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Feb 23, 2025

Old School Cool Melds With Modern Tech In The Beautiful ‘Nalu’ Electric Skateboard

The wrap-around LED lighting on the Nalu looks cool - but also makes riders much more visible at ... [+] night. The lights can also blink, 'breathe,' or be turned off. I’ve ridden many electric

The wrap-around LED lighting on the Nalu looks cool - but also makes riders much more visible at ... [+] night. The lights can also blink, 'breathe,' or be turned off.

I’ve ridden many electric skateboards and they’ve all been good fun. They’ve also all been “longboard” types with lots of foot space and cutouts for turning the large wheels typically found on electric skateboards. I even see a lot of people commuting on them these days.

But I grew up on - and still have - short-format boards we called “kicktails” or “ducktails” or “skateboards” back before there was electricity (OK, maybe not that far back). Today, a “regular” skateboard typically has two raised ends and (comparatively) tiny wheels to facilitate the many physics-challenging stunts and tricks skaters do that were not yet invented when I was in my prime skating days. Now, Backfire Boards has revived the kicktail as a new electric model, the gorgeous new $599 “Nalu” electric skateboard.

The Nalu is available in four color and texture variations.

Backfire was kind enough to send me a near-production prototype Nalu in “Maple” finish (above). There are four looks to choose from including Maple, Cube, Purple and Jungle. At first, I thought the Nalu was shorter than the kicktail boards from my youth, but since I still HAVE my old stick (below), I found that it’s essentially exactly the same size overall - about 31 inches - but the Nalu has a slightly longer wheelbase. It’s just under 10 inches wide at its widest.

The Nalu is taller than my old-school skateboard from days gone by, but it needs to be in order to ... [+] accommodate the larger wheels.

The Maple features a typical grit-grip top surface, but the underside of the board is a gorgeous polished slab of load-bearing maple that’s ready for a sticker collection - or just let it shine on its own.

Back in the day, the P/P 'Rat Bones' wheels were considered large. The Nalu wheels are 80mm in ... [+] diameter in order to accommodate the internal motors.

Power comes from two 340-Watt motors in the rear wheels for a belt-free drive system. My prototype Nalu came with a 99-Watt-hour battery, so good news: Production Nalu models have a larger 136 Watt-hour battery for a longer 16-mile range. Best of all, the flexible sheet-type batteries are inside the board itself, so there’s no battery pack under the board mucking up the beautifully finished maple deck surface. Two wires running to the rear wheels are the only obvious sign this is an eskate.

The Nalu’s trucks are beautiful CNC-machined pieces that look like they are taken off an aircraft, and the large 80mm wheels strike the right mix between grip and durability. They are much larger than standard skateboard wheels, but are generally in line with what I see on other e-skates. Bonus points for the little “Nalu” logo on the wheels. Backfire has really nailed the look and details of this sweet eskate.

The Nalu sits higher than a typical analog skateboard due to the taller trucks needed to accommodate ... [+] the larger wheels.

Speaking of that new skateboard shine, all of the Nalu models feature Backfire’s signature strip of bright LED lighting around the deck’s perimeter, and the Maple gets a cool blue/green band that can be set to be on constantly, blink on and off, slowly pulse, or be turned off. It’s off by default and a button on the wireless controller cycles through your options.

The controller is the typical thumb-roller type with buttons for “reverse,” riding mode (eco, sport and turbo), power on and off, and cycling through the metrics of your ride on the small OLED screen on the remote. It charges via USB-C. The board itself includes a typical plug-in charger and takes just about an hour to get fully juiced. Battery level for the board and remote are shown on the remote’s small but informative screen.

My friend Grace had never ridden a skateboard of any kind before the Nalu, but she was riding with ... [+] confidence in a few minutes.

After adjusting the turning tension of the trucks, getting going is easy: Just power on the remote and the board itself, and they sync up immediately. The trim lighting is not very visible during the day. At night, the perimeter lighting makes the Nalu highly visible (above), which I appreciate very much. Plus, it just looks super cool.

Top speed on the Nalu is 16 mph under its own power, and if you think that’s “slow,” just remember most skaters rarely break 10 mph in the flat under their own power. Compared to the much faster Backfire Ranger X5 and other eskates on the market, it is definitely slower, but high-speed antics really aren’t the Nalu’s scene. This is a fun-to-ride board with a shorter wheelbase, so turning can happen more quickly, and it’s really for the simple enjoyment of riding, not winning parking lot races. It’s plenty fast.

In fact, my model for these photos, Grace (below and above), had never ridden a skateboard of any kind before the Nalu. After a few minutes of instruction, she gave it a go and got the hang of it right quick. If you’ve never ridden a skateboard or it’s been a while, the Nalu is a great way to pick up the sport. When riding the Nalu or any wheeled vehicle, be sure to wear a good bike, ski or skate helmet like the Bern Hendrix Grace is wearing.

After some basic instruction and few minutes of familiarization, Grace was up and running on the ... [+] Nalu.

I was always a “carving” rider - more like a surfer - than a trick specialist, but I love having that little kicktail for popping the front wheels over small bumps and bits in the roadway or on a sidewalk - something I missed and could not do with the longboard models I’ve ridden. It really brings back a key control aspect of the short board, and the ability to pop the front wheels up over a lip or rock in the roadway adds an important safety aspect for this rider.

My 'Maple' model is well named as the polished wood deck is a highlight. Note the CNC trucks.

Riding in my neighborhood, the Nalu was a solid and predictable performer in terms of motor output and speed, and I never felt like 16 mph wasn’t fast enough - and I rarely went that speed anyway as I carved wide turns on the local tennis courts and the roadway outside my home.

Only two wires running to the motorized wheels give away the Nalu's electric drivetrain. Otherwise ... [+] it looks like a normal skateboard.

Rolling the thumbwheel backwards initiates braking, and it is both smooth and as forceful as the rider needs. It doesn’t stop on a dime - which isn’t a good idea anyway - but it’s easy to get used to and works smoothly for surprise-free stops. A small switch on the bottom part of the remote’s face toggles “reverse” mode if you want to play that way, and Backfire says the Nalu can climb a 12-degree incline with an average rider aboard.

At just under 13 pounds, the Nalu is far lighter than many eskates, so it's easy to bring along and ... [+] charges up in an hour.

Up until a few years ago, I figured my skateboarding years were well behind me. But the new crop of powered eskates has me riding again, and they’re better than I expected in most every way. The only disappointment I had was the lack of kicktail-type e-skates on the market. Backfire has made up for that quite nicely with the Nalu.

For this... mature skater, it goes just the right speed, and feels very much like my old Powell-Peralta stick that hangs in my garage. The bonus is I can just kick it into motion to get started and then just enjoy miles of effortless minimalist transportation on a beautiful and capable skateboard. We dreamed about skateboards like this as kids. Even though I’m not a hardcore skater any more, it’s great to see that dream realized so competently and with such grace and beauty.

Backfire has done a tremendous job of putting a big battery, 700 Watts of power and more into a ... [+] thin, beautiful eskate that can easily pass for an old-school analog deck.

One night, I rolled the Nalu to a convenience store for a late-night snack. A couple of teen skaters were outside on the curb, laughing and smoking while sitting on their skateboards, just like I used to do in the years before adulting became necessary. The Nalu’s perimeter light had it riding on a pillow of blue, and as I pulled up and kicked the tail to grab the board, the shock on their faces was apparent. I gave them a bit of a closer look at the polished maple deck and CNC trucks, ran through the lighting options and made it go forward and then backward on demand. One teen turned to the other and said reverently “I think that’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.”

He’s probably right.

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