electric go karts.

[B man]

Ok so my understanding is they are inpractical. but why are the ones at theme parks and places like that so good? how do they work so well?

 

[CriticalMass]

The ones at theme parks are probably gas powered. Hp to weight ratio would be terrible on an electric cart I'm guessing. I have no idea how much an electric motor rated at 6 hp would be, or the batteries needed to run it for a given time. Has to be a ton though, plus the kart and yourself.

You be driving a mini tank!

Well I guess they do have golf carts that are electric, they have alot more room for batteries though and cost quite a deal more.

 

[B man]

Well i was at a indoor theme park and they had electric karts. those things were like rocket fast. of course the motors where huge! but beside that the kart wasnt very big.

 

[Gillgamesh64]

Look at mobility scooters!!! Really it is verry possable if you have the right gear...

 

[sideways]

Well i was at a indoor theme park and they had electric karts. those things were like rocket fast. of course the motors where huge! but beside that the kart wasnt very big.

Were they battery powered or mains powered?

Batteries last a few mins with decent motors, that's why elec karts suck.

 

[Gillgamesh64]

I work on occasion for an old guy who because of a hip replacement built himself a trike to get around his workshop (It is a masive workshop) anyway it scoots along he runs twin batteries they look like they are off a truck bit he gets hours of use from it, he keeps one set on charge and swaps tham at lunch time and i have never seen it run out of charge! but it does about 10kph! The motor that runs the machine is no bigger than a coke can and it is coupled with a gear box, The man is an engineer and the thing is built way solid it must weigh a fair bit at least as much as a go-kart. anyway i was talking to him one day about a electric go kart (was considering that for my first project) and he assured me if i buy a motor and gearbox from him the kart will out perform the victa i was going to use! the man is 86 years old and has been dealing in solar power systems for years from his engineering shop, so i do not doubt him a little bit! I will be going in there next week to get an axle and bearings and i will quiz him on the subject and find out more about the motors and gear box ratios... and from what i can tell an electric kart setup properly have masive tourqe and excelerate like crazy!! I am thinking doing one soon just to see if it turns some heads!

 

[sideways]

I work on occasion for an old guy who because of a hip replacement built himself a trike to get around his workshop (It is a masive workshop) anyway it scoots along he runs twin batteries they look like they are off a truck bit he gets hours of use from it, he keeps one set on charge and swaps tham at lunch time and i have never seen it run out of charge! but it does about 10kph! The motor that runs the machine is no bigger than a coke can and it is coupled with a gear box, The man is an engineer and the thing is built way solid it must weigh a fair bit at least as much as a go-kart. anyway i was talking to him one day about a electric go kart (was considering that for my first project) and he assured me if i buy a motor and gearbox from him the kart will out perform the victa i was going to use! the man is 86 years old and has been dealing in solar power systems for years from his engineering shop, so i do not doubt him a little bit! I will be going in there next week to get an axle and bearings and i will quiz him on the subject and find out more about the motors and gear box ratios... and from what i can tell an electric kart setup properly have masive tourqe and excelerate like crazy!! I am thinking doing one soon just to see if it turns some heads!

He underestimates what a Victa can do.

The only thing I have against electric karts is battery life and cost, on something powerful enough to be fun you're going to spend ****loads on a set of batteries that will will last you 10 mins a the most. If it wasn't for those factors everyone would have them.

 

[Gillgamesh64]

Yeah but some people might be happy with a 15 min blat after work... But it is a big outlay, On the other hand some of those electric karts on youtube look nothing less than awesome

 

[sideways]

Yeah but some people might be happy with a 15 min blat after work... But it is a big outlay, On the other hand some of those electric karts on youtube look nothing less than awesome

True true, they are pretty awesome hay! So are the petrol ones though.

I built an electric scooter when I was 12, had a 55w motor, would run for nearly an hour on the little motorbike battery I had for it. Wasn't what you'd call quick though.

 

[B man]

well we could only run them 7min tops then they had us put them back in a pit stop to charge.

 

[Miles]

I think the reason the indoor theme park ones are so good is because they dont run off batteries, they have a constant feed of power from their antennas that run to the metal ceiling, so they can afford to be more powerful because they wont run out of juice

 

[B man]

I think the reason the indoor theme park ones are so good is because they dont run off batteries, they have a constant feed of power from their antennas that run to the metal ceiling, so they can afford to be more powerful because they wont run out of juice

No theses where battery powered. when parked they had HUGE! charger cables attached.

 

[anderkart]

I think the reason the indoor theme park ones are so good is because they dont run off batteries, they have a constant feed of power from their antennas that run to the metal ceiling, so they can afford to be more powerful because they wont run out of juice

Not this place, and they seem to be pretty darn quick:

I wonder what they're run time between charging is?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXqmWfhb0Z0

 

[Screendoor]

Back home in Owensboro ky we have a track called checkered flag. They are in fact electric karts. The charging system is a bit like slot cars. Once the karts are in the pits they are parked over two rectangles which are about the size of a pop tart each. I am assuming this is a - and + terminal. They line up perfectly every time when pitted. This enables them to be efficiently charged. After a few races there is always a break for the karts to be recharged. These karts have a ton of torque. Their top speed is around 40mph.

The antenna that Miles said was for a power supple is for shutting down the karts if racers start to "bump"
There is no way to supply power through a wireless connection. It would be awesome if it were possible however.

 

[anderkart]

They could bring back the old fashioned bumper car method of power, except with go karts...

I wonder what woulda happened if you stood on that floor barefooted and then touched the celling with a metal pole?
Were these things AC or DC powered?

 

[Doc Sprocket]

I wonder what woulda happened if you stood on that floor barefooted and then touched the celling with a metal pole?
Were these things AC or DC powered?
[/IMG]

Pretty sure you'd meet God. I can't see the current and voltage being particularly low, with all those motors running. DC can kill you just as dead as AC.

 

[anderkart]

Pretty sure you'd meet God.

...

 

[Clayton]

I have looked at building an electric kart or mini bike many, many times, but I as far I am concerned it is just easier to find a cheap 3.5 or 5hh Briggs and a clutch and power your bike/kart that way.

 

[jrmints1415]

true but if you have neighbors like mine they much would prefer electric

 

[Screendoor]

it is very possible to make an electric kart. it wont be cheap! i want to make one, doing a little research on power output on certain battery's. I might try to make one with a large motor. or maybe two small maotors.