Although the hoverboard craze has long-since passed, there’s definitely still room for a newer generation of more efficient – and safer – devices, particularly when they’re not only far less expensive, but also come with a scooter seat attachment – making it a “hovercart” – to allow for a wider range of riders and relative skill levels. That’s not only good for a balance-challenged middle-aged man such as myself, but also my three daughters, 16, 14, and 6, who are on the less adventurous side when it comes to standing on a hoverboard, but still love the idea of powered transportation.

The EverCross Hoverboard is priced at just $249.00 on Amazon right now. That includes not only the 6.5″ (wheel diameter of the solid rubber tires) hoverboard, but also the seat attachment, which turns the hoverboard into a self-balancing scooter. It’s a great value any way that you look at it.

There are three color/design options available in what are otherwise identical configurations: blue, hip hop, and purple. We chose blue. As you can hopefully tell from the photos, the blue is “electric,” and really striking looking. It’s a beautiful design, and, even though I don’t have the purple, it appears to have the same metallic effect. The hip hop design is certainly unique if you want to make more of a bold statement. Surprisingly – and again, especially surprisingly for this price point – even the seat/scooter attachment match – with blue accents and black seat for the blue, yellow accents and hip hop design seat for the hip hop, and black on black for the purple.

While the designers nailed the aesthetics, the more pressing concern of course is the functionality. The hoverboard itself sports two 350W engines with brushless motors that have a top speed of 15KM/H (a little over 9MPH) with a “load” (weight of the rider plus accessories) of 20-100kg (about 44 – 220lbs) when used under normal driving conditions, i.e., mostly flat and smooth surfaces, although it can handle inclines of up to 15 degrees and short grass (but not sand, naturally). Needless to say, this is plenty of performance for a wide range of riders, especially at such a competitive price point.

The seat attachment is basically universal, but is again color-coordinated to the included hoverboard. It can accommodate hoverboards from the included 6.5″ model to designs with up to 10″ wheel diameters, and has an adjustable length of 31 – 44.5 inches. The maximum load capacity is rated for the same as the hoverboard at up to 220lbs, but of course overall performance and range will suffer a bit the closer you get to the combined weight threshold.

The hoverboard takes about 3 – 4 hours to fully charge from an empty battery, with a fully charged runtime of roughly 1 – 2 hours (or 6 – 9 miles), again, depending upon environmental conditions, overall load, and how fast you run the hoverboard. Although we didn’t exactly time these figures, our general testing and usage for the past week appear to bear this out.

Everything comes in a single, large box. The hoverboard is obviously pre-assembled and you can immediately plug in the included AC adapter to get it charging (and side note for those who are concerned–we’ve left the hoverboard plugged in and charging for days and there’s no noticeable heat build-up). The scooter attachment comes in roughly seven pieces. You also get a bag of parts, some straps, a flag, and of course, a manual.

The included hoverboard manual is sufficiently exhaustive regarding functionality and usage. It explains the various LEDs, indicator lights, how it balances, and more, right down to using the hoverboard’s built-in Bluetooth functionality to play audio from your phone or tablet! While the onboard speaker is mediocre, the fact that you can play music on it at all is a pretty impressive feature, much like the flashy LED lights.

The included scooter attachment, manual (found under the seat part, in case you don’t see it), however, is a bit less clear in regards to assembly and misses some steps. However, if you follow along carefully and can do some basic troubleshooting, you should be able to figure it out. Just remember to make use of the unreferenced nuts and washers when assembling the seat and you should be mostly OK, although I never did get the seat as secure to the frame as I wanted.

With all of that in mind, the bottom line is that this is a fun product that my whole family is able to enjoy. Even if any of us are likely ever going to put the time in mastering standing and riding the hoverboard, we can greatly enjoy using it as a hovercart. Options are good.

As you can see in the short video above, where I’m playing the public domain song Violins by Juliana Chahayed on the hoverboard’s onboard Bluetooth speakers and giving it a spin in my home office, it’s a blast. It’s zippy and responsive, and you’ll be able to pick up the controls quickly.

The overall build quality – seat aide – is extremely impressive, especially at this price point. If you’re looking for some motorized fun for all ages, this EverCross Hoverboard bundle really delivers. It’s a modest investment for something so versatile and well-designed and something I unequivocally recommend.