What is a battery "C" rating? Is it important for electric skateboards?

Higher Voltage = Lower Currents Less Load = Lower Currents Lower Current = Less Heat. Less Heat = Longer Life & Improved Reliability of electronics.

One of the most important and expensive parts of the ESK8 build was the battery, so I started researching and, based on what I knew at the time, I wanted it to be worth it.

Here are some of my search queries "What is the best battery" "Most powerful battery" "Best battery chemistry" "Peak power of electric skateboard".

The problem is that when you start looking at things like this, you end up with more questions than answers...Remarkably, there's still a lot of drivel that gets filtered out.

Anyway, after a few weeks of reading, I decided to buy Lipo because I learned that they have a very high discharge rate and high power density. Meaning they have a lot of power per gram...

So how to determine the discharge rate of the battery?

Fortunately, this is clearly written on the label. A battery, for example, has a "C" rating of 20C. This means that the battery can reach peak output at 20 times its capacity.

So what is capacity? Thankfully, it's also on the label of all batteries, 3000mAh or 3Ah for a battery. So this battery pack can output 20 x 3Ah, giving the battery a rated peak output of 60Ah. You can get Lipo batteries with higher C ratings as well as batteries with higher mAh.

So now you know how to determine the output of any battery, but that information is useless unless you know how much power the scooter needs to run.

So how much power does an electric board actually need to move a person from a stationary position to maximum speed to rip the ball?

The way to solve this problem is to buy a wattmeter and install it on your electronic board. It is in series between the battery and the ESC, and it allows you to read the power passing through it in real-time.

It shows you the peak amps and watts, as well as the voltage. So you hook it up to your board and then look around and see how much power you're using.

Tip: You really don't need to permanently integrate any of these into your ESK8. The information it displays is well worth knowing at first, but once you know the performance of your board, the information really doesn't change, so it adds weight and unnecessary wire volume, and it's dangerous to look down at your feet while riding!

You'll notice that it peaks from rest, it peaks when you go uphill, and it peaks basically when the motor has a load to push it, but cruising on your board should only use 15-20A of power. In fact, you want a low number and don't want a high ampere.

If you pull too many amperes on your scooter, you will not be able to use the scooter for a long time, and your battery may be damaged by discharging too fast and overheating. What you want to build is a skateboard that is efficient in moving mass without getting hot even when it hits a big hill. Heat is wasted energy!

Getting an electric board to use too much power is like bragging about how much black smoke comes out of a car's muffler. Not because you have a really powerful ESK8, but because you designed the drivetrain incorrectly. My design philosophy is strong, efficient, and robust. These features must be balanced or failure will occur. Having power and using it effectively are two things. Therefore, if your setup is underpowering your load, it won't be very efficient.

So your motor may be rated at 2400 watts (2.4 kW), your LIPO may be able to output 240 amperes, and you may have a 150A continuous electric modulation...But you really don't want to peak...

The best electronic boards will have an overdesigned power system with built-in safety features to prevent disaster. Especially in the battery, if the discharge is too much or too fast, the battery life will be greatly shortened. Therefore, you need to be able to limit the power requested by the motor and ESC. You can do this electronically or mechanically by reconfiguring the driveline ratio.

Brushless Outrunner motors are hungry little monsters... If they continue to be fed juice without any reduction in a given load, they just want more juice. This can happen if you try to ride a mountain with an underpowered setting.This appetite motor has more power, will quickly convert into heat, and your electricity will melt. So how do you stop this?

There are two electronic ways to manage the amount of electricity a system uses

Batteries may have their own built-in battery management circuit, commonly known as a BMS, PCB, or PCM.

The motor controller can have a built-in current limiting function.

I recommend the above two. You might also consider using a fuse directly behind the battery, just in case the heat melts the insulation on the wires and short-circuits the entire system, destroying everything in a spectacular fire.

So the moral of the story is that you really don't need the highest "C" battery on the market. What you need is a specially designed battery that can easily provide enough power to reach the limit of your needs. Ideally, you also want a device that protects itself with a built-in circuit, so if it is asked to provide too much power, it will limit the discharge. This will ensure that your ESC and motor are protected and that your battery lasts a long time.

I would suggest that the 60A peak is sufficient for the electric skateboard. If you often need more current, then you should increase the battery voltage and add mechanical reduction to reduce the load on the motor. Or go on a diet!

Higher voltage = lower current Less load = lower current Lower current = less heat.Fewer calories = longer life and greater electronics reliability.