Are electric skateboards legal in Tennessee?
No statute names the device. Tennessee writes the electric scooter, the e-bike and the motorized bicycle out of the definition of a motor vehicle by name. The electric skateboard is not on the list, and the traffic code’s definitions never mention it. What reaches a board is the general definition, and your municipality.
128 electric skateboards in stock in the United States, priced at each shop ↓
What the law says
| What the text says | Section | |
|---|---|---|
| The general definition, and who escapes it | “Motor vehicle” “Means every vehicle that is self-propelled” and “Does not include” electric scooters, electric bicycles, motorized bicycles, personal delivery devices, motorized wheelchairs and trolley-wire vehicles. The skateboard is not on that list. | Tenn. Code § 55-8-101(21), (41), (50) |
| The scooter exception needs handlebars | An “electric scooter” is a device under 100 pounds that “Has handlebars and an electric motor”. A board has none, so the exception does not reach it. | Tenn. Code § 55-8-101(21), (41), (50) |
| Not a pedestrian | “Pedestrian” means “any person afoot or using a motorized or non-motorized wheelchair”. | Tenn. Code § 55-8-101(21), (41), (50) |
| What this does not tell you | We do not take the step from “self-propelled” to registration or a licence for you: no Tennessee text we read addresses an electric skateboard. Elsewhere in Title 55 the word “skateboard” appears only among the non-motorized devices named in a driver-licence penalty definition. Municipal rules are not covered by this page. | Tenn. Code § 55-8-101(21), (41), (50) |
Each row is the statute's own content, reduced to plain wording where it is long and quoted directly where the exact words matter. The section in the last column is a link to the text.
Electric skateboards in stock in the United States
Priced at shops in the United States, in the currency they charge. Real deals and new lows first, then the lowest price; checked twice a day at the shop itself. We do not rate boards and take no payment for a place here.
| Product | Best price | Verdict | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|
WowGo 2S MAX Electric Skateboard & Longboard
🇺🇸renewableoutdoors.com |
US$349.00 | ✓Real deal | |
MEEPO V5 Electric Skateboard
🇺🇸renewableoutdoors.com |
US$379.00 | ✓Real deal | |
WowGo Mini 2S Electric Skateboard & Shortboard
🇺🇸renewableoutdoors.com |
US$444.00 | ✓Real deal | |
Exway Flex Paragon Electric Skateboard
🇺🇸renewableoutdoors.com |
US$1799.00US$1059.00 | ✓Real deal | |
Onewheel Pint X
🇺🇸ridechargedwheels.com |
US$1100.00 | ✓Real deal | |
BOUNDMOTOR Flash Ultra Electric Skateboard
🇺🇸cyrusher.com |
US$1999.00US$1299.00 | ✓Real deal |
All 128 electric skateboards from shops in the United States · today's real deals · the cheapest one · 36 under $500 · 111 under $1,000 · what one costs · recalls and safety alerts.
Sources
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Tenn. Code § 55-8-101(21), (41), (50) — Definitions — electric scooter, motor vehicle, pedestrian.
Legal publisher reproducing the codified text, read 2026-09-24.
The Tennessee Code is published through a commercial service we could not read directly; FindLaw reproduces the codified text (current through January 2, 2024). We also searched the whole of Title 55 in a 2022 published copy of the code: “skateboard” appears only in a definition of “pedestrian child” used for driver-licence penalties.
One or more rows above say Legal publisher reproducing the codified text: the official server was unreachable when we read it, and we used a legal publisher's reproduction of the codified text instead. We would rather tell you that than present a copy as the original.
How Tennessee compares
The same four questions for Tennessee and its neighbours, each linked to its own page and citations. All 99 jurisdictions we have read are side by side on Compare all jurisdictions.
| Jurisdiction | Status | Helmet | Speed limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tennessee | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Alabama | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Arkansas | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Georgia | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Kentucky | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Mississippi | Unaddressed | no rule naming the device | — |
| Missouri | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| North Carolina | Prohibited | no rule naming the device | — |
| Virginia | Regulated | no rule naming the device | — |
Compare all 99 jurisdictions →
The spread is the point. These are neighbouring jurisdictions regulating the same object, and they do not agree on what it is, how fast it may go, who may ride it, or whether it may be ridden at all. A rider who crosses a state line is, quite often, subject to a different legal category rather than a stricter version of the same one — which is why a single national answer to this question does not exist and why anyone offering you one has stopped reading the law.
It also explains why so many rows say the device is unaddressed. Most vehicle codes were written before this machine existed, and a legislature that has not revisited them has not thereby permitted anything — it has left the question to a general classification and to your city.
What about a Onewheel?
No text we read for Tennessee names a board with a single wheel. The reading above is for electric skateboards; whether a Onewheel falls in the same class, another one or none is a question the statutes here do not answer, and neither do we. 11 jurisdictions do name it — Are Onewheels legal?
Onewheel prices, read at the shops: what a Onewheel costs new · used Onewheel prices · Onewheel or electric skateboard · buy or sell a used one.
What this page does not tell you
- It is not legal advice, and it never says you may ride. It says what the statute says, and links it.
- It does not cover municipal law. Cities regulate sidewalks, parks, paths and often these devices by name. Those rules sit on top of everything above.
- It does not cover private property, insurance, or what happens after an accident.
- It may be out of date. Every source carries the day we read it. A statute amended since then will not have updated itself here.
Across the border: Kentucky · Virginia · North Carolina · Georgia · Alabama · Mississippi · Arkansas · Missouri. Every other jurisdiction: the full list.
Questions this raises
Are electric skateboards legal in Tennessee?
No law we can find defines an electric skateboard. What applies instead is a general vehicle classification and, in practice, your municipality. Tennessee writes the electric scooter, the e-bike and the motorized bicycle out of the definition of a motor vehicle by name. The electric skateboard is not on the list, and the traffic code’s definitions never mention it. What reaches a board is the general definition, and your municipality.
Is a Onewheel legal in Tennessee?
No statute we read for Tennessee names a board with a single wheel, so the law there does not answer directly. For electric skateboards, the status we found is: no statute names the device. Only 11 of the 99 jurisdictions we read name a one-wheel board: Utah, Quebec, Queensland, Tasmania, Seattle, South Korea, Belgium, British Columbia, New York, Victoria, the Netherlands.
Do I need a helmet in Tennessee?
No rule naming this device addresses helmets in the sources we have read for Tennessee. Your municipality may have one.
How fast am I allowed to go in Tennessee?
No speed limit specific to this device appears in the sources we have read for Tennessee.
Does this cover city rules?
No. This page reads state, provincial or national law only. Municipal codes frequently add rules — on sidewalks, parks and paths especially — and where the state has written nothing, the city has written everything.
How do I check this myself?
Open the links in the sources below. Every row in the table above names the section it comes from, and every source shows the date we read it. That is the whole point of the page: you should not have to take our word for it.