Float History

Dean Kamen, Robert Ambrogi, Robert Duggan, J. Field, Richard Heinzmann, Burl Amesbury, and Christopher Langenfeld invent automatically balancing vehicles.

Predating Future Motion, Inc.‘s debut of their Onewheel Kickstarter Project by 7 years, YouTube user bensmither, posts Balancing Scooter / Skateboard.

You can read more about the build on the robosys.co.uk website here.

Future Motion, Inc. launches the Onewheel :: The Self Balancing Electric Skateboard Kickstarter campaign.

Within the first 24 hours, the project reaches 40% of it’s initial $100,000 pledge goal.

After 25 days, the original Kickstarter campaign for the Onewheel is fully funded by 1,015 backers for $630,862.

The first Onewheel is hand-delivered by Kyle Doerksen and Jack Mudd.

Future Motion, Inc. holds the first officially sponsored Onewheel competition at the GoPro Mountain Games in Vail, Colorado, which occurred June 4-7, 2015. “Onewheel” was listed as a “Demo & Expo Partner” for the event.

(If you know who won this competition, or any details about this competition, please send me a message!)

Future Motion, Inc. was granted an ex parte temporary restraining order and seizure order against Changzhou First International Trade, which prompted US Marshals to raid their booth at CES 2016 (video), confiscating their Trotter single wheel electric skateboard devices and all associated promotional material.

Future Motion, Inc. previously filed a complaint of patent infringement against Changzhou First International Trade on January 5, 2016.

Future Motion, Inc. voluntarily dismissed their lawsuit against Changzhou First International Trade on Feburary 4, 2016.

Future Motion, Inc. announces Onewheel+. Most notably, Onewheel+ features the first iteration of the “Hypercore” motor, which allows the axle to act as a heat sink for the motor. Onewheel+ was initially priced at $1,499 and shipped in April 2017.

(If you know the exact date the Onewheel+ arrived to the first customer, please send me a message!)

On, or about a month prior to June 22, 2017, the first “bonk” is performed by Jeff McCosker.

A “bonk” is the single wheel electric skateboard equivalent to traditional skateboarding’s “ollie”, where a rider uses a small obstacle to get air time with their board.

(If you have a better description for a bonk, please send me a message!)

FloatLife Fest, which eventually becomes the longest running Onewheel community event, began with their first event hosted on October 13-15, 2017 in Asheville, North Carolina.

Future Motion, Inc. announces Onewheel+ XR. Compared to Onewheel+, the battery voltage was increased from 48V to 63V, and the range more than doubled from 5-7 miles to 12-18 miles. Onewheel+ XR was initially priced at $1,799 and shipped in March 2018.

(If you know the exact date the Onewheel+ XR arrived to the first customer, please send me a message!)

In Miami, Florida, Cory Boehne witnessed a serious hit and run while riding his Onewheel+ XR. Boehne was able to chase the driver down on his board, break their driver’s side window, remove them from their car, and detain them until law enforcement arrived. (additional sources)

Future Motion, Inc. announces Onewheel Pint. Onewheel Pint is a more compact and affordable addition to Future Motion, Inc.’s product lineup, featuring a slower top speed of 16mph and shorter range of 6-8 miles when compared to the Onewheel+ XR. The Onewheel Pint was initially priced at $950 and started shipping in May 2019.

(If you know the exact date the Onewheel Pint arrived to the first customer, please send me a message!)

Mitch Lustig lays the foundation for self-balancing devices controlled by VESC through his contributions to VESC Tool. Lustig later releases several video tutorials on his YouTube channel, outlining configuration, usage, and key concepts around the application.

Laying the framework for major progress in the ride-feel of VESC-based single wheel electric skateboards, Nico Aleman releases Float Package on pev.dev. “Float Package is a Onewheel-centric replacement for the stock Balance Package found in VESC FW / VESCTool 6.x, which itself is a port of the original Balance App.”

VESC Tool is an open source brushless direct current motor controller tool with an intuitive user graphical interace, which enables users to configure their VESC-based boards.

(If you know details surrounding any earlier launch prior to v0.3, please send me a message!)

Float Hub, a “solution to an easy and streamlined setup process for your VESC-based board.” is released by The Float Life for iOS and Android.

Float Hub significantly reduces the barrier to entry for users to get started with VESC-based platforms.

Get Stoked Media, LLC launches the first issue of their Get Stoked! Magazine, a new quarterly publication “about adventure, articles, PEV lifestyles, Artwork, and culture.”

Though there has been no official communication from the company (and so this is ultimately speculation), Craft & Ride, a once prominent 3rd party accessory vendor and frequent sponsor of many community events over the years, seemingly dissolved on or around June 10, 2025.

On this date, the craftandride.com website began redirecting to onewheel.com. Despite this, Onewheel Factory Rider Austen Silva confirmed Future Motion, Inc has no involvement with Craft & Ride.

Additionally, the Onewheel Owners Group on Facebook, the largest Onewheel Community of over 38,000 members on the platform and administrated by Craft & Ride, removed all other admins and moderators and paused the group indefinitely the next day. It remains paused today.

(If you have any additional verifiable evidence of what happened to Craft & Ride, please send me a message!)

Future Motion, Inc. hosts Race for the Rail, the finale race of the 2025 Onewheel Racing League season at Hollister Hills State Vehicular Recreation Area in Hollister, California from August 14-17.

Unlike previous Race for the Rail competitions, where only top Onewheel Racing League ranked riders were invited to compete, this year’s race featured an open qualifier. Also new to this year, a mass start race and freestyle trick competition.

Race Winners:

• Pro Men: Jahfari Silsley (results)
• Pro Women: Zayne Carter (results)
• Expert: Max Post-Leib (results)
• Legend: Ryan Walker (results)
• Clydesdale: Dee Montes (results)
• Grom: Cody Thornton (results)

Freestyle Competition Winner: Bodhi Harrison (results)

Mass-Start Race Winner: Cody Thornton (results)

(What other notable changes were present in this year’s competition from last year? Send me a message to let me know!)