Moby Products is an Irish company based in Dublin and they are working on some very interesting electric vehicles. Their products aren't out yet but are expected to be released later in 2019.
The first product is the Jyroball and it should launch spring of this year.
As you can see it's a very interesting looking machinery, does remind me a bit of BB-8 droid from the new Star Wars. The Jyroball comes from a team of engineers led by founder Thomas O'Connel and inventor Marc Simeray. They we frustrated with the poor quality design and ride experience of hoverboards and decided to make something better.
The ball features a 500W brushless motor, and they advertise max range of 27km (16 miles) and top speed of 20km/h (12mph). It boasts quick charge so you can fully charge it under 3 hours. The estimated launch price is between $450 and $550. On their website jyroball.com you can find out more info.
Personal opinion alert:
Take my opinion with a pinch of salt but I struggle to see the practicality of this machinery. First, the renders don't really show how big the Jyroball is and I also don't see any physical dimensions on their website. Second, the speed is pretty low for any serious commuting. Third, the wheel is very wide and that actually makes it harder to ride, I know this because I've been on the Ninebot Z10 and I do not like the feel of it at all. It's difficult to turn and the tire is more sensitive to the bumpy road so it feels more like the Z10 is riding you rather than you riding the Z10 and I think the Jyroball will have the same issues. Lastly, the wheel/tyre is not protected at all, imagine going through a puddle, everything just goes up and you get wet, imagine what will happen with mud!
Yes the ball looks cool and futuristic, yes it's not crazy expensive, but I just don't see the practicality of it so I think the Jyroball will be just a toy, a party trick to impress your mates. I might be wrong, time will tell.
The YX One board is another project by Moby that might have more potential. It's an all terrain board but as of writing this post the launch website is under development so I don't have much information about it apart from this promotional video:
The video does look good and I like how they used their prototypes in real life, so it feels more like a genuine product and you can see how it performs off-road as well.
They recently made their Facebook page and from there I managed to get this photo:
As you can see it has 3 wheels but the position your feet take are that of a OneWheel or a skateboard. I can't say for sure but I think the YX One will be competing with the OneWheel by the looks of it, we have to wait until the middle of 2019 to see if that's the case or not.
As of writing this post I don't know anything about how it works, how powerful the motor is, how long the battery last and etc, but I wanted to share this because it looks interesting. It's encouraging to see companies creating electric wheels, boards and other vehicles, especially in this case creating an all-terrain board. Hopefully soon there will be more details so we can keep you updated!
What do you guys think about the Jyroball and the YX One? If you found this articles interesting, feel free to share it on social media and get the conversation going!