Can you take electric skateboards on planes? A guide on Air Travel

We all love our electric skateboards and some of us dream to take our eskates onto travels. Experiencing a foreign city or even country with our e-board would just be awesome! But there is one big problem – safety! The problem is the big Lithium-ion battery. If damaged, short-circuited, heated, or even designed poorly, these batteries may catch fire and explode. This is a pretty serious and dangerous situation and of course, should be avoided during flights.

But to accomplish our dream of traveling the world with our eboards we have to take them on planes. So, can you fly with electric skateboards?  

Yes, you can. Electric skateboards with a battery capacity of less than 160 Wh can be taken on a plane, but airlines have the last word, and some of them will not allow you to fly with your board. It is prohibited to transport any batteries with capacities of more than 160 Wh on planes. Battery sizes between 100 and 160 Wh will need approval from the airlines and they are only permitted as carry-on baggage. Due to the big battery capacities, the majority of electric skateboards are not made for air travel.

There are several boards on the market that have small batteries. With these, you should be able to fly. A few companies do offer special carry-on batteries as well. In this blog post, I will point out, different electric skateboard models and their battery sizes, international air travel regulations, airline habits, e-skateboards you can fly with and at the end I will present you numerous tips on how to take your e-board on a plane and also provide alternatives if it doesn’t work.

With which models of electric skateboards can you fly?

I did some research regarding the most popular, and my personal favorite, models. Then I created a table that shows the electric skateboard model, whether or not the model is allowed to be taken on a plane, if the company offers an extra “carry-on-friendly” battery, and their battery size. If I missed a model or you believe that I should add other boards as well, please let me know in the comment section below.

Electric Skateboard Model	Allowed on planes	Extra carry-on-friendly battery available	Battery Size in Watt Hours (Wh)
Apsuboard V3	Yes	No	144 Wh
Apsuboard X1	No	No	288 Wh
AeBoard Hornet Belt	No	No	259 Wh
Aeboard AX	Yes	No	158 Wh
Aeboard GT	No	No	504 Wh
Backfire G2 Black	No	No	180 Wh
Backfire G2 Galaxy	No	No	216 Wh
Backfire G3	No	No	260 Wh
Backfire G3 Plus	No	No	346 Wh
Backfire Mini	No	No	175 Wh
Backfire Ranger X2	No	No	454 Wh
Backfire Ranger X3	No	No	504 Wh
Backfire Zealot	No	No	311 Wh
Boosted Mini S	Yes	Yes	99 Wh
Boosted Mini X	No	No	199 Wh
Boosted Plus	No	Yes	199 Wh
Boosted Stealth	No	Yes	199 Wh
Exway Atlas	No	No	518 Wh
Exway Flex	No	No	259 Wh
Exway Wave	No	No	216 Wh
Exway X1 Pro	No	No	193 Wh
Hoyt St EL1	Yes	Yes	3 x 90 Wh
Kaly NYC Boards	No	No	800+ Wh
Lacroix Boards	No	No	706+ Wh
Lycaon GR	No	No	270 Wh
Lycaon TRX	No	No	518 Wh
Maxfind FF Plus	No	No	216 Wh
Maxfind Max4Pro	Yes	Yes	158 Wh
Maxfind M5 Drive Kit	Yes	Yes	158 Wh
Meepo AWD Pro	No	Yes	144 – 288 Wh
Meepo City Rider 2	No	Yes	504 Wh
Meepo Mini 2	Yes	Yes	144 – 288 Wh
Meepo NLS Belt	No	Yes	144 – 288 Wh
Meepo NLS Pro	No	Yes	336 Wh
Meepo V3	Yes	Yes	144 – 288 Wh
Mellow Drive/ Board	Yes	Yes	99 Wh
MetroboardX	No	No	576 Wh
OneWheel Pint	Yes	No	148 Wh
OneWheel +	Yes	No	130 Wh
OneWheel + XR	No	No	324 Wh
ONSRA Black Carve	No	No	360 – 466 Wh
Revel Kit	Yes	No	144 – 216 Wh
Riptide Boards	Yes/ No	No	97 – 199 Wh
Unlimited X Loaded Kits	Yes	Yes	99 Wh
Verreal Mini	Yes	No	144 Wh
Verreal RS	No	No	360 – 684  Wh
WowGo AT2	No	No	504 Wh
WowGo 3	No	No	216 Wh
WowGo 3X	No	No	259 Wh
WowGo Knight	No	No	288 Wh

If you’ve liked this table then check out my ultimate Electric Skateboard Comparison Table here. I have even built an Electric Skateboard Drag and Drop Tool with which you can compare your favorite electric skateboard models! It took me days to create it, I hope you enjoy it!

International guidelines on Li-ion batteries regarding air travel

Guidelines for airline treatment of lithium battery-powered electronic devices in passenger baggage are issued by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). All have guidelines suggesting lithium-ion batteries under 100 watt-hours be allowed as carry-on.

