I’ve a DB coreflex crossbow longboard for around a year, and I finally decided that I wanted to make it electric. I live in connecticut where there are almost no flat roads; so I needed hill climbing power. I also wanted to keep the cost as low as possible while still using high quality parts. This forum was very helpful, especially @Namasaki and this build thread: https://www.electric-skateboard.builders/t/high-power-10s-lipo-battery-pack-with-bms/10014. I’ve finally finished my board and put around 20 miles on it. Here is my parts list: Motor: 6380 170kv TB motor Battery: Five 2s 60c zippy batteries from hobbyking in series BMS: cheap charge only bms VESC: Flipsky FSESC 4.12 Controller: TB Nano Remote Trucks: TB 218mm trucksI Wheels: MBS AT 100mm Bushings: Orangatang Nipples Enclosure: Custom Fiberglass Enclosures Pulleys: 14t to 40t tb 15mm pulleys I wanted this board to be able to tackle any hill and still reach a top speed of 25mph, and that’s exactly what I got. I run my motor at max 80 amps and min -80 amps and the vesc has handled it fine. The motor doesn’t;’ even get warm. However, It is currently 25 degrees farenheit outside, so that helps with cooling. I love my board, but I have some complaints about it.
- Single drive isn’t ideal for hill climbing and descending. It’s not because the motor or vesc can’t handle it, it’s because of traction. Although my wheel only slips when going up the steepest hill in my neighborhood, a 40% grade, going down steep hills is a problem.
- Ground clearance. I like keeping my board close to the ground for comfort and stability, and I like the flexy deck for softening my horrible roads, but this leaves little room for the battery and motor. I plan on getting a stiffer deck ad running the battery flatter on the board. Also, I have room to move my motor up a little bit.
- The overall look of the board. This doesn;t matter that much, but I plan on upgrading a few things in the future. First of all, I want to make new enclosures that are better made, run further from the ground, and have better integration of the percentage meter, charge port, and anti spark connector. My current ones are very ugly: Also, I only picked the silver motor because the black one was out of stock, and I think this color doesn’t match the board at all. Finally, I need to finish the grip tape and make the external wires look better. I put in a lot of work and made this grip tape pattern completely by hand, but I ran out of grip tape before I could finish.
- The gear ratio. When I was plugging numbers into a calculator, 25 mph seemed like it was way to fast. Now I ride at full throttle on all but the bumpiest roads. Also, there is plenty of torque; the board can start up a 20% grade hill while rolling backwards. I want to lower the gear ratio to use some of that torque to get more speed.
In the end, I am very happy with my build, and I wanted to share it with the community that helped me learn how to make it. If anyone has any suggestions for cheap, rigid deck or tips with making fiberglass enclosures, they would be greatly appreciated. I’ll post some videos of me riding it tomorrow, and I might do a full range test. So far I have drained the battery to 37.6 volts after going 7.2 miles, up and down some really steep hills.