Mat Lee: Why Yuneec Electric Longboards Rocked My World at CES 2014

aNewDomain.net — One of my two favorite things that I got to physically interact and play with at CES 2014 was stuff from Yuneec. Scroll below to see a video our Ant Pruitt shot of me while I tried out one of Yuneec’s new electric longboards …

Yuneec manufactures everything from high tech electric propulsion systems for all sorts of cool toys to personal electric transport systems (PETs). It builds  unmanned aerial systems, sports action cameras and even microlights and light sports aircraft. I tried out everything they’d let me. That’s why I’m smiling, below.

Image credit: Mat Lee

Image credit: Ant Pruitt

Yes, those pictures are legitimate. At CES, Yuneec had the Yuneec Greenwing GW430 electric aircraft on display, along with a few Yuneec E-GO electric longboards to ride around the parking lot. And it even had the new three-pound HX3 Flying Eyes hexacopter, which you can see in action here. Here I am in action on the longboard, below.

Video: Mat Lee as shot by Ant Pruitt for aNewDomain/aNewDomainTV

The HX3 can carry up to 4.4 pounds from anywhere between 45 and 90 minutes. That means it could literally carry itself around in the air for like an hour and a half. I know, totally awesome. Of course it’s not out yet, but execs say preorders will be accepted soon.

Image credit: Mat Lee

Every time I walked by Yuneec’s area, I had to take the E-GO out for a spin. Check back for a video of me taking it out for a test ride.

This thing is so cool. I’m not alone in thinking so. Try to order one for $699 at the site and these things are out of stock. Of course, you can preorder it for a $100 deposit. The firm says it’ll ship out preorders in four to six weeks, but you know what South Park says about preorders, right?

Image credit: Ant Pruitt

The E-GO Cruiser can handle humans up to 220 pounds and it’ll cruise up to 18 miles depending on the rider, temperature, speed and surface resistance, specs says. There are a ton of factors that go into how long your batteries will last, though.

Image credit: Yuneec

The cool thing is, they only take a few hours to fully charge. I was thinking this would be really handy for downhill longboarding up here in Montana. The worst part is that long walk back up the hill. But if you can ride the E-GO down the hill not using the motor, you can save all your juice for the ride back up. That’s assuming your inclination is no more than 10 percent.

Any more-steep of a grade, and you’ll probably be walking. Sorry.

Image credit: Yuneec

So what’s the tech behind these little planes and longboards? All of these cool toys are powered by the Yuneec Power Drive 40, a brushless electric motor that can get you 54 horsepower at 40 kilowatts, and the Yuneec Power Block 40 power controller. The newer motors can push 64 horsepower at around 48 kilowatts according to the Yuneec Greenwing site specs for the GW430. This little 42-pound electric aircraft engine will get you and a friend cruising at right around 100 mph.

Image credit: Yuneec Greenwing

Yuneec also has the GW280 electric ultralight and the GW100 electric paramotor. I didn’t see these at CES 2014, but I wanted to mention that the GW100 paramotor also looks like it would be super fun. It’s probably one of the only ways I would ever skydive.

And yes, I would also fly the ultralight.

Image credit: Yuneec

Got questions? Send them to me here at Mat@aNewDomain.net. Or bug the company at info@yuneec.com. And keep checking back here on aNewDomain for more great CES and ShowStoppers coverage, plus all the video coming up now on our brand new aNewDomainTV YouTube page.

For aNewDomain.net, I’m Mat Lee.

Based in Kalispell, Montana, Mat Lee is a senior editor and podcaster at aNewDomain.net. He is yet another teamBYTE vet on our aNewDomain.net edit team and he hosts the popular Yet Another Tech Show (YATS). He is an Android man. Email Mat at Mat@aNewDomain.net and follow him on Google+, where he is +Mat Lee.