Can I still push an e-skateboard?

MagiicHat · Aug 31, 2016

It's been a while since I road an electric scooter - back in the days of brushed motors. And if you were out of juice, you essentially had a boat anchor (ok... not that bad, but you certainly didn't want to push that thing a mile).

How much resistance do these brushless setups have? Will I still be able to pump? Or will moving solely on human power become a chore?

Are there freewheel hubs available in a small enough size to use on a longboard?

EcoRecoRob · Aug 31, 2016

The electric skateboards that exist are typically pretty push-able from what I've seen, but I'd wait for someone who has more experience to attest to that rather than taking my word for it. I'm just in the industry... can't ride a board to save my life.

Standing scooters are another story, for the most part. In general, brushless still has enough resistance that you're not going to have a great time using it as a kick-scooter. The friction isn't actually the main issue - it's the height of the top of the deck off the ground. The leg you're using to stand on the scooter with has to bend quite a bit to bring that other leg down to the ground to kick - this is a recipe for some killer fatigue. The mild friction that does exist simply exacerbates that issue.

sl33py · Aug 31, 2016

I'll bite. I just pushed a few blocks back when my Marbel motor gear spun off. I had no problem pushing and riding it with the power off. The up hill sections sucked, but they would suck on a regular board too. Yes there is additional resistance vs a non-motorized board. But not horrible. small downhill sections (very slight) and i was rolling just fine w/o pushing.

Hub motors don't have the parasitic drag of the belt and gears - those would be a good option too if you want not only stealth, but better non-powered pushing.

A think to be cautious of is that most motors will generate current when pushed with the electronics off. For the VESC this is known to potentially fry the VESC. So with low or dead batteries you can push and any excess would go into the batteries, but without the system powered and batteries connected the regen voltage can fry components. You can disconnect a phase wire if needed. This is just for VESC - can't speak for other ESC's.

Downside of hub motors vs a geared setup is it doesn't have gears - so less hill/startup torque.

bandaro · Sep 1, 2016

Running dual 6374mm hub motors wasn't a problem in the slightest with torque, and isn't too bad to kick, much faster than the 42mm motors that were geared. In fact, the 42mm motors were not worth pushing in my opinion.

Two 50mm motors as hubs (~80kv) are even less resistance. Similar to a tight slide setup. Bottom line is you don't want to push too far, but it's doable on hubs, much less so on geared setups.

MagiicHat · Sep 1, 2016

Didn't even know they made hub motors for longsboards! A quick google shows prices in the $300-500 range just for the motor/wheels/trucks. Seems like quite a jump from a SK3 or similar for a guy with CNC capabilities. Are there more reasonably priced units? Or is it simply such a niche market?

*edit:
Bit of searching and I see folks are building their own hub motors. Brilliant! I might finally have a reason to justify a lathe....

sl33py · Sep 1, 2016

MagiicHat - i was going to suggest you look for the DIY hub build. I think the challenge you might find is getting a low enough kv motor to use in a hub. I'm not sure if they are rewinding for lower kv, or more likely buying lower kv from the factory custom wound, but most seem to be 80-100kv now.

GL!

MrDude_1 · Sep 1, 2016

if you keep a rubber band on your axle... then whenever something happens, slide the belt off the wheel, and use the rubber band to hold the belt folded up on the axle. takes 30 seconds to do with no tools. You now have a regular skateboard with some weights on it.

Snow247365 · Sep 14, 2016

sl33py said:
I'll bite. I just pushed a few blocks back when my Marbel motor gear spun off. I had no problem pushing and riding it with the power off. The up hill sections sucked, but they would suck on a regular board too. Yes there is additional resistance vs a non-motorized board. But not horrible. small downhill sections (very slight) and i was rolling just fine w/o pushing.

Hub motors don't have the parasitic drag of the belt and gears - those would be a good option too if you want not only stealth, but better non-powered pushing.

A think to be cautious of is that most motors will generate current when pushed with the electronics off. For the VESC this is known to potentially fry the VESC. So with low or dead batteries you can push and any excess would go into the batteries, but without the system powered and batteries connected the regen voltage can fry components. You can disconnect a phase wire if needed. This is just for VESC - can't speak for other ESC's.

Downside of hub motors vs a geared setup is it doesn't have gears - so less hill/startup torque.

The motor gear spun off?

what did you do? did they fix it?

how is the board running for you ?

Hummina Shadeeba · Sep 22, 2016

MagiicHat said:
Didn't even know they made hub motors for longsboards! A quick google shows prices in the $300-500 range just for the motor/wheels/trucks. Seems like quite a jump from a SK3 or similar for a guy with CNC capabilities. Are there more reasonably priced units? Or is it simply such a niche market?

*edit:
Bit of searching and I see folks are building their own hub motors. Brilliant! I might finally have a reason to justify a lathe....

i was selling them for much less. 200$ a set. theyre almost all gone now but i'll be selling some other hub motors that are much longer if youre interested. the version on the site steelhubs.com are good but...wanted more power and bigger bearings and better steel for the shafts. so instead of the 80x56 wheels that I was selling they'll be 80x103. long and low. pm me if youre interested. should be here in a bit over a month. one will be good enough and I sell everything with all the costs to me exposed and you can see it's pretty close to manufacturing costs and a bit more for my time and work. 300$ for the solo and 2 paris trucks and extra nitrile tire. 525$ for two. its seeming they will cost me 200 each with shipping and then add the cost of a pair of paris trucks and rubber and putting them on a lathe and further threading, cleaning, retaining fluid, and locitite.

there's hub motors and then theres hub motors. read the reviews and a lot of stuff coming out breaks instantly

Can I still push an e-skateboard?

MagiicHat

10 mW

EcoRecoRob

1 µW

sl33py

10 kW

bandaro

10 kW

MagiicHat

10 mW

sl33py

10 kW

MrDude_1

100 kW

Snow247365

100 mW

Hummina Shadeeba

1 MW

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