Electric Go Kart Story – Part 1
What Inspired Me To Do An Electric Go Kart Conversion?
Electric Go Kart
Hi everyone, this is part 1 of my Electric Go Kart story. In this article, I’m going to tell you why I got a race go kart and converted it into an Electric Go Kart and what motivated me to do it. If you are thinking how does building an electric go kart relate to an Electric Car Conversion then check out my article “How Is an Electric Go Kart Conversion related to an Electric Car Conversion”
You will be amazed at what a go kart has to offer in terms of engineering and what it can teach you about electric car conversions plus it is a lot of fun to drive.
Getting The Go Kart
The story of this go kart starts in 2009 when I was looking for a go kart or ride on mower to drive around my back yard for fun. After searching for a while, I found a go kart rolling chassis in the classifieds. I rang up about it and it was still available so I drove just over 50 miles (80 km) to check it out. After a bit of talking to the vendor, I bought the go kart for $150. I brought it back home in my Volvo wagon.
In the coming months of 2009, I was trying to work out what to do with this kart I just bought. I did a bit of minor work to the kart, pulled it apart and put it back together. I put a starter motor on from a Morris (I believe). This starter motor was previously used on one of my bicycles. I had a v-belt drive from the starter motor to the drive axle, but due to poor mounting of the electric starter motor, I could not get the tension of the v-belt right. The wheels would turn when they were lifted from the ground, but when the go kart was on the ground, I almost shredded the v-belt in the process.
Later on, I received some go kart parts such as sprockets, chain, oil, tires and tools from a fellow student (from welding school) who raced go karts and owns Webtrax Web Services. I started to think about ditching the v-belt and use a standard go kart chain and sprockets.
Then, I started to think about putting a 2 stroke petrol motor on my go kart instead of the electric motor. I thought of buying a go kart motor, but due to financial reasons, I pulled apart a generator I had that was doing nothing with the intention of using the motor for my go kart. I never finished sorting this 2 stroke motor out and it is still in bits as I write this article in April 2011.
I did nothing with the go kart for various reasons until 2011. Although, I had an interest in electric cars and electric vehicles since 1994 as mentioned in the About section of this blog, my interest in doing an Electric Car Conversion got serious in 2011.
What Motivated Me To Take Action To Do An Electric Vehicle Conversion And Persist Until I Got It Working?
You might be wondering what suddenly motivated me to take action to do an electric vehicle conversion. At the beginning of 2011, a series of events happened which got me motivated so I’ll go through them now.
Dad Deciding Not To Buy My Mom A New Car
At the beginning of 2011, my dad mentioned that he was looking into buying a car for my mom. (I just hope my mom is not reading this article 
.) We started researching cars and spoke to a dealer. After a few weeks, my dad announced that he was going to hold off buying a car because he wanted to wait and see which way the car industry and government was going in terms of engines. That is, are there going to be more electric cars offered, especially when Fiat announced that they will release an electric Fiat 500. Also, which way is government legislation going in terms of engines and emissions. In Australia, we have a government that makes policies on the fly or on the run so the last thing my dad wanted to do was to buy a petrol or diesel powered car and find out in a few short years that the car would not be allowed on the road or it will be subjected to heavy taxes. That would be tens of thousands of dollars down the drain.
Did I Read That Article About a BMW Electric Car Conversion?
Then someone asked me if I read an article about a BMW electric car conversion in ReNew Magazine. I was visiting the library regularly reading the back issues of Renew Magazine as they had several articles on electric car conversions. I also paid attention to any article on electric cars in car magazines, websites and youtube.
Car Engine Playing Up & 2 Stroke Mower Dead
The Internal Combustion Engine in my Mercedes started playing up. It was running rough and I lost compression on 3 of the 6 cylinders. It turned out that I had to re-adjust the valve clearances again after previously being done 8 months earlier (yes it was due again due to the high mileage I drive). I was starting to think that a lot of my time was spent on engine maintenance. Other things I seem to do very often are oil changes, oil filter changes, cleaning air filter, spark plug changes, coolant changes, etc. I started to think that I could be doing better things with my time than maintaining an Internal Combustion Engine (which I might add is running on LPG). Just to add salt to the wound, my 2 stroke lawn mower engine died a few months earlier and it was probably due to some seals or the carburetor. I have not pulled apart that motor and I lost patience with that temperamental 2 stroke engine. Around this time, I was given a whole bunch of starter motors and was collecting anything and everything. These electric starter motors would be put to good use later on.
