GT all-terrain honest review: misleading range

After being bombarded by marketing emails that tout themselves as the best board ever made I felt it is my duty to share my honest review of the best board I thought I could find.

Firstly, I will say that the engineering and ride of the GT all-terrain is excellent. Being light-weight and super stable plus allowing for sharp turns when required makes this an amazing board to ride. Everything about it was an amazing experience - except the range.

I really believe that Evolve is being fundamentally dishonest with their ranges. Of course when I read the 31 mile range I absolutely knew that I would get nowhere near this in practice. However I certainly expected to get full-performance riding for well over half but after nearly 2 months of testing I simply could not. Of optimal top-speed riding I would get no more than 10 miles - usually more like 8. At this point the auto-eco mode significantly restricts performance which is a good thing for safety but essentially ends the fun.

When discussing at length with multiple Evolve staff they admitted that the AT range they are used to seeing is around 16-18 miles. I really wish they would be more honest with this on their site because I find that to be fundamentally misleading. They also discussed with me how to ride by setting your speed to the optimal place for range. But as a confident rider I simply do not want to have to go slow to achieve a reasonable range.

Ultimately I believe that Evolve decided on a smaller battery for portability when they could easily have fit more battery which would significantly boost the range and not affect portability very much. I would hope that they decide to offer a GT with a larger battery in the future as that would be of actual interest to me. Until then I hope this review is helpful to someone who is doing better research than me.

 

I agree with every aspect of this review, I gave two Bamboo GT’s, and modified one with a 10s4p pack of 18650 cells. Identical in every other way and the modified one can do the advertised range, in GT mode! Why did they let down the whole show by putting a rubbish battery in there? Everything else is so slick!

 

I agree too. Although I ride the GTX AT.
I barely make my commute to work at 10,5 miles in Fast mode. Average speed of 12,5 mp/h, Cruisin at 17 mp/h.
A couple of smaller hills, nothing major. I´m 175 lbs and the board is basically new.
Not sure for how long I´ll be able to ride it to work.

 

I think that the 31 mile range was for street tires, I think they advertise the AT at 18 miles.

 

I know it is based on the weight, distance, terrain, incline, elevation and temperature will reduce the “so called extended range”. Street versus AT is a factor as well, resistance AT wheel versus free wheeling street.
But I know this! However, I still chose a Carbon GT, I like the remote. I saw on YouTube La Croix, wider deck board, heavier overall and it based on all the conditions listed. But the remote is so cheap. So until they improve I will stick to the Carbon GT. I modified the entire front trucks with “15” in total length and the stabilization is great! All board manufacturers will have faults!!

 

I ran 29 miles home every night for a year on my stock battery and ran into safe mode just at the end of my block which is exactly 5 miles from home. Leaving me with 2 miles left on my board when I opened my garage. So I'd say it's accurate. It's much like a car. If you stomp on the pedal or you're your always on the gas gonna get crappy fuel economy. If you're using proper throttle control you can get better range. I can get about 18 on my AT wheels as well, which is what was advertised. My last trek I was able to clear a killer 46 miles on my board. I was honestly worried my remote would die before my board on that ride.