I was looking through some of my junk boxes and decided to make my grandkids a go-kart. Since they are still little I decided to make something that would look like a real car but only go as fast as regular kiddie cars.
This is what I ended up with…A very simple version of a 49 roadster.
It uses a 24 volts system driving a 500w wheelchair motor and gear/chain system to drive one of the rear wheels. It uses the same type controller as an electric scooter or bicycle.
What looks like a radiator in the front is actually a huge heatsink that the controller is mounted on. It keeps the controller nice and cool and doesn’t even feel warm after an extended run. The controller is operated by a cable and spring driven 5k potentiometer connected to a gas pedal.
The frame is built from bedrails and 3/4 emt tubing. The body shell is sheet metal recycled from a piece of thrown away heating duct my son brought home from his job. There is another piece of sheet metal that covers the front so it looks like the rear. I’t was painted blue with red sides.
It will normally go about 5 mph. I added a turbo button (gives max reading to control pot.) to give more horsepower(speed +3 mph) when moving through soft sand. The speed control works ok but it needed a little more hp when going through soft sand in the back yard and the loose river rock in our driveway..
Click on any of the pictures for a larger view
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Full frontal view
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View on controller mounted on back of radiator(heatsink)
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View of motor and battery box behind seating area
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Right full view
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Left full view
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View from rear
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Larger view of controls
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Frame is about 75% finished with
the motor in place to show it’s
mounting.
Still need to make the seat mount
and stearing hookup.
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Two 12vdc 12 amp hr batteries for the
24 volt controller system
These things are more expensive that
regular lead acid sealed batteries
and I hope they last for a while.
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motor and gear box (wheelchair)