Finally, an EV you can afford, at just $7100. There’s a catch…

EVs are often described as sitting on a “skateboard platform”, with the batteries lined up along the bottom, but what would it be like if you took the whole car away, and just drove the skateboard? Well, mildly terrifying, but also wildly enjoyable.

Thanks to the friendly folks at Ben Buckler Boards in Marrickville, I was lucky enough to have a go at what must surely be the most expensive skateboard in the world – the $7100 Lacroix Lonestar Supersport, which has a top speed of 60km/h.

Now I like speed, but even I would have to say that’s stupidly fast for a skateboard, and the Ben Buckler boys agree, in part, advising that it’s probably best to invest in full motorcycle protective gear if you’re going to be game enough to ride one. In my experience, proper skaters don’t even like to be seen in knee or elbow pads, so a full-face helmet, leather jacket and boots is going to be a stretch.

Worst of all, though, they also advise that you’ll need to hold a “hand bell”, like some kind of high-speed leper, to warn people that you are approaching them from behind at warp speed.

In your other hand, of course, you’re holding a remote controller that not only works as a throttle and brake but allows you to toggle between the Supersport’s various modes. 

I can confirm that even the most tame mode is violent enough that you really need to learn forward over the front wheel to make sure that your body doesn’t go flying off the back. While regen braking starts as soon as you get off the throttle (and a clever deceleration sensor activates the brake lights at the back when you do), there is also a brake switch, which is similarly brutal and, if you don’t lean far enough to the rear, or you hit those brakes too hard, you’re going to use your face as a brake.

To show me just how vicious the more serious modes were, we ramped it up to the top one and sent the board off without anyone on it. The amount of wheel spin was, frankly, alarming. 

For your $7100, you do get more than just crazy acceleration and the possibility of breaking your wrists at any given moment. The Lacroix Lonestar Supersport also features a HDD (Head Down Display) that keeps you informed of your charging levels, range (between 80 and 160km on a single charge) and your speed. And it even has headlights for night riding.

Ben Sterrey of Ben Buckler Boards admits the slightly cheaper boards – which can be yours for less than $2000 – sell better than the range-topping monster, but that the whole electric skateboard thing is gathering pace.

“We’re all about reducing congestion and emissions and these boards are a great way of taking those trips that people might otherwise do in an Uber, or on a bus – and if you live in the inner city, they’re just a fantastic way of getting around,” he says.

It depends which city you live in, of course. Electric skateboards are illegal in NSW and Victoria – which means you can only ride them on private property – but legal in Queensland and the ACT.

There’s a Facebook group – Sydney Electric Skateboarders – with more than 1900 members who sometimes take their chances on the roads and streets of NSW, but also organise trips to Canberra together, where they can ride unhindered by fears of The Man.