery – the world's most advanced electric skateboard battery managament system
- dot Remote Control with intelligent, customizable features including cruise control
- USB magnetic charging cable for Remote Control
- Rigid-shell carry case with custom moulded internal compartments
- One year manufacturer's warranty
- dot Customer Care peace of mind
|
dot Compact |
dot Cruiser |
dot Transporter |
|---|---|---|
|
Light and durable 30” maple V-Ply + fibreglass deck with kick tail feels like a real skateboard |
Light and durable 37″ maple V-Ply + fibreglass deck with kick tail feels like a real skateboard |
42” 8-ply deck with micro-drop down concave for locked-in feeling at higher speeds |
|
One or two swappable battery configurations |
One, two or three swappable battery configurations |
Two, three or four swappable battery configurations |
|
One or two Hub Motor wheel configuration |
One or two Hub Motor wheel configurations interchangeable 83mm 78a urethane wheels |
One or two Hub Motor wheel configurations with 120 mm wheel option |
Pros
- Configurable
- Swappable and stackable batteries
- Cruise control available
- Serviceable and replaceable components
Cons
- Expensive
- Could have more options
- Parts used could be better considering the price e.g. the bearings
Conclusion:
Dot electric skateboards have a premium price but it doesn't produce premium performance. Having unprecedented options but the ones available are quite limited. Even though it may not help, it'd be nice to be able to add more than 2 motors perhaps to help with climbing higher gradients.
dot Compact delivers the least value while the dot Transporter appears to be of great value when compared to a Boosted Stealth.
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