The phrase “Electric Bubblegum Board” sounds like something you’d find in the back of a candy shop: neon colors, questionable decisions, and a high likelihood of smiling too hard. In reality, it’s a clever little electric skateboard concept born from the Maker movementbuilt to be compact, fast enough to be thrilling, and designed so you can repair and customize it with 3D-printed parts instead of praying a replacement part is still in stock somewhere.
If you’re here because you want an e-skate that’s more “open-hardware experiment” than “sealed mystery rectangle,” the Electric Bubblegum Board is worth understandingeven if you never ride the original model. Its real legacy is the idea that your board shouldn’t become landfill just because a pulley cover cracked or a case got chewed up by curb kisses.
What Is an Electric Bubblegum Board?
The Electric Bubblegum Board (often discussed as the “Electric Bubblegum” electric skateboard) is a compact, lightweight electric skateboard that leaned hard into two big ideas: (1) keep the overall board small and practical for everyday transportation, and (2) make key componentsespecially protective enclosures and drivetrain-related pieces3D-printable, so owners can replace parts and change colors without begging a manufacturer for proprietary spares.
Think of it like a “right-to-repair” love letter… except it’s rolling at around 20 mph and controlled with a Wii Nunchuck, because makers have always had impeccable taste in chaos.
Where It Came From: Maker Culture, Not Corporate R&D
The Electric Bubblegum project circulated through maker and DIY EV circles and popped up in broader tech coverage around 2014. It was shown in Atlanta’s maker community and earned attention at Maker Faire Atlantaexactly the kind of environment where “Why not use a game controller?” is considered a reasonable engineering requirement.
Coverage highlighted the board’s goal of hitting the usual e-skateboard expectationsspeed, range, and weightwhile cutting costs by using printable ABS parts and a design that supported customization and DIY repair.
Headline Specs (and What They Mean in Real Life)
Specs varied across prototypes and coverage, but multiple sources consistently describe a compact deck around 27 inches, a weight around 12 pounds, a top speed around 20–21 mph, and a range around 10 miles on a chargesquarely in “last-mile commuter” territory.
Why those numbers matter
- ~12 lb weight: Light enough that carrying it into a café (or up apartment stairs) feels like a mild workout, not a life choice you regret immediately.
- ~10 mile range: Practical for neighborhood errands, commuting from parking/transit, or quick “I forgot one ingredient” grocery missions.
- ~20 mph speed: Fast enough that helmets stop being “a good idea” and start being “the plot armor you actually need.”
Some coverage also described more powerful variants (including dual-motor concepts and longer-range builds). Even when you treat those as “maker ambition in motion,” it’s a reminder that the platform was as much about experimentation as it was about commuting.
The Secret Sauce: 3D-Printable ABS Parts
The Electric Bubblegum Board’s standout feature wasn’t only that it moved under electric powerit was that it treated breakage as normal, and planned for it. Coverage described printable ABS components including the board’s casing and pulleys, with replacement files distributed so owners could reprint parts when needed (or just swap colorways because… why not).
What 3D-printable parts change (besides your mood)
- Repairability: A cracked cover doesn’t have to end your riding season.
- Customization: You can rebuild the “bubblegum” aesthetic as loud or subtle as your personality allows.
- Iteration: Maker projects evolve quickly; printing parts supports rapid prototyping without waiting on tooling.
This approach also inspired community spin-offs and related printable components (including board case designs shared on popular maker repositories), reinforcing the “tinker-friendly” DNA of the whole concept.
Controls: Arduino Brains, Wii Nunchuck Personality
A distinctive detail in multiple writeups: throttle and braking were driven by a wireless Wii Nunchuck communicating with an Arduino controller on the board. Some descriptions also mention cruise control and a boost-style settingfeatures that make sense for a small commuter board where smooth control matters as much as raw speed.
The practical takeaway isn’t “go buy a Nunchuck.” It’s that the board embraced accessible, widely understood componentsmicrocontrollers and hobbyist-friendly control inputsso the system was easier to modify, understand, and troubleshoot than many closed e-skate ecosystems.
Battery Choice: Why LiFePO4 Keeps Showing Up
Several sources describe the Electric Bubblegum Board using a LiFePO4 battery pack, with charge time discussed around 2 hours and 15 minutes. LiFePO4 is often favored in DIY and maker contexts because it has a reputation for stability and long cycle life compared with some other lithium chemistriesespecially when paired with appropriate battery management.
One writeup even referenced cycle life in the thousands for the pack (a claim that typically depends heavily on how the cells are used, charged, and protected). The bigger point: the project emphasized battery management and practical charging, not just headline speed.
How It Rides: Small Board, Big “Respect the Throttle” Energy
A compact electric skateboard is convenient, but it’s also less forgiving: shorter decks can feel twitchier at speed, and acceleration can surprise new riders. Community discussion around the project included the kind of “warn your friends” stories you’d expectnew riders blipping the throttle and learning the ancient skating lesson: the ground is always closer than it looks.
Realistic handling expectations
- Acceleration feels punchy because you’re standing on something short and light.
- Braking demands practiceespecially if you’ve only ridden non-electric boards.
- Road texture matters more than you think; cracks and rough pavement feel louder through a compact deck.
In other words: it’s not “hard,” but it rewards riders who treat it like a powered vehicle, not a toy.
