The Basics Guide

If you’re new to electric skateboards, and want to know the basics of how to build one yourself, scroll on.

This post is intended for people just getting started. If you want more details then try visiting our Electronics Guide or Mechanics Guide.

The basic idea of motorising a longboard is to take electric power from Batteries to power a Motor which drives one of the Wheels. Now, it’s not quite that easy as there are a number of other parts needed to make this work, but that’s the basic idea.

One other really important part to an esk8 build is the Speed Controller, which acts as the brain of your skateboard combining the actions of the batteries, motor, and throttle.

The most-used type of speed controller is one called a VESC which stands for Vedder Electronic Speed Controller. It’s just a fancy speed controller which allows for advanced features like reverse, regenerative braking, acceleration and deceleration curves, power limits, and motor drive control methods.

This is how the motor powers the wheel.

One pulley is attached to the motor and another is attached to the wheel. A timing belt joins the two, transferring power from the motor to the wheel.

Get started with our Parts List to see what it’s all about. We have listed basic parts and BMS build parts as well.