Electric Longboard or Electric Shortboard? Which Style Of Electric Skateboard Is Right For You?

Picture from Braille Skateboarding YouTube Channel

So, you’re looking to get your first electric skateboard?

But you don’t know whether you should get an e-board with a long deck or a short deck.

Well, you’ve landed in the right place because I can help you make that decision by sharing with you these comparisons between electric longboards and electric penny boards.

For starters, you will want to think about what kind of riding you will be doing most. Ask yourself the questions:

1. Where will I be riding to?
2. How far is that?
3. What kind of paths will I be riding on?
4. Do I want to go really fast?
5. Do I want to be able to do tricks?
6. Are the paths straight or will they be really tight?

Woah, that’s a ton to think about when getting your first eboard.

Lucky, I’m here to help you break it down.

Now that you’ve thought about what kind of riding experience you will be having, let’s take a look at the benefits of each type of electric skateboard.

First, let’s run through the benefits of electric longboards.

Longboards, as the name describes them, have a long deck. Usually, a board is considered a longboard if it is longer than 34” and a typical width of around 9”. But that’s not a rule, it’s more of just a guide.

Because of the extended length and width of a longboard deck, it makes for a very stable ride. You will have a much easier time balancing on a longboard and will have a carefree and enjoyable ride because of it.

Another benefit that the length of a longboard creates is the comfort of the ride. Generally, longer decks will naturally have a little bit of flex in them which help to absorb some of the vibrations created when riding, especially over rougher terrain.

The increased stability and absorption of the vibrations make electric longboards particularly great for beginner eskaters. They’re easy to learn on so you’ll get the hang of it really quickly!

But, they’re not just for beginners. In fact, longboards are better for riders who want to ride fast and far.

You want as much stability when riding at higher speeds to reduce the amount of speed-wobbles that you might encounter. And trust me. You do not want to come face-to-face with speed-wobbles.

While I’m talking about speed-wobbles, I’ll also mention that if you are planning on riding at high speeds, you want to get a deck that has the least amount of flex possible. The stiffer the board, the better stabilisation you will have at high speeds. I know that sounds contradictory to what was said above, but essentially, for comfort, you want a flexy eboard at low speeds and a stiffer deck at high speeds for stability.

When it comes to electric skateboards, there all these extra components that are required to make them run such as motors, batteries, ESCs among a few other things.

All of these take up space on the deck. So, the longer the board, the more real estate available for installing more batteries or bigger motors. 

Typically, what you’ll find is that the most performant eboards on the market are electric longboards, purely because you can fit more on them.

That’s a lot of reasons to think that an electric longboard is the best option, but we haven’t yet had a chance to take a look at the benefits of a shorter electric skateboard.

We’ll start again with their size. Generally, we regard any eboard less than 32” a shortboard, but once again, rules can be broken. In the category of shortboards, I am going to include both skateboards and penny boards.

The compact size of shortboards makes them a much more viable companion if you need to carry it every now and then, like on trains or going into the store. They also don’t take up much room when you need to store it at work or at home.

The downside to this is that sometimes, not always, but sometimes, you aren’t going to get the performance out of a shortboard that you would on a longboard.

But that’s not always the reason you ride an electric skateboard.

Shorter eboards usually have a kick tail on the deck. And this is one of the best reasons to buy an electric shortboard.

The kicktail adds so much versatility to an eboard.

It increases your manoeuvrability because you can tic-tac around corners by applying pressure to the kicktail, lifting up the front wheels and swivelling around. This makes turning, even in the tightest of situations just so easy. 

Not only that, but you’ll also be able to use the kicktail to avoid any nasty cracks in the path, drop off curbs or ollie up onto ledges, depending on how good of a rider you are.

If you’re an advanced eskater, you’ll even be able to start doing some tricks like manuals, ollies and I’ve even seen some kickflips being pulled out.

So, to sum it all up, electric longboards are great for beginners and going on long, comfortable rides while electric shortboards and penny boards are best for rides where you want to have a little more fun and be more nimble and maybe do some tricks along the way.

Well, that’s the basic differences between them. I hope I’ve helped you take one step closer to becoming an eskater! 

Now go get yourself an electric skateboard! I guarantee you won’t regret it!