Maintenance & DIY Repair: Make It Boring on Purpose
The “print your replacements” philosophy is awesome, but the day-to-day reliability still comes down to boring habits: checking fasteners, inspecting enclosures, keeping the drivetrain clean, and replacing worn parts before they fail at the worst possible moment (usually when you’re late).
Practical upkeep tips inspired by the design philosophy
- Print a spare set: If a part is critical (like a protective cover), printing one spare before you need it turns a future breakdown into a 10-minute swap.
- Choose the right print approach: Community guidance around printed drivetrain components often emphasizes strong materials and robust infillbecause “it looked fine on my desk” is not a structural engineering test.
- Protect electronics from the environment: Even when a case is designed with splash protection in mind, puddles are still undefeated. Ride like water is lava.
Safety: The Not-Fun Section That Keeps You Riding
Electric skateboards blur the line between sport and transportation. That means your safety setup should look less like “casual vibes” and more like “I would like to keep all my teeth.” Public safety guidance for skateboarding consistently recommends helmets and protective gear like wrist guards and pads.
Helmet fit basics (quick and actually useful)
- A skateboard helmet shouldn’t sit too high or too low; guidance suggests aligning the front rim near the eyebrows and keeping it level.
- Straps should be snugNHTSA guidance for helmet fit includes the “two fingers” style check under the chin.
- Consider certification appropriate to your activity; safety agencies and helmet resources discuss standards and proper helmet selection depending on use.
And yes: wrist guards matter. Skateboarding falls love to end with hands-first contact, and protective gear is one of the simplest ways to reduce the chance that a fun ride turns into a “typing is hard now” month.
Why the Electric Bubblegum Board Still Matters
Even if you never touch the original Electric Bubblegum Board, the concept is a time capsule of ideas that keep getting more relevant: repairable micromobility, accessible electronics, user-owned maintenance, and modular design that invites tinkering instead of punishing it.
In a world where many personal EVs are sealed shut (physically and philosophically), “here are the filesfix it yourself” is refreshingly rebellious.
FAQ
Is the Electric Bubblegum Board a “penny board” style ride?
It’s in the compact category, but it’s better described as a small electric skateboard built for portability and practical trips, rather than a traditional plastic penny board. Its size and weight were repeatedly positioned as commuter-friendly.
Is it open source?
The project was strongly associated with distributing printable part files for replacement and customization, and community-sharing of related components reinforced that maker-first spirit. “Open source” can mean different things for hardware (files, licenses, firmware), but the repair-by-printing philosophy is core to the identity.
Is it safe to ride an electric skateboard in the rain?
In general, water and electronics are not friends. Even if enclosures are designed to resist splashes, riding through puddles adds risk (traction, corrosion, electronics). Treat wet conditions as a “slow down or skip it” scenario.
Experiences With the Electric Bubblegum Board (The 500-Word “Real Life” Add-On)
People talk about the Electric Bubblegum Board like it’s a skateboard that accidentally wandered into a robotics lab and decided to stay. And that vibe shows up most clearly in rider experiences: it’s equal parts transportation tool, conversation starter, and rolling science fair project. If you’ve ever wanted a device that makes strangers ask, “Wait… is that controlled by a Wii thing?”congratulations, you’ve found your niche.
One of the most common “first ride” lessons with compact e-skates is throttle discipline. New riders tend to treat the controller like a light switchoff, then suddenly ONand the board responds like a caffeinated greyhound. Community anecdotes around the Bubblegum-style builds include warnings about sensitive throttle response and the classic beginner move: a little accidental blip that turns into a very quick step-off (or, if you’re unlucky, a dramatic sit-down on the pavement).
Once you get past that learning curve, the day-to-day experience sounds exactly like what you want from a “last-mile” board: quick trips feel easy, the compact deck is simpler to carry, and the weight is manageable enough that you’ll actually bring it inside instead of locking it up and hoping for the best. That portability is the underrated feature. It’s the difference between “I might ride today” and “I ride because it’s convenient.”
Then there’s the maker joy: swapping parts and colors. With the Electric Bubblegum approach, changing the look isn’t limited to stickers and grip tape art. The idea of printable ABS components means owners can treat the board like a customizable platformreplace a worn cover, print a fresh pulley, or remix the case design to fit updated electronics. It’s the same satisfaction as repairing a favorite tool, except your tool happens to do 20 mph.
Practical experiences also highlight what “DIY-friendly” really means: you become the quality control department. Printed parts live in the real worldheat, vibration, road gritand riders who succeed long-term tend to adopt a routine. They check fasteners, inspect the enclosure, keep an eye on wear points, and print spares before something fails. (It’s much more satisfying to say “I anticipated this” than “I broke this.”)
Finally, the social side: the Electric Bubblegum Board famously showed up in maker spaces and fairs, where test rides and demos turned it into a mini celebrity. It’s the kind of device that invites a crowdpartly because it looks fun, and partly because it represents an idea people want to believe in: technology you can understand, fix, and personalize instead of treating it like a sealed appliance.
Conclusion
The Electric Bubblegum Board is more than an electric skateboard with a candy-colored name. It’s a compact e-skate concept that pushed repairability and customization into the spotlightusing 3D-printed ABS parts, accessible control hardware, and a maker mindset that treats maintenance as a feature, not a failure.
If you want a micromobility device you can truly “own”from the ride feel to the replacement partsthe Electric Bubblegum Board remains a sweet example of how fun, practical design and DIY culture can share the same deck.
