I opened an indoor kart track (Speedworld Indoor Kart Track) in 2004 and on a weekly basis, somebody will ask me if I have considered electric karts. In 2008 I ordered all the parts I needed to make an electric kart and got to work. The kit included a 48v motor, controller and throttle potentiometer. I got it all built and surprise, surprise, it could do the same lap times as my gas karts....for about 4 minutes before the performance dropped off.
Anyways, the failed experiment has collected dust for 10 years but a little while ago I decided to work on Speedworld's YouTube page and got the idea to build a hybrid kart using the electric motor AND one of our gas motors together. I got it driving for the first time today and WOW, it's pretty cool. It has instant acceleration of an electric kart and keeps pulling until the rpm limit of the electric motor. I need to adjust gear ratios and fiddle with the controller but first impressions are good. I think some of you will dig this build. Here is part 1 of the build
