The future has officially arrived, and its in the form of all-electric skates designed by Escend out of the UK. These aren’t roller skates with fireworks attached to them like the early pioneers of MTV’s Jackass, nor are they the regular old inlines we donned during our first couple’s skate in the 90s. Instead, the Escend Blades Alpha have successfully combined the joy of inline skating with the unmatched, effortless velocity that comes with electric motors. I kicked, pushed, and wobbled my way through two different variations of these electric skates for you, so be sure to check out my video below to get my thoughts.
Table of contents
Escend Blades is born
First things first. What is a futuristic microbility product without its makers? You probably haven’t heard of Escend Blades yet, but I doubt you’ll forget their name after you watch me zoom back and forth across your screen on electric skates below.
Believe it or not, Escend’s journey toward creating the first electric motorized skates I’ve ever seen started as recently as October 2020. Cofounders Anton and Rashid met while working for Arrival – another electric mobility company in the UK often covered here on Electrek.
Each founder realized they were not alone in their respective love for skating and quest to deliver an all-electric version to the masses. When they discovered they both were working on their own prototypes separately, the duo then combined forces, quit their day jobs, and began development of the nascent Escend Blades Alphas you see before you.
A year later is when yours truly came in. The Escend team reached out to me and explained they were developing an electric skate prototype and asked if I’d be interested in being one of the first people on Earth to try them out. Naturally, I said no.
Kidding! Aside from being flattered, I was thoroughly excited to try something in micromobility the world had not seen before. We held video calls where I got to see the prototypes, and the cofounders even gave me a demonstration outside their office.
Flash forward to fall 2022. After months of conversations, certification delays, and a hefty wait through customs, the Escend Alphas were on my doorstep. Finally, I could charge ’em up, roll ’em out, and try not to break my wrists while I share my experience with you all. Aside from one minor hole in my jeans, I found great success in these electric skates, which you can learn about below. But first, check out some images and a few of the pertinent specs.
Metro Boots
Doop Boots
Check out the Alpha electric skates
I explain most of the good and bad with the Escend Blades in my video review, but I still want to point out some of the thoughts I didn’t have room for on YouTube and share some of the performance specs in greater detail.
As you can probably tell from the images above, the Escend Blades Alpha electric skates get their power from the two-wheeled skates themselves. Each “blade” is powered by a 5.2Ah battery pack in its center, housing lithium-ion cells. Each pack powers its respective 400-watt hub motor, powering the rear wheel. The rear also houses brakes, which certainly came in handy during my experience.
What’s cool about Escend’s electric skates is their modularity in that you can choose from two different boot styles to suit your preference/usage (i.e. to share or not to share). The Metro Boots resemble ski shoes and are ordered to your specific shoe size, hence harder to share.
The Doop Boots, however, are more like snowboard bindings, in which you keep your shoes on, step in, and strap up. This option serves a multitude of different feet sizes and offers more opportunity for others to impersonate a newborn giraffe along with you. Escend was awesome enough to send me both options to test out for you, and I definitely have a preference after trying both. More on that below. First, however, you gotta see some of the specs these electric skates offer:
Motor Power: 800w (2x400w)
Battery: 2 x 5.2Ah lithium-ion packs
Frame: Aerospace-grade aluminum
Tires: 105mm diameter custom-made silicon rubber. Shock-absorbing, wear-resistant on and off-road tires that can be ridden for a minimum of 1000 km (621 mi) before requiring replacement.
Remote: Wireless with tactile vibration and predictive alerts
Top Speed: 25 km/h (15.5 mph)
Three speed modes:
Eco: 0-10 km/h (0-6.2 mph)
Commute: 10-18 km/h (6.2-11.2 mph)
Turbo: 18-25 km/h (11.2-15.5 mph)
There is also a reverse feature capable in all three speed modes
Range: 15 km (9.3 miles) on a single charge
Charge times:
Remote: 30 mins
Skates: 20-80% in 1.25 hours, 20-100% in 2 hours
Other features: Regenerative braking, throttle control for acceleration and braking, IP66 certified waterproof, replaceable battery packs.
Fun Fact: The Escend Blades Alpha electric skates adhere to FAA guidelines and can be taken abroad.
The unboxing haul
How to buy and the full video review
Are you sold already? Without even watching my video yet? Damn, I’m good. Hold that thought, though, because we need to talk prices real quick. The Escend Blade Alpha electric skates are currently on sale via the Escend website, starting at a price of $799 for the blade platforms only.
The set with the Metro Boots costs $869, while the Doop Boots package costs $919. Don’t worry, though – Scoot’s got ya. Use promo code SCOOTERSKATES for… 3% off (sorry).
You may not be all-in on electric skates yet, and I totally understand. Regardless, you’ve gotta see these things in action. Please check out my video review below, and let me know what you think about the Escend Blades. Are these the future?
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A fully electric Isuzu pickup truck? That’s right. The D-MAX EV is Isuzu’s first electric pickup, and it will be rolling in the next few months. After kicking off mass production, Isuzu said the new EV pickup will “match the performance of existing diesel models,” boasting high towing capacity and payload.
