electric build help

[nitro1]

hey guys im looking for help on building a electric kart for my boy

what im looking for is info on what motor should i look into too buy ? im looking for speed/torque he is a larger kid so it needs power and do i need a controller or can u guys post me pics of a relay/button set up ect....????

any help would be great

 

[Felineman]

your best bet would be finding an electric golf cart and use parts from that as seing up an electric cart from scratch can be VERY expensive

 

[itsid]

nitro, for an idea of what you need.. you would want to let us know two things basically:
weight of kart with driver and speed you intend to reach.

If you add your desired acceleration to the list, it can be calculated rather easily.

And although Felineman likes to state electric is very expensive, in reality it's not always true.
A common electric kart motor (1000W MY1020) costs $100 new, it's controller $30, throttle $7 contactor can be had (if needed) for $20
compared to a predator setup with clutch and chain it's about $20 more to spend;
if xou do not count in the batteries which can be anything from $40 to $400 depends on your needs

See this thread to get an idea of how to calculate your motor power.

'sid

 

[nitro1]

thanks, here is a video of what it will kinda look like

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5k5Y8bzJhnA

the frame will be aluminum or metal square tubing that has a thin wall on it

and my son weighs around 80lb but i my self would like to ride it

and i like to stay around 2-3 12v car batterys ?

 

[Felineman]

??? where you shopping, here in Canada electric controllers for a 1k motor are over 1k mind you i'm talking automotive motors and controllers. I don't mess with the underpowered crap. If your gonna go electric you go for speed IE... 100 MPH in 3-4 seconds. Mind you anything electric is expensive here even electrical wire for your house is 75 bucks for a 100 foot roll.

 

[nitro1]

yes wire is expensive here in the states too, so the above vid the motor/controller cost over 1K ? im not looking for a dragster build something that can move a medium size kid and a larger adult like above vid but little faster and with good torque for the grass ect....

 

[itsid]

yes wire is expensive here in the states too, so the above vid the motor/controller cost over 1K ? im not looking for a dragster build something that can move a medium size kid and a larger adult like above vid but little faster and with good torque for the grass ect....

Well that motor IS the mentioned My1020 and it is available for around 100 USD new!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/48-Volt-100...Parts_Accessories&hash=item2ebaafb8c6&vxp=mtr

take a look around if you want to find the 36V variant...

that would be a controller for a motor like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Electric-E-...D37-/180732849771?hash=item2a14846e6b&vxp=mtr

well one of the many options...
there are better ones, and cheaper ones.

And to power the thing, I'd say use bike or scooter batteries (12V 10Ah),
like those:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Year-Warr...US_Rechargeable_Batteries&hash=item258643bcba

10Ah will be about 30-40 minutes of fun.

So, 95 (motor) +40 (controller) + 92 (batteries)

230.. still a long way to a full thousand dollars

'sid

PS
Yes, a 400Amp automotive controller easily costs 600 USD and more, a small matching 10kW motor is no less than 350 USD new.. but that's FAR FAR beyond what's needed on a kart like this

 

[nitro1]

how about if i go with a 1500 watt motor ?

 

[itsid]

same thing just harder to find

The thing is, most electric bikes, scooters and karts are 1kW or below
(kids karts often in the 250W range)
small scooters as little as 120W

Motors for those are easy to find and get.
The bigger motors (1200W ++) are not.
They still don't necessarily cost a fortune
(just assume to add maybe 20% to above prices)
But they're much harder to find.

The only e-scooter I know with a motor like this is the Forca evoking (1600W motor)
for roughly 450€ new.

but since it's not road legal around here, they're not too commonly seen,
thus not much spare parts (motor, controller etc.) are available.

'sid

 

[Felineman]

From what I hear anything over 1k is hard to find due to the restriction placed on Canadian customs hey don't want people putting them in E-bikes and speeding. The US may be different.

 

[itsid]

With a bit of labour it's always possible to use two identical motors
(and I mean IDENTICAL)
to power the kart, two 800W or even two 1000W motors..
You'd need a more expensive controller of course or at least two of them;
but in the end you can double your power with just the easily available parts.

'sid

 

[itsid]

I stumbled upon a 1680W motor... (well bike conversion kit ...)
http://www.cyclone-e-bikes.com/order-1chain.htm
and they even have 3kW and 8kW kits...
http://www.cyclone-e-bikes.com/order-3chain.htm
(and serious 20kW dirt bikes...)

maybe that's a viable route.

'sid