Welcome to our review of the Enertion Raptor 2. A board that caused a lot of fuss in the electric skateboarding scene because it was the first hub-motor driven board to feature such insane specs. While many people were reluctant to believe that the end result would come any where near the claims they were making, Enertion really put them to shame as the board they released might just be the best board of 2018.
Enertion Raptor 2
Pros
- Probably the best all-around board on the market today as of the date of this review
Cons
- Not deliver in sufficient quantities to assess customer service
From DIY specialist to Board manufacturer
Enertion started out making and selling parts for DIY projects and was founded by Jason Potter. Jason, a boarder himself, initially started creating his own customized eBoards. Later on, as more and more of his friends and acquaintances started requesting he made the board for them, he decided to start a company that sold aftermarket parts that couldn’t be found just anywhere else. His drive to put out the best quality and parts led Enertion to become market leader in the DIY scene.
The Raptor 2 was initially scheduled to be released to the masses in May 2017. The company however incurred some setbacks and misjudged how long the entire production process would take, causing the boards to be gradually delivered starting september 2017. The first batch of 500 have been fulfilled. The average electric skateboard consumer shouldn't be too surprised by this delay as it seems to be a market trend...
Want to follow up on the status of the shipments? You can so on the Electric Builders forums. At this moment they announce the second order batch to be delivered on April 20,2018.
What Jason Potter always wanted was creating the best and most powerful board. With the Raptor 2 he realized his dream and decided to share it with the rest of the world. By creating this eBoard, Jason certainly made an imprint on the market, as he left boarders around the world wowed or speechless. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at what makes this board so great.
The Design & Hardware
First thing’s first, let’s start with the design. As Jason himself puts it, he wanted a board that is not only powerful but light. He also wanted for the board to be strong enough to match its power, a problem he found most often with other boards. That is why he made sure the Raptor 2 is made of the best possible materials.
The deck is mainly made of wood with a carbon fiber finish and is shaped to have a slight concave shape. This makes the board incredibly strong and resistant to damage, while still being light. The shape of the board assures safe footing, as the board is really fast, and you can be thrown off in an instant.
image from enertionboards.com
The board is set upon high-quality 50-degree precision Enertion trucks (read Caliber 50) and 90 mm wheels. These ensure you roll over smaller pebbles and cracks smoothly, as the great speed of the board increases the danger of the board making a sudden stop and propelling you forward.
Enertion Raptor 2 Specifications
Motors | Two 9080 R-Spec Hub motors |
|---|---|
Top Speed | 28 mph |
Battery | 432 Wh |
Range | 25 miles |
Weight | 22 lbs |
Deck Length | 970 mm |
Wheels | 90mm |
Instant torque hub motors
image from enertionboards.com
As we had already said, the Raptor 2 is incredibly fast. What we didn’t mention is how fast. This board can easily reach a staggering speed of 28 mph, and it can reach that speed in just over 3 seconds. This, as you may imagine, is incredibly fast, and incredibly dangerous, which explains the large wheels and strong build.
The secret behind the board’s neck breaking speed are the hub motors. These motors are mounted inside the very wheel they are propelling, unlike the belted motors that are mounted on another part of the vehicle.
This allows the motors to achieve incredible torque, propelling the board incredibly fast, and allowing the board to climb very steep inclines. The twin motors boast a staggering 190 kVs, thus beating even the famed Booster Dual+. In fact, this board is even more powerful and faster than Evolve Bamboo GT, cementing this boards place as the quickest board on the market today.
Many people prefer belt-driven motors over hub motors. Check out this side-by-side comparison made by Jason and decide for yourself:
Battery and Range
Just as the Raptor's speed is impressive, so is its range. This board contains enough juice on a single charge to ensure a range of breathtaking 20 miles. The skate runs a 432 Wh battery, allowing such insane run time. This fact is even more impressive when you take into an account that the Boosted Dual+ runs a 99 Wh battery. On a side note, you need to know that board with batteries exceeding 99 Wh aren’t allowed on planes, but with such power, who needs them anyway.
