Today we had a chance to test the revolutionary foiling system that will change the sport of foiling - FOILDRIVE Gen2!
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Very nice.
Question:
What kind of battery allows to max up the riding time to 2 to 2.5 times compared to the Assist Plus ?
It seems they are now in 40 V, so 10S mini but it’s very slim, so 10S2P I guess.
Or
A new VESC is doing some miracles… Maybe
Let’s dive into it for our DIY builds.
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good video, it’s just a shame that you didn’t provide more history/knowledge and highlight that this evolution was based on the idea of others (which is fine)
If you do the maths they are still using P42a cells across all their packs. For example
For example the slim battery is a 11p and a capacity of 166Wh. 166/11 is 15.1Wh which is the capacity of a Molicel P42a.
For the price they could have at least sprung for the P45b cells.
The efficiencies come from the reduced cable length, better cooling and great marketing.
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What kind of battery allows to max up the riding time to 2 to 2.5 times compared to the Assist Plus ?
I’m not sure if they claim it… The ride time is little bit longer yes than old Assist+ but I am not sure about 2-2.5 times because it uses also more energy and the weight is almost same + little more drag from the box under the board on liftoff.
You naturally feel mode drag from the pod on touch down so it takes few minutes to adjust to deal with it first time, then I did not feel it anymore
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You comment that this is a “game changer”. Can you explain why that is?
He probably means it’s the lightest efoilish commercial solution… It gives you the best of multiple world’s…
This new product might be better but is it really that much different than the Assist+ product?
“Game changer” to me implies something substantially different and better than anything else that’s come before.
I don’t see that but then I’m not @jetsurfingnation so am curious about why that phrase was used.
game changer is YouTube reviewers most used punchline.
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Mike lives near a beach with great waves, so he is really into foil assist, and this new product it seems deserves all his needs. I guess that’s why he thinks it is a game chager.
I live in a Island, Mallorca. And I have the chances to do great tours visiting few awesome beaches. So I am not an assist fan, but I understand what he is looking for.
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Hello, everyone! Over the past 7 years on my channel, I’ve had the opportunity to test numerous commercial jetboards and efoils, conduct several DIY interviews, and witness the incredible projects and builds that our community has undertaken. However, when I mention a “game changer,” I’m specifically referring to commercial products.
Among these commercial products, I firmly believe that what Foildrive is doing qualifies as a game changer. This isn’t just due to some miraculous technology (though I must say, as a casual rider, the ability to fully efoil and ride waves with a compact 24 L board weighing just 13kg is incredibly impressive for 88kg heavy rider, especially when considering that the smallest efoils on the market weigh between 26-40kg). What’s most crucial here is that Foildrive has successfully built a genuine community for foilers, potentially setting a new direction for motorized foiling.
While many efoil groups unfortunately get bogged down by endless disputes between Fliteboard and Liftfoil affiliates trying to undermine each other, Foildrive owners are truly enjoying the growth of this new sport and sharing positive vibes. To me, this is a game changer.
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Um no…they just commercialized it. This forum was the birthplace of foildrive and 99% of the ideas were here first. In fact what you’ll see are ideas here that will blow even foil drive out the water.
This forum doesn’t get enough credit as loads of Facebook groups don’t even know it exists.
Foildrive will meet the same issues and debates as lift/fliteboard as soon as there’s proper competition which they actually can’t prevent because they can’t patent ideas they took from the open source community. China could literally clone the idea exactly and sell at half the price…
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This forum doesn’t get enough credit as loads of Facebook groups don’t even know it exists.
I always recommend Foil zone in my videos and did several DIY interviews. I have a big admiration for people who can build things. But lets be honest, 99% of us are just regular middle-age-out-of-shape dudes that LOVE foiling and have full time job and zero skills in engineering. We dont want to build our foil we just want to ride it, and FD gave us this chance! And for this we are forever grateful.
China could literally clone the idea exactly and sell at half the price…
This is not going to happen. I hear this argument for 7 years that China will come and copy jetboard, efoil and will release it half the price or cheaper. Truth is nobody can match the dedication of the REAL foilers and no chinese company without any clue in foiling can do it. All those alibaba efoils are a joke and copy of early models of popular brands with zero understanding of foiling and wings. So it’s not a risk.
China is already producing most of component of FD and other efoils anyways and have no interest making their own product to compete without understanding of foiling sport which is non existent there.
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it’s a risk. an accepted risk which is not under their control. Look at the ESK8 world and you may change your mind very quickly.
knowing how much you know FZ, that would have been amazing to share about existing (and very historical) ideas that the FD team collected here to develop the v2. It’s not a bad thing and glad they did it. Maybe this is not something they want you to talk about in your “review”.
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I don‘t see anything bad in the review…
Isn’t it good that they collect ideas here on the forums?
Every company has to listen to their users, otherwise they will be out of market soon. So foil drive is doing the right thing. Maybe they could just be more active on the forums.
Sure, the price is steep. But think twice. How much time would you need to engineer this on your own? How much money could you earn in this time working in your own profession instead? Which machines do you need? Materials? How many prototypes would you build?
In the end it is cheaper to pay 5k then building your own.
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You not far wrong here. However if you have the right skillset you can actually achieve it very quickly. Will it be as polished as FD, probably not. But it could lead to other advantages as well. Remember FD started right here on the forums so they went through what everyone here goes through anyway…
To be completely transparent, I am not affiliated with Foildrive or any other company in this niche. I purchased my unit with my own money, and my only advantage was the opportunity to beta-test it earlier than the general public. However, I did not receive it for free, and I understand that it’s a substantial financial investment. I won’t be advocating for them, as I believe the market will ultimately determine the industry’s progression and evaluate their risks.
That said, I firmly believe that the industry can only improve if it learns from the best ideas developed by the DIY community. Over the years, I’ve had conversations with Paul and Ben, and I’m well aware of their dedication to creating a great solution for riders. The core essence of the DIY community is to share the best ideas, so that others can build upon them and make improvements. If companies like Foildrive can bring these ideas into a commercial system, it provides an opportunity for regular individuals like us to enjoy the water and the sport we love.
Cheers
Mike
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Wise words Mike. I’m with you on that. Many companies just tend to forget to give (every very tiny) kudos back to the DIY community. Your review is good. Takes time and dedication to make such work.
As Jezza was saying, designing such product is not so difficult… building a brand with genuine and good reputation supported by a supply chain, managing business is a total different game which will only survive to competition with further innovation (such as an App…).
Kudos to them. Business world is brutal and client loyalty well… often a variable.