Electric project

[mrmantis]

Hey all, i've been reading a bit of these forums and i think all you guys projects a really cool! Im a 16yr old stutent who for my Systems Engineering Class have chosen to do it on a go-kart. This is will be my major assesment over a 2 year period. I have chosen to make it electric rather than pertol as this incorporates an electriacal aspect to my system which is nessary for me to get a good mark:smartass: .

My teacher has suggested that i use one of his old wheel chair motors and re-gear it to run my kart, however the projectored speed of my go-kart would then be something of walking pace, which would be ****. I was wondering about the use of a car starter motor and whether that would be a good idea? Or if there are any other good ideas for an electric motor? the only problem is, is that i have a fairly low budget, so wrecking yards and secound hand is all i can go by.

Well if theres anything that anyone nows it would be cool if you let me no :thumbsup:

Cheers, Max

[my_mini_bike]

have a look at kibbles tutorial on starter modification; http://www.diygokarts.com/vb/showthread.php?t=834

[CCCP_Power]

The bad thing is that the pictures are missing :(

[kibble]

Yeah, sorry about that. They should be up again in the near future. I've been meaning to work on making a downloadable document with everything in it but I haven't quite gotten around to finishing it.

[mrmantis]

Okay cool thats pretty good! are there any other electricaly powered things i can use though that wouldnt be to hard to get my hands on that any body knows about.

thanks, Max

[wingnut]

New here myself. I'm thinking of building a small electric cart for my kids. They've outgrown the plastic electric Walmart "powerwheels" toys but they're not quite ready for a gas powered cart. I'm looking at electric scooter motors on ebay. Some of them are quite reasonable at $50 for a motor and controller in the 250 watt range. You can go to 700 watts for less than $100. 700 watts is what they put in those pocket bikes which is probably overkill for my kids. These guys seem to be have about the best prices:
http://stores.ebay.com/TNC-Scooters

[2or3wheels]

but those bikes only have a small frame, you need at leats 1500 watts.

[wingnut]

All depends on what you're going for. Here's a youtube video showing what you can do with as little as 350 watts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=887EUTbPXsg

More than enough for a 5 year old girl that's outgrown her powerwheels.

[bigbuddy29]

i was given a electric mini bike 36 volt but no charger. no sure what to do with it yet. still working on the barstool.

[JerryAssburger]

Also, check at Goodwill for an old rechargeable electric lawn mower. These motors are 24vdc and usually 2hp (1500watts) and up. Black & Decker are 4hp. Plenty of scoot power for you!

[mrmantis]

Thats is a good idea this weekend i will have to look around for something at a place like op shops as well as those salvation army shops. I let you no what i can find.

Cheers, Max

[mrmantis]

Hey, just quickly, what would be a recommened horse power for an electric motor if i wanted to reach speeds of 25km/h+???

Cheers again,
Max

[wingnut]

Golf carts get up to 25mph with 3hp motors but they're on the heavy side compared to your typical gocart. It also depends on your gearing. You can get the speed with much less hp if you don't mind slow acceleration. The cart in the video I linked seems to be getting along ok (maybe 15mph?) with only 300watts. That's only 0.4 hp. I'm thinking of starting with a pair of 400 watt motors driving live wheels on a solid axle. That translates to just over 1hp pushing a relatively lite cart so I expect it will go rather well. Also, with two motors, it will act as a differential for turning on pavement. Keep in mind that, for the same hp, electric motors put out much more low end torque then a typical gas motor so it's hard to compare the two.

[kibble]

Keep in mind that, for the same hp, electric motors put out much more low end torque then a typical gas motor so it's hard to compare the two.

I was just thinking about that this morning, along with the fact that you can completely stall electric motors, to a point. Can't do that with engines.

[carbon]

how much power would i need if i wanted to go around a little road course?
as in, drawn with chalk on a road...
i want it to be relatively fun.

[JerryAssburger]

A friend built an electric bicycle using an old wheel chair motor, and when geared properly it'd hit just under 20mph. My first attempt at an electric was the blower-motor from a cadillac, friction driving the rear wheel of a 10 speed. It hit 14mph on the flat. (Really slow acceleration) It doesn't take much of an electric motor to do impressive things.... it's the heavy/bulky method of electrical storage that cripples the works. Have fun on your project.

[ironman]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C-jdm6sXNI
Found a nice electric kart video thought some of you might like who like to use electric