Shred ‘til Your (Battery is) Dead: Best Electric Skateboards of 2021

According to our tester, the dual 1500-watt motors and belt drive of the Verreal RS electric skateboard never left him longing for more power; the torque, acceleration, and speed were plenty for him, even on the second of three riding modes. He reports that even on a rolling terrain, his healthy fear of concrete limited his top speed, not the board.

For our man, the Hobbywing ESC controller felt intuitive and responsive, and the inconspicuous size felt just right. Acceleration and braking rates felt spot-on for urban carving, and he experienced zero connection failures or inadvertent disconnections.

Our tester perceived the concave maple and bamboo deck as appropriately grippy, albeit extremely stiff, due to the battery pack covering most of the undercarriage. The dual kingpin trucks had a visually impressive wide and low stance and, combined with the 97-mm glow wheels, provided a great combination for wide radius turns, bump compliance, and straight-line speed. The truck bushings did soften over time, and he did tighten them to reduce instability at the top of his speed limit.

Our tester found battery life for the middle-of-the-road, 16Ah Verreal option impressive. On a wide array of terrain — from smooth parking garages to chip sealed country roads, board flat to continuous rollers — the RS carried his 168-pound “carcass” (his word choice, not mine) for 2.5 hours and a touch over 20 medium-intensity miles.

All that battery life did come at a cost — the Verreal RS was hard to carry. At 23 pounds, it’s not easily schlepped under an arm or on the shoulder. The weight is also distributed unevenly, which further challenged portage. For our tester, it was easiest to roll the board via one set of wheels, which he pointed out may not work in many situations.

Portability problems aside, the Verreal RS electric skateboard ticked all the boxes and then some. Our intrepid tester punched it to top speed a handful of times and never longed for more. The thing was a gazelle, one of the fastest electric skateboards on the market. And he said he quit before the battery did every time but one (and Verreal offers an even bigger battery pack). Read his full, in-depth review here.

The Verreal RS satisfied all of our Gear Hungry needs and desires in an electric board, and the writer who scored it predicts it will remain in his stable of toys for years to come.

The RS can often be found for much less than its stated MSRP — which is already a good deal on arguably the best electric longboard you can get. 

The Nesaila makes an affordable electric skateboard with a hub-mounted motor that was ideal for running errands, making short commutes, or taking casual cruises. The board’s wide stance over 51-mm wheels made it stable, it trucked over surface inconsistencies, and it never felt too slow or too fast. It’s inexpensive, solid, and didn’t overwhelm me as an e-skateboard noob.

Nesaila’s 28-inch maple deck felt stiff but not totally rigid, and its concavity was deep enough to add control. It was nice that both the board and the controller arrived with a partial charge because I was psyched — the Nesaila Electric Skateboard was my first powered skateboard, and I got right after it.

My first impression was that the trucks were loosey-goosey as installed. I was all over the place until I snugged them a bit with the included skate tool. The next thing I had to get used to was the acceleration; it took me a while to make the hand-controlled acceleration agree with my normal push start. But there’s an adjustment period with everything, and within five to 10 tries, I could kick off reliably. I ate it once in my parking lot on the first day, but that’s another story (available in the in-depth review).

Nesaila’s controller uses a spring-tension wheel you operate with your thumb. Forward for go, back to stop. Words of the wise, be careful with the brake at first! In the palm of your hand, you hold more power than you realize. After that, I found the controller intuitive and responsive, and the board agile, with just enough power.

The acceleration was always smooth and easy to calibrate. I did use only the “high” speed setting because when I tried “medium” or “low,” victrola music would start playing, and everything would turn black and white. But once the board was spooled up, I could cruise comfortably at a speed that felt close to or just over Nesaila’s claimed top speed of 12 miles per hour.

I measured the Nesaila’s range at 3 miles (again, “high” speed setting), which was well below the board’s claimed 11. But that didn’t bother me; instead, I settled into using the board for errands around the block (up to and including light grocery and beer runs) or just for fun.

The board is accessibly priced under $300, and I recommend it for new e-skateboarders, short-distance commuters, or kids.

Backfire’s Ranger X2 is a badass all-terrain electric skateboard. Actually, calling it a ‘skateboard’ doesn’t quite seem right — does it have to have a gas engine to be an all-terrain vehicle, or is an electric motor enough?

Either way, the Backfire Ranger X2 Electric Skateboard can go anywhere. It throws down torque with two 1200-watt hub motors. Its drop-through deck maximizes stability. And it has 6.5-inch replaceable rubber tires on 165-mm wheels (that’s bigger than the setup on my most recent push mower). Though beefy, it weighs a moderate 24 pounds, which is around the weight of electric longboards designed for road use.

Look closer, and it only gets more enticing. Each 1200-watt motor is fully sealed to prevent water, grit, or other trail hazards from intruding. Its electronic system is high efficiency, leveraging 50.4-volt batteries that regulate a low current for long life. Its double kingpin truck minimizes turning radius without sacrificing stability, as riders can independently tighten each kingpin.