Gavin Shoebridge
Shortly after sorting my Mercedes out, I was web surfing and saw a link to some websites and videos by Gavin Shoebridge who had a book called Electric Conversion Made Easy. I watched (and replayed) all his free videos. He was even on TV being interviewed which can be seen here:
I had a look at the sample chapters of his Electric Conversion Made Easy book. I was scrutinizing Gavin’s free content, because 2 years earlier, I came across a different e-book (not written by Gavin) on converting a car to electric and it did not have enough technical detail, so I was amazed at the level of detail Gavin had. I was starting to think that I really have to get my act together and do an Electric Car Conversion. I had been thinking for a while which car should I convert. I was even looking at donor cars. I was procrastinating for a while already.
Chip Yates
In March 2011, I happen to be at my parent’s place and saw my dad’s latest issue of the IAME’s “The Automotive Engineer” magazine. In it was an article about Chip Yates and his Electric Super Bike. Chip races against petrol powered Super Bikes and is very competitive as can be seen in the video below.
When I got home, I looked up Chip’s site and his videos. This was the final straw that really got me to take massive action and do an electric vehicle conversion and to make it suceed. I wanted something that was fun to drive, easy to work on and something that did not take up so much of my time in terms of maintenance. I decided to solely focus my electric car conversion to be done on a go kart. I already had the rolling chassis, it would be fun to drive and it is sporty. See part 2 – taking action – modifying an electric starter motor.
Regards
Crazy Al
Check out the other parts to the Electric Go Kart Story:
Part 1 – What Inspired Me To Do An Electric Go Kart Conversion
Part 2 – Taking Action – Modifying An Electric Starter Motor
Part 3 – When The Rubber Hits The Ground
Part 4 -Extra Parts Added To Electric Go Kart – Adding A Touch Of Professionalism
Part 5 – Replacing Electrical Switches & Electric Motor
Part 6 – Building A Motor Controller For Electric Go Kart
Part 7 – What I’m Looking For When Upgrading The Motor Controller On The Electric Go Kart
The cost of off road go carts can be an expensive hobby but are still cheaper to buy and operate than thier pricier atv counterparts, used off road go carts can save you even more money, but make sure you are with someone qualified to assess the suitablity and safety issues related to buying used off road go carts.
Hi,
Thanks for your comments.
.
Nice site you’ve got.
I’m looking later on to get another go kart with roll cage and off road capabilities and yes, it will be electric
My current go kart is limited in what it can do due to the low ground clearance, but it is a good platform to start and get things happening.
Kind Regards
Crazy Al
Fantastic blog! Do you have any tips and hints for aspiring writers? I’m hoping to start my own blog soon but I’m a little lost on everything. Would you propose starting with a free platform like WordPress or go for a paid option? There are so many options out there that I’m totally confused .. Any ideas? Appreciate it!
Hi,
I personally use WordPress because it is easy to use. There are many themes you can get for it. Also, there are many plugins you can use which means you do not have to be too technical to use.
If you are feeling technical, you can write your own plugins and create your own themes if you know or are willing to learn PHP programming.
Hope it helps.
Kind Regards
Crazy Al
My developer is trying to persuade me to move to .net from PHP. I have always disliked the idea because of the costs. But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using WordPress on various websites for about a year and am concerned about switching to another platform. I have heard very good things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can transfer all my wordpress content into it? Any kind of help would be greatly appreciated!
Hi Leonora,
How many posts do you have to transfer?
If you have a handful, then copy and paste to your new blog is my guess.
If you have heaps, then you might have to find a migration tool.
Kind Regards,
Crazy Al
With havin so much content do you ever run into any problems of plagorism or copyright violation? My website has a lot of unique content I’ve either created myself or outsourced but it looks like a lot of it is popping it up all over the internet without my authorization. Do you know any techniques to help protect against content from being ripped off? I’d truly appreciate it.
Hi Lanita,
I don’t know how to answer your question, but I guess my response would be to have a full url link though out your content which links back to your website so that if your content is being ripped off, hopefully, they will keep the back link back to your site
which will hopefully increase your google page rank. I’m no expert in this field, but it is just a thought.
Kind Regards
Crazy Al
Superb blog you have here but I was wondering if you knew of any message boards that cover the same topics discussed here? I’d really love to be a part of community where I can get feedback from other knowledgeable individuals that share the same interest. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. Thanks a lot!
