Am I the only person who would rather buy a $1000 beater Jeep, a moped, a camper, a couple bicylces or some mid 70s, so-ugly-it's awesome car than a $1000 skateboard?
Vehicle registration in Australia alone is about $700/year, then there's insurance, parking and so on. For anyone a short drive from work or who could avoid a second bus, a powered board might be a great option.
I think the board is pitched as the _last mile_ of transportation. It's light, small and easy to carry so you can ride the bus or the train and use the board to get from the stop to home (final destination).
Don't forget cost of ownership - $1000 for a car is just the start - after that you need to insure it, service it and pay for the gas - that's probably more per year than the initial price.
If you were looking for a beater, many of what I listed could be purchased for $500. The bike has almost no cost to upkeep, the moped very little, the camper a little more. Any vehicle that would be bought as a nice weather toy could be insured at a lower rate and would not be used as much as most vehicles, so it would have a much lower maintenance cost.