It comes with various tools, plus a minimalistic controller with a deeply grooved thumb wheel and TURBO MODE (!!!), a battery diagnostic cable, and an LED light. Go anywhere on the Backfire Ranger X2 off-road electric skateboard — down your front steps, onto the street, over the curb, through your neighbor’s yard, over their privacy fence, and into the adjacent thicket, and then ride off into the sunset or anywhere else for up to 18.5 miles. You might be tempted to do things on the Ranger X2 off-road skateboard that could seriously injure you; who cares? Wear a helmet.

The only possible deterrent? The price — considering the board’s beastly capability and the mischief capacity hinted at above, the barely-quadruple-digit MSRP doesn’t seem like a lot. But for a lot of folks (me included), it’s a paycheck.

Meepo’s Mini 2 Electric Skateboard doesn’t go a long way to explain itself, and I like that. Companies that jump into the shark tank usually tend to defend themselves; when they let their product speak for itself, it’s usually a good sign. So far, this has been the case for the Meepo Mini 2, which enjoys a highly positive, if shallow, review pool.  

We know the raw specs for the Meepo Mini 2:

– It has a 30-inch 7-layer maple deck with a 300-pound weight limit

– It has dual 540-watt hub motors

– It weighs 17 pounds

– It claims an 11-mile range (or 20 for the “ER” variant)

– It claims its top speed is 29 miles per hour and that it can climb hills up to 30% grade

– It has 90-mm by 60-mm 78A (soft) wheels

– And it comes with a 6-month warranty

And that’s it! It’s rated a bit low for stability among Amazon users, but not concerningly so. In fact, the front truck is mounted super close to the board’s nose, increasing stability and giving the rider a better chance to control their stance. Many reviews say the remote is easy to use. 

Even on its website, Meepo shrugs off any marketing materials or promo videos, opting instead to post real-world reviews, gritty user photos, and all. Every review is five stars, which suggests that Meepo screens reviews. This is highly possible: most negative reviews elsewhere entail electronics that abruptly stopped working or never did work, with the bigger problem that customer service is nonexistent.

The upshot: you get what you get, and don’t count on the warranty. But most buyers are five-star psyched on the Meepo Mini 2 in its early going. Its MSRP is firmly at the lower end of the category, but it could be a sticking point for those who expect a sure thing for their money.

The Skatebolt Tornado II Electric Skateboard constitutes an affordable longboard option in the e-skateboard category. It has solid performance specs and a generally positive reputation among users. Skatebolt is unusually proud of its L.A.-based customer support center, which by the looks of it, either does not exist or has not been used.

Skatebolt’s cutaway deck is 8-ply maple and supports 280 pounds (verified through a certain review, in which one 250-pound user says he can hit 25 mph!). Dual 500W hub motors should give it plenty of power. It has three speed ranges and stands on 90-mm wheels. Skatebolt mentions the Tornado II’s “upgraded” 7500 mAh battery, which it says should take you 22 miles.

That brings us to the bizarre customer service center. Skatebolt has clearly identified American customers’ expectations for reliable customer service, so the company touts its “U.S.A. Support Center” on its Amazon profile. There’s a short paragraph accompanied by a candid of an unmarked, not obviously occupied office/industrial suite with a lone car out front. Location: “LA.” Skatebolt invites customers with product questions to “just let us know; we will provide the satisfied solution.” So I did. There was no answer at the listed 626 number during business hours.

More so than an insult, I considered it a plucky and fairly harmless ruse by a company that’s scrapping near the bottom of its category price range. The Tornado II’s reputation is decent, and its specs check out. Buy one and “enjoy” the associated customer service for a price that’s near the low end by comparison.

For more exciting rides like this one, browse our list of the best hoverboards.

I’ll be transparent: I covered the Onewheel Pint because it seemed like a one-wheel board would unavoidably surface when anyone thought about the category of electric skateboards. They’re not popular enough yet that everyone knows someone who knows someone who has one, but everybody’s seen someone riding one. It is an intriguing design, and it has a brushless motor and does not use a remote.

Ok, I’ve talked myself into being interested in it. There has to be something to a nearly thousand-dollar e-skateboard with a modest 16-miles-per-hour top speed and 6- to 8-mile range — and not just that, it’s almost half the price of the original Onewheel XR.

The line is app-controlled, and the motor engages when the user equalizes pressure between their front and back foot. It is an electric board, but there is no remote. Instead, the user controls the board intuitively by shifting their weight — in other words, like a real skateboard! This is pretty cool, interesting to me, and a major advantage of a Onewheel over a typical e-skateboard.

Experienced users tout the Pint for its accessibility to beginners, especially its smooth braking and high maneuverability. One-wheel electric skateboards are prone to speed wobbling at high speed, so the Pint’s low top speed isn’t necessarily a drawback.

Onewheel constitutes a unique innovation in its electric “skateboards” that give the user body control instead of remote control. The Pint appears to be the company’s bid to lower the price gates and draw in more riders on the fence about buying.