The thrill of cruising at higher speeds has taken skateboarding to a new level. Be it just cruising on the street or commuting or gliding downhill, longboarding has been a subculture of skateboarding since the start.
Longboards traces its roots back to the 70’s when the urethane wheels were introduced to the world. Since then Longboarding has been one of the most sought after things besides skateboarding – ranking high in action sports category.
Innovations after innovations, infused with modern technology has led the skateboarding world to electric powered longboards. Since the electric longboards hit the markets, the thrill and excitement of speed has multiplied tenfold.
How much do the most popular electric skateboard models cost? A Comparison table
I did a lot of research regarding the most popular eboards. I created a table with the best electric skateboard models and their prices.
A price range occurs if the model is available with different battery sizes or has other different options to choose from. Please note that the prices can vary. The companies change prices quite often.
Why are electric skateboards so expensive?
A lot of people are very surprised when they first see the prices of electric skateboards. They expect that electric skateboards are in the price range of normal longboards. Why is it electric skateboards are so expensive?
These electrical components are by far the most expensive elements of an e-board. A li-on battery big alone would cost several hundred dollars and the electric motor is not very cheap neither. Moreover, you have to add various other elements like the remote control, the ESC (receiver and computing unit) and some other wiring. Further, these parts have to be compiled together which require special tools – which aren´t very cheap neither – and a significant amount of labour. Nowadays the production quantity is still very low because electric skateboards are still a niche product. Companieshaven´t built huge manufacturing factories which would decrease the price significantly. There is simply not enough economy of scale yet and there are still not as many manufacturers in the market as there could be. This means that there is less competition among businesses to compete on price so the prices are higher in general. With that being said the increasing competition is about to change that. And we shall not forget that companies need to spend notable amounts of money in marketing and advertising which drives the price up further. On top of these factors, e-board companies want to build trust towards the consumer and offer warranty and customer service which is quite expensive a well. These circumstances all add up and make the current prices.
Cost determining factors
I have answered the question above of why electric skateboards are so expensive just superficially. Now we try to dive deep into the topic of price defining factors of lumbuy.com . Like in every other product category the price-determining factors are costs, quality, and marketing. If you want a high-quality e-board you have to spend some money. Price raiseswith quality. But I don’t want to neglect that some companies are just good at marketing their products and you won’t necessarily pay for the quality but for the brand.
Battery
The battery is the most important factor when it comes out to the price of an electric skateboard. It is the heaviest and most valuable part of an e-board. The battery is composed of many smaller battery cells. Manufacturers often use 18650 type battery cells. We know these cells from some electric devices, like flashlights, RC cars, e-cigs, and vaporizer they all use these batteries. I well remember when I first bought batteries for my flashlight I really was surprised how much just two of 18650 battery has cost. 30 bucks! Battery packs that are mounted on electric skateboards hold between ten and thirty of these cells.
Deck shape and material
Decks of electric skateboards are made out of different materials. Normally the deck is crafted out of wood but companies also try to save weight and develop decks out of composites. One option is a deck manufactured out of a few inner layers of wood and outer layers of composites. Another possibility is that decks are made entirely out of carbon fibre, fibreglass or kevlar. Composites are usually made out of two main components a flexible cloth and epoxy which provide the stiffness when it dries. Key advantages of composites are: very light and durable, corrosion resistance and high impact strength. Composites provide creators with nearly infinite flexibility in designing shapes and forms.
Customer service and warranty
When we spend money on a product we all want to get good customer service. We expected that we can come with our problems to experts that help us. But good customer service is very expensive for companies. You have to hire and employ people. You also want to be sure that these employees will be experts so you have to send them to school as well. Nowadays we expect that customer service is available all the time – 24/7 – either via telephone, email, or direct messaging.
Current expenses and other costs to consider
Charging
Like I already have written above the costs for charging your electric skateboard are very low. On average, charging an electric skateboard completely will cost you around 1 to 18 cents (US$ cents) in electricity usage. Depending on the size of your board´s battery and your electricity price rate.Electric skateboards, generally have a 90 – 400Wh battery capacity. The average value for electricity varies significantly across the globe. The average residential consumer’s electricity price is between 8 to 50 cents (US$) per kilowatt-hour.
Replacing the battery
If the board and battery are maintained properly then a Li-Ion Battery (Standard Battery) will last for 300-1000 charge cycles before reaching 80% of it’scapacity (the international standard to rating cycle life). That means if you use your electric skateboard daily the battery will last for about 1-3 years. The biggest life factor of the battery is how many cycles your batteries can take before the capacity drops. In addition rechargeable Lithium-Ion batteries have a limited span and will continuously lose their capacity. So if you want to keep your board longer than a few years its inevitable to change the battery. The cost of battery replacement ranges from $150 to $500. Basically, it’s like your body.