Isuzu’s first electric pickup is launching in 2025
Isuzu announced on Tuesday that the D-MAX EV has officially entered mass production. The company has started building left-hand drive models, which will be shipped to Europe in the third quarter of 2025.
By the end of the year, production of right-hand drive models will begin for the UK, with sales expected to start in 2026.
The electric pickup is nearly identical to Isuzu’s popular gas-powered D-MAX, but swaps the diesel powertrain for a pair of electric motors. The D-MAX EV features new e-Axles, one on the front and the other at the rear, for a full-time 4WD system.
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The dual-motor powertrain enables it to match the performance of existing diesel models, with a combined 188 hp (140 kW) and a maximum torque of 240 lb-ft (325 Nm).
It can also tow over 7,700 lbs (3,500 kg) with a maximum payload of over 2,200 lbs (1,010 kg). That’s about the same as the D-MAX diesel, which has a 3,500 kg towing capacity and a payload capacity of up to 1,200 kg.
Powered by a 66.9 kWh battery, Isuzu’s first electric pickup boasts a driving range of up to 263 km (162 miles) on the WLTP. In the city, it can have a driving range of up to 224 miles (361 km).
Isuzu D-Max EV specs
Drive System
Full-time 4×4
Battery Type
Lithium-ion
Battery Capacity
66.9 kWh
Max Output
130 kW (174 hp)
Max Torque
325 Nm
Max Speed
Over 130 km/h (+80 mph)
Max Payload
1,000 kg (+2,200 lbs)
Max Towing Capacity
3.5t (+7,700 lbs)
Isuzu D-Max EV electric pickup specs
Built for on and off-road performance, the rugged electric pickup features over 8″ (210 mm) of ground clearance with a wading depth of nearly 24″ (600 mm).
Although prices have not been announced, the D-MAX EV is expected to start slightly higher than the diesel model, which has a base price of around € 36,500 ($41,600).
Isuzu’s popular D-MAX is sold in over 100 countries, including Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Central and South America. The electric version will arrive in Europe in the next few months, followed by the UK and other regions in 2026.
The electric D-MAX will compete with the Toyota Hilux, Ford Ranger, and other electric pickups, such as Geely’s Radar R6, BYD’s Shark, and Ford’s F-150 Lightning.
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For the first time in five years, a Tesla insider required to report Tesla stock transactions bought stocks rather than selling them.
But the transaction is so small that it makes the whole situation hilarious.
Insiders in public companies are top executives and board members who are required to report to the SEC any transaction related to the company’s stock.
For Tesla, it has become a running joke that insiders only sell, never buy the stock.
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This has been true without exception for years.
We don’t know as much about executives as Tesla has a very short top executive bench who are required to file transactions. However, when it comes to its board members, they have been selling at an impressive rate.
However, we now have confirmation that a Tesla board member is buying, rather than selling.
Joe Gebbia, the Airbnb co-founder who joined Tesla’s board in 2022, confirmed that he bought 4,000 shares in Tesla last week worth about $1 million:
Electrek’s Take
Gebbia is estimated to be worth over $7 billion. Therefore, his purchase of $1 million worth of Tesla stock would be equivalent to my buying a fractional share in Tesla.
Furthermore, the disclosure confirmed that despite being on the board for the last 3 years, Gebbia owned only 111 shares in Tesla before the transaction.
That’s quite the show of confidence in Tesla.
Thie whole situation with the board is disappointing. Tesla’s core business is melting. The company reported its worst quarter in years last week, and the stock surged 20%.
None of it makes any sense.
The board is sitting on its hands while the most powerful force accelerating the advent of electric transport is being destroyed in favor of nonsensical predictions about the potential of solving self-driving and humanoid robots.
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Venmo, long a centerpiece of PayPal‘s growth story but often criticized for its lack of monetization, is becoming a bigger contributor to the business.
PayPal said Tuesday in its first-quarter earnings release that revenue at Venmo increased 20% year-over-year in the first quarter, though the company didn’t provide a dollar figure. PayPal acquired Venmo in 2013 through the acquisition of parent company Braintree.
While it’s long been a popular consumer service for sending money to friends, Venmo’s ability to drive meaningful revenue has been a major question mark for investors, especially as competition from rivals like Zelle and Square Cash has intensified.
Venmo’s total payment volume rose 10% from a year earlier, but revenue grew twice as fast, reflecting the business opportunity. Venmo only gets revenue from specific products like Pay with Venmo at online checkout, Venmo debit cards, and instant transfers, but not from peer-to-peer payments.
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Ahead of the earnings report, Jefferies analysts noted that Venmo revenue growth appeared to be “accelerating sharply” and flagged its rising contribution to branded checkout as a key area to watch. Compass Point analysts similarly said that while competition from Zelle and Square Cash remains fierce, Venmo’s traction with debit cards and online checkout could “open up new monetization avenues” if adoption trends continue.
The company added nearly 2 million first-time PayPal and Venmo debit card users during the quarter, and total debit card payment volume across PayPal and Venmo climbed more than 60%. Meanwhile, Pay with Venmo transaction volume surged 50% year over year, and Venmo debit card monthly active users grew about 40%.
PayPal reported better-than-expected earnings for the quarter but missed on revenue. The company reaffirmed its full-year guidance, citing macroeconomic uncertainty.