You can check their guidelines here -links to their official post:

• International Air Transport Association (IATA)
• Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
• Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
• European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)

Li-Ion batteries also need to have an Underwriters’ Laboratories (UL) certification. The battery design must have been tested to a test standard referred to as “UN38.3.” The majority of electric skateboard batteries on the market have this certification.

Airlines have the last word

Although IATA’s guidelines are widely used within the airline industry, each airline sets its own regulations. I highly recommend contacting the airline prior to your trip, especially if you plan to take your eboard on an international flight. Right now it is all a bit of a mess, like the early days of flying with laptops.

Thanks to all the exploding “hoverboards” and other cheap Li-ion powered toys, e-boards are facing a rough start in the airline industry. We should take a look at how other personal mobility devices are treated by airlines: Lithium-ion batteries power everything from laptops to smartphones to electric cars.

Various news stories have reported incidents in which hoverboards caught fire or exploded, hurting their riders or damaging nearby property. Reasonably, airlines aren’t willing to take the risk of an onboard explosion. There are roughly 100 accident stories stating that battery packs in self-balancing scooters and hoverboards get too hot. And with the risks of sparks, fire, and explosions, it’s no surprise 60 airlines have forbidden hoverboards from being taken aboard.

Electric skateboards you can fly with

I crafted this list to visualize better which boards can – theoretically – be brought onto a plane. Please note that airlines have the last word and various companies do not allow any electric skateboards on a plane. Some of the boards listed below have battery sizes between 100 and 160 Wh, so you will need the approval from the airlines to carry the item, and it is only permitted as carry-on baggage. However, I recommend you to contact the airline prior if you own eboards with battery capacities less than 100 Wh as well. Below you’ll find a list of eboards which have a battery capacity of less than 160 Wh.

• Apsuboard V3
• AeBoard AX
• Boosted Mini S
• Boosted Plus (with special travel battery)
• Boosted Stealth (with special travel battery)
• Evolve GTR (with special travel battery)
• Hoyt St El1
• Meepo Mini (with the smallest battery option and approval of the airline)
• Meepo V3 (with the smallest battery option and approval of the airline)
• Meepo Boards in general (with special travel battery)
• Mellow Drives
• OneWheel Pint (with approval from the airline, because battery size is over 100 Wh)
• Riptide R1
• Revel Kit
• Verreal Mini
• Unlimited X Loaded Kits

Check out our article on the Best Electric Skateboards in 2021

How to travel with electric skateboards on planes

Below are two lists of actions you can take to make travelling with e-boards easier.

Beforehand

• Check the guidelines of the airlines you want to travel with online
• Get in contact with these airlines
• If the response was positive print it out or save it on your phone – this way you have got proof for the security check and airlines employees
• Save or print out safety regulations regarding your location (IATA, TSA, FAA, or EASA)
• Remove the battery from your e-board

At the airport

• Check in the electric skateboard (without the battery)
• If the board is small enough, take it with you in the cabin (as carry-on)
• Take the e-board battery as a carry-on with you
• Be friendly and courteous to airport and airlines staff (obvious one)

The optimal way to transport the board is to remove the standard battery pack, place it in your carry-on, (the idea is if a battery starts a fire, they are at least trained to deal with it in the cabin, whereas with the luggage no one would know) and check the skateboard alone as luggage. Many riders have also successfully brought the e-skateboard on as a carry-on and placed it in the overhead bins, in the coat closet, or in other available cabin space with the assistance of a flight attendant.

What are the alternatives?

But what if you can’t get onto planes with your board? What if the airline doesn’t allow you to? Here are some alternatives you can try to still travel with your electric skateboard.  

• If it’s possible drive to your destination
• If possible take the bus or train
• Try to rent a battery or a whole e-board at destination
• Try to send it via a courier in advance

If you’re travelling to a location that is not across an ocean or other body of water, it might be better for you to drive to your destination.

You can even try to rent an e-board battery.

I know, at first it sounds pretty crazy, but the internet makes a lot of things possible. There’s an chance that you’ll find someone in a forum or other platform who is willing to rent you his or her battery. You can also search for local electric skateboard shops – commonly just skate shops –  at your travel destination that rent e-skateboards or e-board batteries. Call in advance and see if you can rent a battery that’ll fit your board.

If your board has a battery that is too big or the airline you travel with just doesn’t allow your e-board on flights for another reason, then you might want to have the board flown via a courier company to your destination.

Conclusion

Several airlines, appear to allow electric skateboards in certain circumstances, although policies have been changing rapidly. If you’ve got an upcoming flight, the best thing is to check it with your airline directly.

I hope you enjoyed reading my article. If you have recommendations I am happy to read them! Feedback is highly appreciated at e-skateboarder!