Benchwheel Penny Electric Skateboard

The Benchwheel Penny Board is a 28-in / 71cm single 1000W motor electric skateboard. It's what you would call a Chinese electric skateboard. The appeal is to make a battery powered Penny Board (the plastic boards), actually this is the size of the Nickel board and made of wood instead of plastic.

The range is 8km to 10km / 5 to 6 miles with a max. speed of 24kph / 15mph, but expect less if you don't upgrade to better quality parts yourself. Retail price 349 USD + shipping. Get a good price at aliexpress or alibaba.

• Electric Longboard

• Benchwheel website - boards
• Benchwheel Penny Electric Skateboard product page - Aliexpress
• Support email: info@benchweel.com

Features

• Comes in two board designs: a classic look and a tech-look, both light-weight, resilient and durable
• Excellent grip carved out grip at the board end for convenient carrying
• Sturdy high-clearance metal box protects the batteries and electronics when going over rough terrains, the slim case design provides low-visible signature making the board appear non-electric
• Large 80 mm high-speed PU wheels
• 36 Volt 1000 Watt high-powered brush-less motor provides top speeds up to 24 kph / 15 mph featuring regenerative braking
• Ergonomic 2.4GHz remote controlling driving modes (speed/energy saving) and direction, the controller employs sine-wave modulation allowing fine-grained speed control
• Recharge the controller only once per week, conveniently on the mini USB charging port
• 90Wh battery pack providing driving ranges of around 10 km / 6 miles, Samsung batteries cells with high discharge
• 1.5 hour quick charging
• Gear ratio 1:3 (16-48T) for responsiveness and fast acceleration

Specifications

• Company: Hangzhou Bench Technology Co., Ltd - Hangzhou, China
• Released: January 2017
• Model: D001 / D002
• Re-branded boards: LiftBoard
• Based- and improved-upon: Benchwheel Dual 1800W Motor 2015, Benchwheel Single 1800W Motor 2015
• Board: Bamboo and maple composite, tech model 3 layer bamboo + 2 layer fiber glass, classic model 7 layer maple + 2 layer fiber glass
• Controller: Custom Bench sine-wave modulation (FOC) controller (ESC), battery management and charger (BMS) - both separate boards
• Battery: Lithium-ion 2.5Ah 90Wh 10S1P 36V (10x3.6V, voltage 32V to 42V) 520g 14 AWG wires XT60 connector, 10x Samsung INR18650-25R M (Lithium manganese nickel - LiNiMnCoO2) 20A discharge green 18650 cells connected in series
  • Upgrade: Samsung 30Q 3000mAh 15A / LG HG2 3000mAh cells for longer range, or Sony VTC4 18650 2100mAh 30A cells for better torque - 6USD ea
• Charger: 100-220V AC input, 42V 2A output adapter with 2-pin plug, CE RoHS, green LED for redy/complete and red LED for charging
• Motor: N5065 170kV 14-pole 1000W 50A 61x49.5mm Ø8 bore Ø30 mounting pattern brushless motor with closed back cover
• Wheels: PU 80x45mm 78A hardness - drive wheel has 8 spoke
• Belt: HTD 225-3M 13mm 75 teeth 3mm pitch 225mm pitch length - on 16mm wide wheel pulley, 15mm belt does not fit
  • Upgrade: SDP A 6R23M075150 3mm (HTD) Pitch, 75 Teeth, 15mm wide Single Sided Neoprene Belt with Fiberglass Cords - 9.90USD
  • Change the drive train with 5mm pitch pulleys and belt for better power traction, less wear
• Wheel pulley: 48T OD45mm ID36mm 3mm pitch 16mm wide grooves
• Motor pulley: 16T OD16mm? ID8mm bore 3mm pitch 16mm wide grooves with key-slot for corresponding motor shaft
• Bearings: 8x 608-2Z OD22mm ID8mm 7mm wide NMB skateboard bearings - bearing on drive pulley side is flanged to hold gear in place
  • Upgrade: Zealous with integrated spacer 20USD, or Bones Reds ceramics 50USD, or Loaded Jehu (use in Boosted) 20USD, or ACER SK8 Ceramic 608 Bearings 35USD
• Remote: Ergonomic, two-speed (full-speed/half-speed), jog-stick (forward/brake), 3-LED board-battery level indicator, 800mAh LiPo battery, mini-USB charging (no data), nRF24L01+ based 2.4GHz transmitter and receiver module - reliable
• Grip tape: Tech or Classic design
• Case: Aluminium with RGB LED light strip underneath
  • Upgrade: Better quality grip tape
• Weatherproof: No official rating, but electronics case is sealed except charging port and power button
• Max. load: 100 kg / 220 lbs
• Length: 70.9cm / 28-in
• Ride height: 12.3cm / 4.8-in
• Overall width: 26.0cm / 10.3-in
• Truck hanger width: 17.0cm / 6.7-in
• Board thickness: 1.2cm / 0.47-in
• Package size: 76 x 30 x 19 cm
• Weight: 4.8kg / 10.6lbs
• Kit contents:
  • 1x Benchwheel Penny Board Electric Skateboard fully assembled, half-charged
  • 1x Benchwheel wireless remote pre-paired
  • 1x Two-piece hand tool for maintenance
  • 1x 100 to 240V AC 42V 2A DC adapter
  • 1x mini-USB remote charging cable
  • 1x EU power cable, or UK power cable, or US power cable, or AU power cable
  • 1x Certification sticker
  • 1x Quick-start guide leaflet

