Update 6/1/2016: In the interest of providing customers with accurate information, I’ve decided to warn customers against buying Marbel. While I looked the board during my initial review, there have been a number of customer service problems that have surfaced in the past few months.
Marbel has not been fulfilling orders, has not made a mobile app yet (promised delivery date was July 2015), and has not responded to customers about these issues. With that in mind, I would suggest looking at the Yuneec E-Go, Boosted Boards, Evolve Electric Skateboards, or Metroboard to fulfill your electric skateboarding needs.
Original Review
The Marbel Electric Skateboard has an interesting story of conception. A prototype board reached its funding goal on Kickstarter in just 6 days at the beginning of June and before the time period was over, the board had raised over 350,000 dollars.
However, over the summer, the company encountered delays in going from prototype to production model and shipping out to customers as promised. Now they appear to have fixed these issues and are moving through the ordering and shipping of the Marbel Board quickly.
The tagline of the Marbel Board is “The Lightest Electric Skateboard in the World?” and that’s what the Marbel electric skateboard claims. Weighing only 10 pounds, this board claims to hit top speeds of up to 25 mph and has a range of 16 miles per charge.
But does it really live up to the test against other electric skateboards such as the Yuneec E-GO and Boosted Boards? Review Longboards decided to test it out. The video that was used to initially get the word out about the Marbel Board is below. While some of the specifications that they say in the video are slightly off, it provides a nice overview of the entire production and capabilities of the board.
The Board
The most noticeable thing initially is the weight: Marbel electric skateboard weighs 10.3 lbs which is way lighter than comparable electric longboards. The Boosted Dual+ Electric Skateboard is the only one that comes close and that weighs 15.5 pounds.
For stability, the deck of the Marbel electric skateboard is made out of a carbon fiber composite. While this allows a slim and lightweight deck, the deck is very stiff which some riders don’t prefer. Riders who prefer a flexible deck should look into the Boosted Electric Longboard. Boosted Boards use a Loaded Vanguard deck
made out of bamboo for all of their boards.
For electronics, the board has a single 2000W motor mounted to one of the rear wheels. This reduces the overall weight of the board but having only a motor on one wheel can cause an imbalance and affect hard carving maneuvers that riders attempt. In comparison, the Boosted Dual+ has motors attached to both of its rear wheels.
The Remote
To control the board, Marbel spent months designing a custom remote and an app for rider’s smartphones. The remote has a slider for the rider to easily control the acceleration and speed of the board.
One interesting feature the remote has is a safety switch which must be pressed down at all times to allow the board to run. This prevents the board from continuing away from riders if they fall off.
With only one motor and a lithium ion battery, the Marbel Board can charge completely in 80-90 minutes. This is especially useful as riders can use the board to commute to work or class, charge it there, then commute back home. The remote takes 4 hours to charge but this is because the remote has to be charged much less frequently than the board itself.
A full charge will last riders a decent amount of time and distance, though. In Eco Mode, characterized by 2 LEDS blinking on the Marbel board, a rider can get more than 16 miles from one charge. In sport mode which allows the top speed of 25 mph, a rider going fast will get 10-11 miles.
Marbel Electric Skateboard Specs
The Marbel electric skateboard has a top speed of 25 mph but this speed is always adjustable depending on the mode you are in. 25 mph ranks it among the fastest electric skateboards on the market. It just goes to show that the Marbel board is not simply for people looking to commute to work. It is suitable for all riders and all riding modes.
For places with lots of hills, the torque provided by the Marbel motor allows the board to handle hills up to 20% grade. While Review Longboards has talked about this before, there is no feeling quite like riding a longboard or skateboard up a hill.
It simply goes against every notion that we, as riders have. It’s a great experience though and the Marbel electric skateboard could handle all of the hills we could throw at it.
One of the unique things about the Marbel electric skateboard is that it has four different modes to satisfy different rider needs. The board ships in Starter Mode which limits the top speed to 8 mph and 10% acceleration. To go further on one charge, the board also has Eco mode which limits the top speed to 17 mph. This mode allows riders to go as far as 16 miles on one charge.
For the advanced riders, there is sport mode which puts the top speed at 25 mph and max acceleration. It’s recommended that riders progress through the modes as they become more comfortable with the mode. There is also a custom mode which allows riders to create their mode style based on their riding style.
| Mode | LED Signal | Top Speed(mph) | Acceleration |
| Starter | 1 LED | 8 | 10% |
| Eco | 2 LEDs | 17 | User-set |
| Sport | 3 LEDs | 25 | 100% |
| Custom | 4 LEDs | User-Set | User-Set |
As mentioned earlier, Marbel has had some issues with delays in producing and delivering orders. Currently, customers can expect to wait at least 5 weeks from ordering to receiving their board.
To make this long wait more transparent, Marbel has just recently launched an online order tracking system called MyMarbel informing you of where in the process your Marbel electric skateboard is at all times. This service is expected to aid the company’s relations with customers
