Electric Longboard: The Commuter

When the design requirements change, so does the design…

‘The Beast’ is and was my vision of the peak of performance out of an electric longboard; but it wasn’t the most practical animal. It’s size and weight made carrying for longer than a few minutes borderline impossible, and going to college I knew that a literal anchor like that wasn’t worth bringing with me… so I returned to the drawing board. I chose a shorter deck, 33” instead of 44” and smaller, polyurethane wheels over the all terrain base previously used. That, along with forming a new fiberglass enclosure and constructing a new lithium-ion battery left me able to cannibalize ‘The Beast’ to construct its successor, a sleeker and smaller board for commuting around my campus. After researching the newer lithium-ion cells on the market I settled on the P42A, outclassing the Samsung cells I used in ‘The Beast’ in capacity and peak output by 150% in both metrics. Using this I created a 12s3p pack, just 36 cells, but was able to still retain a 28 mph top speed (reduced gear ratio on smaller wheels) and a comfortable 18 mile range.

‘The Commuter’ has more than filled the niche I need it to at college: premium speed and range in a comfortably small package, easy to carry in and out of lecture halls and the library. The only change that has needed to be made since it’s inception was the addition of truck risers to tighten my turn radius and increase my ground clearance.