Remote operation

The instructions doesn't cover the operation of the remote properly. Albeit being a simple remote, there is a trick to switch between full- and half-speed.

Power on/off:

• Press and hold the top-red button for 2 seconds to turn on or off the remote

Change between full and half-speed mode:

• This can only be done after powering on the remote and before touching the joy-stick
• Press the top-red button momentarily and the LED indicator on the remote will switch between L (half-speed) and H (full-speed)

After using the board, the only way to switch speed mode is to turn off and on the remote, then change mode

Pair remote and board:

• Turn both remote and board off
• Press and hold the power button on both the remote and board for 5 seconds until two beeps are heard
• Turn both off and on again to use the now paired board

The controller comes pre-paired but if you hold the power button accidentally too long it can loose the paired connection.

Change between forward and reverse direction:

• Power on the remote and board
• Move the joy-stick forward once to engage the motor
• Now, momentarily press the top-red button to change between forward and reverse direction

This can be done while using the board, stand-still or in motion.

Check board battery level:

• Power on both the remote and board
• Look at the lower three LED indicators on the remote, this indicates the battery capacity left
• All three 100%, two 66% left, one 33%, blinking 5-10% left

When the remote starts to beep and the lower red LED starts to blink, it is giving you a warning that the battery is about to run out and needs to be charge immediately. The controller limits the max. speed. Under a 1km/mile left of juice.

Upgrades

• Front and tail LED light mounts/reflectors - be seen
• Belt cover - 3D printed to prevent grit coming in-between the belt and pulley
• Current sensor, ESP current and voltage display - battery health
• On-board web server with current and voltage chart history on OLED display/wireless OLED
• External 2A USB power socket - to charge the remote and phone
• Replace rear truck with dual motor and extra speed controller - more speed and acceleration
• Swap over to HTD-5M 15mm 53T belt and 15-36T (or 15-40T) pulleys - for more efficient drive train

Truck assembly

Front truck, regular assembly

Rear truck with motor, belt, pulleys and wheels - note: dual motor shown in drawing

Rear drive wheel

Hand-held remote control

Electronics bay

Analysis

Pros

• Small and relatively light-weight
• Great value at low cost
• Fast and good hill climbing ability
• Good torque and responsiveness due to belt drive
• Powerful 1000W motor
• Handle cut-out to carry the board
• Easy to use and reliable remote control
• Repair and disassembly relatively easy
• Modular design
• Electronics bay opens by removing six screws
• Stronger trucks then previous Benchwheel boards
• Possible two swap drive wheel with any three for even wear
• Motor assembly can be installed on either left or right rear side

Cons

• Board does not flex, hard ride - if trucks loosened, becomes wobbly
• Charging port and power button not weatherproof
• Belt exposed to dust and grit
• Drive-train a bit noisy
• Motor pulley glued in-place with thread-lock
• Battery not easily replaceable (or swappable)
• Poor wheel traction on wet ground
• No head- or tail-lights

Repair / maintenance

Official repair videos are available on YouTube.

• Benchwheel repair and maintenance videos

Guides

• ESK8 - Electric Skateboard battery and drive train calculator

• • Stock board setup results:

• SDP-SI Center Distance Designer

• • Stock board setup results:

Reviews

• Jordan Hauser Digital - Benchwheel Electric Penny Board
• MCP - Benchwheel Pennyboard electric skateboard
• FabTrav INSANE MINI ELECTRIC SKATEBOARD

Board details

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References

• Gear and accessories for Boosted board
• Guide to building your own electric skateboard drive train