Will they soon flourish in the streets of Paris, like scooters, self-balancing scooters, hoverboards and other monowheels in recent years? The very young start-up Skwheel, based between Paris and Normandy, took advantage of CES 2024 to try to make noise around its first product: electric skis called Luna-One.
An unusual product at first glance, which consists of 4 driving wheels, two fixing systems for positioning the legs, several braking systems including an emergency mechanical one at the rear, as well as a joystick allowing you to accelerate and brake. “It’s a machine designed to travel up to 80 km/h in the countryside and stuck at 25 km/h in urban areas. The wheels are suitable for bitumen, sand or even gravel,” explains Romain Massebeuf, co-founder of the start-up.
Thanks to a pivot system placed on the front wheel that the young company has patented, Luna-One allows you to reproduce the sliding sensations of skiing on all types of surfaces, in particular the sculling characteristic of winter sports. “It’s a product that I have been working on for more than 7 years, with many prototypes, and which combines my two passions for engineering and skiing which I could not practice due to lack of means when I was younger », laughs Antoine Massebeuf, president and co-founder with his brother of Skwheel.
With a range of 30 kilometers, Luna-One is as well suited to commuting in urban areas as it is for outings in the mountains, for example. Recharging lasts 2 hours. The batteries are removable, so users wanting to go on longer outings can easily replace them.
Four reflectors, as well as two headlights at the front of the machine, allow the product to be located and seen. Essential, given the proliferation of micromobility devices on the roads in recent years and the necessary good understanding with other types of vehicles. The machine will be subject to the regulations for motorized personal transport vehicles, like electric scooters and others. Skwheel promises quick handling, even for those not used to skiing, and a learning curve of just half an hour to master the object.
Production is 100% carried out in Normandy. The start-up, which is only a year and a half old, currently has three employees. The two Massebeuf brothers, one from the world of supply chain and the other robotics, joined forces with a third to develop the commercial side. She hopes to produce up to 800 pairs of shoes in 2024, and launched a crowdfunding campaign on Sunday January 7 to ramp up. The pair of electric skis, which should be sold for around 2,200 euros, will benefit from a reduction in the coming weeks to reach 1,600 euros.
