Escend Blades Alpha review: Electric skates are here, and they’re pretty rad
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.
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.
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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The first electric Range Rover is expected to hit showrooms in the next few months. With its official debut just around the corner, Range Rover’s first EV was spotted testing in Sweden. Here’s a sneak peek of the luxury electric SUV.
Range Rover’s first EV put through the paces in Sweden
Range Rover is finally gearing up to introduce its first EV later this year. Earlier this year, JLR confirmed that the Range Rover Electric already has 57,000 buyers on the waiting list.
The company claims the new model “redefines” the electric luxury SUV with an “unrivalled driving experience.” To prove it, Range Rover is putting its first EV through the paces in sub-zero conditions in Sweden.
Range Rover’s electric SUV has been through 45,000 miles of testing across frozen lakes and land tracks. The latest round allowed engineers to test their new thermal management system.
The company’s new ThermAssist thermal management system reduces heat energy consumption by up to 40% and is designed to warm the propulsion system or cabin in temperatures as low as ‑10°C (14°F).
Range Rover said it also helps optimize driving range while minimizing the impact of extreme temperatures on charging performance.
Combined with an 800V battery, the first one built in-house by JLR, the company promises the best possible performance, with optimized energy density, range, and charging times. The Range Rover’s first EV will be powered by a 117 kWh battery, consisting of 344 prismatic cells.
Built for both on- and off-road performance, the electric SUV features new additions like single-pedal driving and a switchable twin-chamber air suspension system.
Range Rover tested the single-pedal capabilities on both 28-degree and 17-degree split-mu inclines at its Arctic test facility.
Matt Becker, Vehicle Engineering Director at JLR, explained that the electric SUV maintains the brand’s signature driving experience “by marrying all the essential Range Rover elements with new and advanced technologies.”
Following its second season in Sweden, Range Rover will continue testing prototypes ahead of the official launch later this year.
After its first EV, Range Rover is already preparing another smaller electric SUV, which is expected to be the Sport model. In 2026, the company is expected to release a mid-sized electric SUV, likely the Velar.
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Volvo is launching a nearly $2 billion (SEK 18 billion) restructuring plan to drive growth and mitigate the impact of Trump’s tariffs. With the new EX30 and ES90 EVs rolling out, Volvo is taking drastic action to drive growth.
Volvo launches restructuring plan due to Trump’s tariffs
After its operating income fell by nearly 60% to SEK 1.9 billion in the first quarter, Volvo launched a cost and cash action plan.
The restructuring is worth SEK 18 billion, with most of it being realized in 2026. Volvo’s new strategy includes SEK 3 billion in variable cost actions and SEK 5 billion in indirect spend efficiencies. The additional SEK 10 billion will be added in cash actions to reduce working capital and capital expenditures this year and in 2026.
Volvo Cars CEO Håkan Samuelsson said, “The automotive industry is in the middle of a very difficult period with challenges not seen before.”
With “turbulence in the market,” Samuelsson added that the company needs to “further improve our cash flow generation and lower our costs.”
To do so, Volvo is focusing on three areas: profitability, electrification, and regionalisation. Volvo is already leading the premium segment, with electrified vehicles accounting for 43% of sales in Q1. However, with new EVs launching, Volvo said more will need to be done to overcome the impact of Trump’s tariffs.
Volvo created a new region called Americas, which includes the US, Canada, and Latin America, to streamline its global operations.
In the US, the company is looking to sharpen its product line-up and plans to boost production at its Charleston, South Carolina, plant.
Earlier this month, Volvo started production of the EX30 at its Ghent plant, which will help it ramp up deliveries in the second half of 2025.
Since it will be imported into the US, Volvo is bracing to take a hit from tariffs. Even the EX90, which is made in Charleston, is heavily impacted, as most components still come from Europe.
Volvo also revealed the new ES90 last month, its new electric sedan and second EV built on the Volvo Cars Superset Tech Stack. It’s Volvo’s sixth fully electric vehicle following the EX90, EM90, EX40, EX40, and EX30.
In China, Volvo plans to adapt to the changing market with its first extended-range PHEV model, which will launch later this year.
Volvo said it remains “firm on becoming a fully electric car company.” Despite a weaker overall market, almost a fifth of the vehicles it sold in the first quarter were electric.
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In a warming world with increasingly extreme weather events, homeowners are turning to backup batteries for relief and peace of mind. But the backup only lasts only so long, and there’s a bigger problem at play: aging power grids.
Enter the virtual power plant, managed through a cloud-based system. It’s a fertile market for a number of companies as consumers look for more reliability, especially in areas prone to extreme temperatures and storms.
Base Power, headquartered in Austin, Texas, is a virtual power plant and hardware company that provides battery backup to homeowners. The startup manages the batteries, and virtually controls the power that’s going in and out.
“We install our batteries on our customers’ homes. When the grid is up and running, we use those batteries to support the power grid,” said Base CEO Zach Dell. “When the grid goes out, our customers get those batteries to back up their home. We’re also able to save our customers on the order of 10 to 20% a month on their electricity bills.”
Unlike Tesla and Enphase, Base doesn’t sell home backup batteries. Rather, it rents the batteries to homeowners, providing the hardware, software, installation, operations and electricity. Essentially, it’s a battery-based energy company.
“We own and operate it,” Dell said. “We handle all the maintenance. We take care of the system like it’s ours.”
That control allows Base to manipulate how the battery is used, specifically accessing cheaper power and passing that savings on to the consumer. Base charges the battery from the grid when demand is low, typically during overnight hours. When demand is at its peak — summer evenings and winter mornings — Base sells power, discharging the battery to support the grid.
For an upfront fee of $595 and then about $19 a month, homeowners get access to reliable power, provided by Base. That power is generated by several sources, including wind, solar, natural gas and coal. About half of Base’s customers have solar, according to the company, which lowers their costs even more and allows them to sell that power back to Base.
A company spokesperson said Base compensates customers for the power they sell back, calculated as the real-time wholesale energy price plus an additional 3 cents per kilowatt hour. Buyback rates may vary depending on market conditions and other factors.
Base is now serving one of the nation’s largest homebuilders, Lennar, which is also an investor. Base installs batteries during the construction process in roughly 20 Lennar outage-prone communities in Texas.
Stuart Miller, Chairman and co-CEO of Lennar, said it’s not just about making money.
“It’s, are we going to be able to improve the overall stature of the home building business, as it seeks to address the markets that are stressed and having problems?” he said. “Utilities and electricity is a part of that.”
Base has raised a total of $268 million from investors including Lennar, Thrive Capital, Valor Equity Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Andreesen Horowitz.
Base recently announced its first utility partnership near San Antonio. Dell said the company hopes to soon expand outside of Texas. However, the batteries are made in China, and Dell said he expects to see an impact from tariffs.
— CNBC producer Lisa Rizzolo contributed to this piece.
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