It’s the perfect way to get to that business lunch across town. Power executive, meet the electric skateboard.

It’s fun, it’s fast, it’s legal to operate without a drivers license and it’s a hit with fun-loving people of all ages.

Steve Miloshev, of Greenwit Technologies and subsidiary store E-Ride, told 24 hours when he started selling electric skateboards three years ago, he thought his main clientele would be teenagers. Instead he found 40-year-olds and older making most of the purchases.

The assumption is that it’s dangerous,
said Steve Miloshev of Greenwit Technologies and president of E-Ride, but “I’m 45 years old, I’ve never skateboarded before this, and I feel very confident because of its smooth braking and acceleration.”

But, for those more advanced riders, the e-skateboard can accelerate up to 30 kilometers in four seconds flat, he added.

It works like this: a small, powerful electric motor is mounted onto the skateboard, and is controlled by a wireless hand remote control. Push a trigger lever forward to brake and backwards to accelerate.

And here’s where the savings kick in: for “only six cents, you can go 100 kilometers compared to 12 litres of gas – that’s $12 – in a car,” Miloshev said.

Once an environmental engineer, Miloshev was inspired to move from repairing environmental damage to protecting the environment.

“We can repair the soil, and clean the water, but whatever goes into the air stays there,” he said. He saw his first electric bike while working for a Canadian company in China, and decided to make at go at bringing the electric-power age to Vancouver.

E-Ride sells electric bikes, scooters and skateboards at their store at 1702 West 4th Avenue.