Riding 27 mph downhill on a Dot electric skateboard

I was quite literally riding into the sunset when I began calculating just how fast my legs would have to move in order to abandon the electric skateboard under my feet. The winding road from the High Point Lookout of Red Rock Canyon in Nevada to the bottom of the basin sounded like the perfect place for my first ride on Dot’s new electric board — until I looked down at the small screen on my board’s remote.

The speedometer read 27 mph. Since middle school, I have ridden longboards in both cities and suburbs, but never in my life had I gone this fast or been this stiff with fear.

Riding an electric skateboard gives you the false sense that hills don’t exist because you have battery-powered brakes — that is, until you are racing...

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