budget drift style trike with electric motor

[rd350lc]

Hi all , newbie here so go easy on me .

I am going to build my 3 year old lad a small drift style trike on the cheap with go kart style rear wheels.

I am an engineer so that side of things will be exciting for me , but I'm not the brightest with the motor side of things ( unless it was a 2 stroke bike engine ) .

I don't want the trike to be rapid in the slightest and have a running time of half an hour max.

I was thinking of fitting one of the cheapy MY1025 motors , that has a ratings of 24V ,2750 RPM , 14 amps and 250 watts and the controller / throttle kits to suit that are widely available on ebay .

Would this motor be totally incapable of powering such a trike and what sort of batteries would be best ?

I'm in the uk

thanks in advance

 

[mckutzy]

Hello and welcome.
Sid( he's in germany, and is a well knowledged person) will chime in soon and really give the lowdown on your selection of parts.... How ever Im going to guess.. this isn really a budget build thing.... its going to cost money especially being in the UK....
Cheap would have been to stick with the 2 stroke or at least any industrial motor....

 

[rd350lc]

Thanks for the reply , the fact that I can do all of the mechanical work and welding will hopefully save me a few £. I have used the search function and Sid's knowledge on electric motors is something else . Just hoping one of those E bike /scooter motors will suffice .

cheers again

 

[Functional Artist]

An electric trike sounds kool!

A 250 watt motor is only like 1/3 HP

Like on little, plastic Power Wheels toys.

It will probably move but, really slow like 5 - 8 mph depending on weight. (battery's frame, wheels etc)

I have used parts off electric scooters & riding lawn mowers to build karts for my kids.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ6bcBy1O1M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTRA1FXz9Lw

The yellow kart has a 350 watt motor running @ 36 volts.

The orange kart has a 450 watt motor running @ 24 volts.

I have found these scooters kinda cheep (~$50.00) here & there usually with dead batteries.

I think these were available in the UK.

Maybe look around, see what you can find local.

Keep us posted!

 

[rd350lc]

thanks for the reply .wow, they look ace .

If I read you right you are saying you got the motors from scooters is that correct ?

 

[Functional Artist]

Yes.

Desteny's motor, controller, throttle & wiring came off a scooter like shown in the video.

Winston's motor & stuff came off more like a little pocket bike.

Both didn't work so, I picked them up cheap.

One just needed fresh batteries the other had a melted wire @ the fuse block. I replaced the wire & fuse holder & it was good to go.

I have found that if a scooter don't work most people are not interested.

Look around there could be "gold in them there hills"

 

[itsid]

Morning... holidays and such so I'm a bit late to the party

Hi!

Well, 250W sounds good enough for me and it means you can get away with a small battery pack as well..
But frankly, more often than not, the next bigger unite motors are as cheap (sometimes even cheaper) than the one you're looking at..
and frankly.. a 500W motor works just as good (and can be throttled down if needed be) but provides some additional grunt if your kid turns six to still have fun with the trike

So check on the next bigger sizes as well when you're looking for the motor.

Most my10xx of that size are 24V IIRC.. so you'll need two motorcycle batteries the smallest will do I'd bet.

but let's quickly do some math... 250W (cont. mechanical power) are roughly 320W electrical power in... divided by 24V means the motor roughly draws 13.5 Amps...
you want the trike to run half an hour so about 8Ah are enough battery capacity to have you covered (you'll need some residue in order to keep the cell alive )

since they're cheap try to find HR Bike Power Gel batteries the 8Ah version is 15€ around here
and a gel cell makes sense when kids are involved IMHO.

And as already being said.. an electric kick scooter provides you with all you need (motor, controller, throttle kit, and if bought complete even a battery )

'sid

 

[rd350lc]

Thanks Sid for taking the time reply and I'll probably be better off going down the 500 watts route. It's just that on Ebay in the uk the 500 watt motors seems that much more expensive . I've seen a 300 watt motor on an online scooter shop for the right sort of money but maybe it still won't have the oomph I need also the scooters iv'e seen don't state the motor ratings in the listings and I think most of them iv'e seen are lower wattage ones .

thanks again

 

[itsid]

if you see an unrated scooter it's very likely a 120Watt version (sometimes less) not worth the hassle. (barely enough to propell an adult on a kickscooter to walking speeds)
the slightest incline and it'll resign.

It's a bit time consuming to check who ships internationally, but search for my1020 (not my1025 / 26) even the my1016 series more often than not is labeled my1020 on ebay..
and search within europe at least; shipping from germany to the uk shouldn't be too bad;
and frankly most of them are chinese shops anyways with nothing but a container sale from frankfurt airport or hamburg harbour..
the motor should be around 60GBP and the matching yiyun controller ~20 or so..
So less than a hundred incl shipping should be possible (for a 500W my1020)
Sometimes you need to wait a little or check ended auctions as well (some just forget to relist an expired item )

Anyways, for a 3yo a 350Watt motor will certainly do just in case you can't find an affordable 500W motor anywhere;
just keep in mind that most electric cars for kids that age run with less than 100W (80 is pretty common)

'sid

 

[rd350lc]

Big thanks again sid . top advice

 

[Functional Artist]

since they're cheap try to find HR Bike Power Gel batteries the 8Ah version is 15€ around here
and a gel cell makes sense when kids are involved IMHO.

'sid

Isn't that a engine starting type battery?

which will technically work...for a while

but, I believe the proper battery for an EV electric vehicle would be a rechargeable deep cell type of battery like...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Power-Sonic...218663?hash=item1ea0c400a7:g:CGsAAOSwubRXKRDs

 

[itsid]

those motorcycle batteries are good enough for 1000-1500 charging cycles...
a deep cell is pointless, since the controller will shut down much earlier to keep the cells alive
than any of the deep cell benefit could kick in really.

GEL though is NOT ideal for EV for various reasons.. NONE of that is important when a kids health is at stakes IMHO.. so, small kids -> gel battery! (or professionally made LiPo packs if you want to throw money around)

'sid

 

[rd350lc]

Yes.

Desteny's motor, controller, throttle & wiring came off a scooter like shown in the video.

Winston's motor & stuff came off more like a little pocket bike.

Both didn't work so, I picked them up cheap.

One just needed fresh batteries the other had a melted wire @ the fuse block. I replaced the wire & fuse holder & it was good to go.

I have found that if a scooter don't work most people are not interested.

Look around there could be "gold in them there hills"

finally had a minute to watch your videos and even with the older girl on the yellow one it seemed quite rapid . very impressive

 

[Functional Artist]

Thanks,

this video thing is great to use for demonstration purposes.

Being able to actually show a concept adds so much more than just explaining it.

I like your electric drift trike idea

...having batteries low in the rear, should actually help it drift better &/or easier.

*personal experience:

Before I knew better, I used lawn mower type starting battery's on Desteny's kart, 1 - FAILED after only like 40 - 50 charge cycles.

See, http://www.diygokarts.com/vb/showthread.php?t=34593

 

[rd350lc]

Here it finally is and a big thanks for all the help on here.
Can't believe how rapid this thing is !

 

[Functional Artist]

Nice Job, Very Kool!

Did you do a build thread?

Post more pics or even a demo video.

Show us the guts (motor, controller battery, wiring etc.)