Hoverland 8.5 inch All Terrain Off-Road Hoverboard Redice

The Hoverboard from 'Hoverland' arrived as advertised and as a toy it brings joy around the house but I am dissapointed with the performance. Don't go for the upgrades, they're not worth it. The advertising says "Up to 15 km travel distance". In our test, with my light nine year old riding it, on a fully charged battery at a gentle pace, on… Read more

even, flat, smooth boardwalk we found that the batteries gave out after 2.5 kms.... in less than half an hour. This is 6x less than advertised performance. I cannot imagine any scenario that would yield anywhere close to advertised 15km travel distance. I paid significantly more to get the higher powered off road version with 2 x 3.5 Kw engines, however there is no way to verify that this is what actually arrived because there is no product sticker or marking of any kind to identify the model or allow verification of the enhanced engine wattage. Given the super exaggerated performance claims, this doesn't inspire confidence. My logic was,... I want him to be able to ride his hoverkart on grass so I'll pay more for the off road version and get the extra power needed for that (with the larger 3.5Kw motors). This proved to be flawed logic, if I could do it all again I would buy the standard 8 inch or 6.5 inch version. A friend of my son has a cheaper, 'non offroad' version of a Hoverboard that his family purchased online, (not sure which retailer they purchased from, but its paint and design is exactly like the designs offered by Hoverland). When he uses his Hoverboard with his hovercart he gets significantly more run time than my son and it goes just as well 'off road' as ours does. Also be aware if you buy the 'hoverKart' accessory, you will void their warranty for the hoverboard. Note re the Hover Karts: we got one with suspension, ... a waste of time, even the springiest setting is too stiff, there is virtually no smoothing of the ride. My son's friend has a cheaper kart without suspension, not only is it lighter but it also allows him to ride closer to the ground which is an altogether better experience. If I could do it again I would buy the cheaper kart, it functions better. When it comes to hoverboards and accessories, I learnt the hard way that the upgrades are better at milking a demand, than they are at satisfying that demand. Go cheap, its just as cheerful.