Welcome to the web's first comparison review of the current esk8 industry's 4-wheel drive skateboards by the staff at ElectricBoarder.com.

The growing esk8 market has brought much innovation to the next generation of electric skateboards.   2018 marks the year where a number of manufacturers are selling 4 wheel drive boards.  Last year, Carvon, Jed, Acton, and Walnutt announced their new 4 motor boards.   Of the 4 boards, the Acton Qu4tro and Walnutt SPECTRA silver are available now (as of 5/5/18, the release date of this review).   Note that the QU4TRO is available in limited quantity which indicates that Acton only built a small number of boards in their initial batch.   The Carvon EXO 4WD  is sold out, and the Jed Board AWD is expected to ship later this month.

Walnutt runs its business out of New York City, New York, USA.  They appeared on the Esk8 market last year (2017) when they raised over $650K USD for their line of 4 boards on Indiegogo.  The SPECTRA Silver is their highest end board.   They are one of two manufacturers who provide hands-free control (the other being ZBoard).  We believe they have a solid team and may evolve to be a key player in the esk8 industry.  Their patented system, termed 3D Posture control, uses your weight and posture to provide acceleration or braking.   Initial feedback from various users though is that the posture control is somewhat unreliable.

 As was mentioned previously. because of its much shorter wheelbase, you can carve at a tighter radius than the other boards to allow greater maneuverability in dense areas.  It is short enough to fit in a large backpack.  At 6.9 kg (15.4 lbs) though, you will not be able to carry much more without being a strain on your back.  Their board has a limited 6 month warranty (a little short in our opinion for a 4 motor board).  If you purchase outside the USA, you will be charged for extra shipping.  

Walnutt began on the East Coast of the United States and Acton (Santa Clara, CA) is based on the West Coast.  Like Walnutt, they also have a product line of 4 boards with the QU4TRO being their flagship product. Our opinion is that for its current price , it is on the expensive side, but as of May 6, 2018, it is the only 4 motor longboard available (the Jed Board has been slipping and is now scheduled for a late May delivery).   For us the jury is still out in terms of the board's quality and the company's customer support.  Hopefully they will begin to get things right.    

Of the four boards, we feel the Jed Board provides the best value.   We did a preview of this board last month.  The company is still young and as with many young companies, there will be hiccups along the way.  But the product is outstanding, the parts are of high quality (backed up by an industry leading 24 month warranty), and we hope the customer service will prove to be excellent as well.   

Their unique drivetrain is a first in the esk8 industry.  It should be noted that the sound emanating from the grinding of the two gears has been an issue with some of the early testers.  This may be due to the fact that some riders are not used to the frequency of this type of sound since most are familiar with the motor noise from belt-drives or the quieter hub drives.

The founder of Carvon, Jerry Palacio, has been in the skateboard building business for more than 5 years.  The Carvon board , like the Jed Board, is constructed of high quality parts.  It may have the largest capacity battery of all pre-built skateboards, but this is one reason why the board is expensive.  The cost of the battery itself is about $800 USD.

Its drivetrain is also unique to the esk8 industry.  Instead of two gears like the Jed Board, Carvon uses a wheel adaptor to connect the motor to the wheel.  Feedback from early testers of the board have been very positive.   As with Jed, the question is can the company transition itself to a full service manufacturer.

As the esk8 industry continues to develop, we believe more 4 wheel drive boards will enter the market.  Today, if price were not a factor, we would choose the Carvon EXO 4WD.    The best value pick without a doubt is the Jed Board AWD.   If you decide to go with the Acton QU4TRO, the concern in our opinion would be the quality of its parts along with the customer service.  With the Walnutt SPECTRA silver, the posture control may need some maturation and improvement before we would fully endorse it.