Hi Jonell,
I will post some links to user discussion forums on http://www.ElectricCarConversionBlog.com/links in the next couple of days.
Kind Regards
Crazy Al
Greetings! I’ve been reading your site for some time now and finally got the bravery to go ahead and give you a shout out from Dallas Texas! Just wanted to say keep up the great job!
Greetings from Colorado! I’m bored to death at work so I decided to browse your website on my iphone during lunch break. I enjoy the info you present here and can’t wait to take a look when I get home. I’m shocked at how quick your blog loaded on my mobile .. I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyways, amazing blog!
My partner and I stumbled over here different web page and thought I should check things out. I like what I see so now i am following you. Look forward to checking out your web page yet again.
Hi Noel,
thank you for your comments.
I’m looking to put more content on my blog.
Kind Regards
Crazy Al
I agree, it’s interesting, probably tomorrow …
My developer is trying to convince me to move to .net from PHP. I have always disliked the idea because of the expenses. But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using Movable-type on numerous websites for about a year and am anxious about switching to another platform. I have heard very good things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can import all my wordpress posts into it? Any help would be really appreciated!
Hi Maryjo,
I’m not qualified to comment on blogengine.net
How many wordpress posts do you have to import?
Kind Regards
Crazy Al
Hi would you mind letting me know which web host you’re utilizing? I’ve loaded your blog in 3 completely different internet browsers and I must say this blog loads a lot quicker then most. Can you suggest a good hosting provider at a honest price? Thanks a lot, I appreciate it!
Hi,
I’m currently using hostgator as my hosting server.
Kind Regards
Crazy Al
I agree, it’s I like, probably tomorrow …
Do you have a Facebook page or Twitter? Would love to follow you there, I’m on my iPhone and love reading your stuff!
Hi,
Thank you for visiting my site.
I’m glad you love reading it on your iPhone.
You can follow me on Twitter at
http://twitter.com/#!/ElectricCarKart
Kind Regards
Crazy Al
I’m impressed, I must say. Really rarely do I encounter a blog that’s both educative and entertaining, and let me tell you, you have hit the nail on the head. Your idea is outstanding; the issue is something that not enough people are speaking intelligently about. I am very happy that I stumbled across this in my search for something relating to this.
Spot on with this write-up, I truly think this website needs much more consideration. I’ll probably be again to read much more, thanks for that info.
you have a great blog here! would you like to make some invite posts on my blog?
Hi,
I checked out your site and it is about pet products.
If you don’t mind posts about Electric Car Conversions, I’m willing to do some posts on your blog.
regards
Crazy Al
Just to let you know your site looks a little bit strange in Opera on computer with Mac .
Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally, it seems as though you relied on the video to make your point. You definitely know what youre talking about, why throw away your intelligence on just posting videos to your site when you could be giving us something informative to read?
I dugg some of you post as I thought they were very beneficial very beneficial
thanks
Nice piece of information! May I reference part of this on my blog if I post a backlink to this webpage? Thank you.
Feel free to link to my post.
Ne’er knew this, regards for letting me know.
Thanks for helping out, great information.
I will right away grab your rss as I can not find your e-mail subscription link or e-newsletter service. Do you’ve any? Kindly let me know so that I could subscribe. Thanks.
subscribe form should be on the right side under the intro video.
You might have to scroll to the right if the browser is a bit small.
Wow that was strange. I just wrote an very long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t show up. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyhow, just wanted to say excellent blog!
I’m impressed, I must say. Really hardly ever do I encounter a blog that’s both educative and entertaining, and let me tell you, you’ve got hit the nail on the head. Your thought is outstanding; the issue is one thing that not enough people are talking intelligently about. I am very comfortable that I stumbled across this in my seek for one thing referring to this.
Indeed, I too inspired to have an electric bike! Searching for a donor, a simple car to get into electrification running!
I am happy to find this post very useful for me, as it contains lot of information. I always prefer to read the quality content and this thing I found in you post,Thanks for sharing.
Hi Crazy Al,
I am VERY impressed with this website. I can see that I am going to get some advice from you about what I can do to turbo charge my own website which looks pretty tame after seeing this site.
I am almost tempted to go out and get myself a gocart after watching some of the stuff here.
Great work, and keep it coming!
Big Kev from Canberra
Hi Big Kev,
Thank you for your kind words and comments.
Kind Regards,
Crazy Al