Go Kart ideas (crazies welcome)

[Johnathan]

I am currently looking into a go cart build. Im currently in school for EET (electrical engineering tech) and i have a crazy idea for a final project. a Diesel hybrid Electric go kart,

-Electric Drive-
-Diesel Gen-

Crazy i know, but i want to try it. im thinking a 36v motor. i have next to no idea what im getting myself into but i’d like some idea. also if anyone has access or links to free CAD software that be great. the thing is got to fit a 6’4″ folks and go like stink. thinking of having the gen in the front with the batteries and controller along with with the the battery management unit in the rear with the motor. live axle is a must. hum….i know im missing a lot like steering. wheels, clearance, possible cage

So if anyone has any ideas that be a help perf electric to save on clutches 🙂

Topic

[gabe collins]

a treadmill motor I’ve heard generates 5 volts. or a alternator could work too. harbor freight would be the first place to look for a engine. as far as steering a simple rack and pinion steering system could work

[Johnathan]

thanks, i’ll look in to that. the engine im looking it to i would like to run on B20 but that isn’t that crazy. steering yeah i think that would work. just looked at harbor fright and they don’t have the motor nor engine im looking for. looking into other ave for a gen, some how i got to get 36v and idk what amp/h but im working on that.

[Mike]

I was going to suggest a ‘gixxer kart’ (search YouTube), but I see you are after something electric. The electric cars I work with have what called a “Smoothing Condenser” that is meant to, I guess, regulate the delivery of current to the traction motor in a way that makes it ideal for being connected to the wheels by a single speed, direct-drive transmission. The traction battery s 330v DC but the traction motor is AC, so there is a transformer between them. I don’t remember which side of the transformer the smoothing condenser is on, but I can look it up in my training manuals a work tomorrow if you care. I don’t know if this information is even relevant, but I figured you’d know since your the electrical engineering guy here. It just strikes me that it might make kind of a trick refinement to have on the kart, if it’s even what I understand it to be,

BTW, I can relate to your high tech redneck idea. I’ve been a PC guy since elementary school in the 80’s, like when I thought I was the shit because the family PC had that 640k of extended memory to bolster its 8 Mhz processor. I got into cars because I thought, like I had grown up thinking about PCs, that if I’m going to be a responsible owner I should be able to troubleshoot and repair the machine at any reasonable level. You get a Karma point.

[Johnathan]

Looking in to the idea of the motor so far this is what ive come up with

http://www.monsterscooterparts.com/36-volt-1000-watt-motor-controller-throttle-kit-standard.html

now for the engine/gen part im thinking of using the same motor

http://www.monsterscooterparts.com/36-volt-1000-watt-motor-mounting-bracket-11-tooth-8mm-05t-chain-sprocket-my1020.html

the for the batteries im looking at 3 12v working in series. im not sure if the controller steps up to 36v or needs a 36v in but im going to say it needs a 36v in. so far the mechanics of this are coming together. thing im still struggling with the most is the gen, 36v diode is going to be troublesome. using the motor as a gen I’ve heard of but never seen it work, yet. as a student in my 4th quarter this is going to be a struggle. lets see if my fab skill are rusty as i think they are. :cheer:

This is the old project
i am basing my current project off of this one but at the same time im going to be using
to add some variance and base some ideas on, thus the reason i want some CAD software.
http://kartingdistributors.com/pdfs/gokartplans.pdf

Attachments:

• 20151122_155518.jpg

[Johnathan]

well, heres an update not much but yeah so far its 4×10 feet, not everything is to scale yet. also made it so i could chop some length out of the middle if i had to after the batteries are mounted. where that center bar is is where the seat is going to be set and right behind that, the batteries.

Attachments:

• GoKart.png

[Greg]

Check out golf carts. Pretty much all the R&D is complete and you can borrow the ideas. The biggest issue will be battery placement and weight if you want any decent run time from the electric side of things.

[Johnathan]

[quote=”gmule” post=155199]Check out golf carts. Pretty much all the R&D is complete and you can borrow the ideas. The biggest issue will be battery placement and weight if you want any decent run time from the electric side of things.[/quote]

DUDE! Thanks so much i didn’t realize that! i can get to work on that ASAP!

[Greg]

Are you looking to run the vehicle as an electric with an onboard Diesel to recharge batteries like the Chevy volt or are looking to have it run on electric and have the Diesel assist the electric motor like a Prius?

[Johnathan]

like the volt, working on a drive train like the prius would be hard…ish…

[Author]

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