Chip Chick
Ride-on vehicles are going 21st century — a new competitor to Power Wheels is at the 2016 New York Toy Fair, and they’re including some features that you’ll even see in grown-up cars! They’re called Actev Motors, and while they’ve made sure to take safety into account, they’re offering kid driving at its most extreme.
The Actev Arrow is their first ride-on vehicle, an electric go kart packed with smart features for both kids and parents, most of which revolve around safety. Perfect supervision of kids driving ride-on vehicles is tough, and there’s always the chance of unexpected potential collisions. The Arrow helps to avoid some of that scary risk by using collision avoidance detection similar to what real cars are now coming with. Those sensors will hit the brakes before the driver crashes into something, which should provide some peace of mind.
Parents can take a more active role in safety, too. From a smartphone app, parents can set the top speed (between 0-12 mph) of the Arrow and set up a geofence, making the kart automatically shut down once it’s been driven out of the boundaries that parents have set. Parents can also remotely stop the kart or shift into a different gear (just park, reverse, neutral, and drive — no manuals yet!).
Now that all that boring safety stuff is out of the way, let’s get to the good times! These electric karts, as we mentioned before, top out at 12 mph, which is a decent amount of speed for a ride-on vehicle. The Arrow can link up with other Arrow karts for challenges and races, too, although we think kids will probably be content to just race without worrying about all that extra stuff. It’s there for the most enthusiastic kids, though.
There’s also a fair amount of customization possible with the Arrow. The body can come in red or silver, and parents can spring for a double-sized battery and a quick charger if they really want their kids to be racing all day. The cherry on top, though? Actev actually has a drift kit that can be attached to the wheels, allowing the kart to drift on smoother surfaces during turns. If you want to get your kids started on a career in professional racing, look no further.
There’s some pretty serious tech in this thing, so we’re not too surprised that the price is pretty high. The base Actev Arrow is $600, but you’ll have to add body kits and battery packs separately, so you’re looking at closer to $800 at least. The Arrow can be preordered now, and shipping is scheduled for sometime this summer.