The Raptor 2 is not allowed on planes, but with such power, who needs 'em anyways
Of course, the range varies. Depending on the weight of the rider and the changes in speed, the range will be less or more (rarely more). The battery takes 2.5 hours to charge with a regular charger, which provides you with a great charge to run time ratio. You can even cut that time to about an hour and a half with a fast-charging charger. The board also features a battery gauge displayed, and it comes with an ergonomic controller that allows controlling the board’s incredible speed and acceleration.
Final Thoughts
What more can we say about Enertion Raptor 2? This board has all the capabilities to leave you speechless. It has incredible specs and superb performance. It is light, strong, with a powerful motor and incredible battery and range – in short, it is an absolute beast. It does come with a hefty price tag, but considering all the things the board brings to the table, it’s no wonder. And you can also take advantage of the Early Bird and preorder the board at a discount. All in all, for a rider looking for a thrill on the road, and a chance to really put miles behind him, the Enertion Raptor 2 is a perfect choice.
9 Comments on “Enertion Raptor 2: Mean Speed Machine”
Ops. Forget to cover this board in my blog post of 2017 electric skateboard preview.
Ive heard buyer saying E raptor is more of a DIY project than a commercial product.
They say abit of tinkering skill is required to upkeep and maintain the board as opposed to buy it and use it till it breaks that other board company offered.
Did you heard something similar?
Hi Paxson thanks for your comment. Nice site 🙂
If you want to maintain any e-board you will need tinkering skills don’t you think?
I believe that that is a positive thing. Enertion being a DIY parts supplier has the benefit that when something breaks on your Raptor it can be replaced with ease.
With out of the box boards you often need to ship it back and wait for weeks to get your new board back.
Another upside is that you can modify your Raptor with these DIY parts to whatever setup suits you best.
Modifying a boosted board is a little more trickier..
Hey, thanks for checking out my site!
It’s true that DIY means easier repair, it also brings concern on the built quality.
I have heard a complain on I think Youtube. The person bought the original Raptor and said this “I thought I bought a product, not a project.” after the board requires him to tinker and troubleshoot a few times.
@paxson Hi, its Jason here. I’m the owner of enertion and designer of Raptor 2
I agree The Raptor 1 was more like a DIY product. In 2016 We built over 160 of them in our garage. What a ride that was we learnt so much.
Also. Not sure if you saw it, but we ran a huge presale campaign at the end of 2016 for Raptor 2. We will be mass producing 500 Raptor 2 electric skateboard, mass production is the only viable option at this scale.
So Just to clarify It’s not a DIY build! We have basically stopped selling DIY parts. RAPTOR 2 is a comercial grade product. Full compliance. plug & play, ready to ride out of the box.
One important thing to note, even though we are mass producing the Raptor 2 product, we have not lost focus on modularity & serviceability that is such a huge advanatage with DIY builds.. I suppose this approach to design and manufacturing is due to our vast experience selling individual parts.
So basically the customer gets the best of both worlds. Mass produced & refined product with full compliance as well as the added benefit of serviceability and modulairty.
I also want to emphasize that the Raptor product comes with a comprehensive 12 months instant replacement parts warranty. Double the length of boosted boards. We also offer a 110% performance promise, if unsatisfied with performance you get your money back + 10%.
P.S. That guy on YouTube was offered the option to send his raptor for repair at zero cost, under warranty, to our us repair agent. He refused to send the board for repair. So in the end we sent him the parts to make the repair himself. Sometimes products do break and that’s why we offer a warranty.
.
Hi Jason, thanks for the clarification 😉
Greetings,
David
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Performance
7.9
Design
6.5
Quality
3.1
Value
2
Service
0
Worst customer service ever. Ordered something from them emailed them 3 weeks later. Still not sent and they said it was gonna be another month. Never said me an email never connected with me at all just let me hang in period after I sent them their cash