[bettisra1]

Hi all,

Me and my friend have decided to build electric go kart. We want to participate in Go karting competitions. The primary reason is fun and also learn everything possible about EVs. We have decided to start on something small(1KW motor, VFD, Li-ion battery) and then scale up to high performance Go kart. We decided on AC 3 phase motor(because of the advantages of regen breaking etc.).

We are just a couple of grad college passouts. We are working on shoe string budget. We are building our own inverter and controller. We want to test this on 1-2KW motor, which can handle variable frequency speeds.

We are looking for suggestions on sourcing a motor in India. Also let us know any tips and tricks in choosing a motor.

Thanks in advance.

 

[bettisra1]

It would be highly helpful if any Indians that have worked on EVs can share some of the help in sourcing the motor. Any help is much appreciated.

 

[dcb]

sorry dude, I'm only familiar with the US market. You are gonna have to do some research.

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-equivalent-of-Craigslist-in-India

 

[bettisra1]

Thanks for the reply. I am regularly checking these sites. The usually available motors are 1\2\3\5HP water pump motors. I am really not sure if we can work with these motors. I do not want to buy a water pump motor and blow it up as it cannot handle variable frequency.

Is there any one that has used water pump motors for their EV ? If so what are the specs that I should look out for ?

 

[dcb]

there are more informed people than I, but I look at efficiency, as well as rpm, i.e. if a motor runs at 1760 rpm on 60hz, then it *seems* to be more efficient generally speaking than one at 1740rpm from the dataplates I've seen.

also insulation class, H is best.

You can always monitor temperature and just dial it back as needed too.

Start small, get a 1hp running on your bench and jury rig a dynamometer with a friction brake and a scale and log everything (temp, current, voltage, rpm, torque, etc). Build the inverter to handle something bigger but experiment.

Actually if it is already hooked up to a pump, you might use that for a load. Just cycle some water way up into the air or something (vary the height to vary the load), or come up with a restriction or something.

 

[bettisra1]

Thanks for the reply.

We will go forward with the 1HP motor. We will measure all the data points possible. Our idea is also to start small and gain experience. We want to start with the inverter first and then move onto motor and battery.

 

[sjd.aliyan]

Thats your own work nobody else can do this job on behalf of you.
If you want to build something you should move your a...
Go look for AC Forklifts or industrial induction motors.

 

[Pravaig]

Hey man,
Why do you want to go with AC Induction in your first go, except regen? It'll be expensive to make a decent system. In racing applications the Acceleration and Braking patterns are non linear; i mean either you're braking 100% or accelerating 100% (at least the good drivers/riders), the curves are not like regular driving where regen is best used.
If you're on a shoestring budget, go with a DC motor, you can find some for really cheap, even in India;

If the goal is to test your inverter etc for future plans, then it makes sense to get an ac induction (although then you'd want to look at other applications instead of go-karting).

Read through u/Major 's posts here, he is awesome, has helped hundreds of people selecting motors.

EDIT - If you want to work on batteries etc, i'd suggest do that first. Thermal control in India is pretty difficult, it'll add more value.

Hi all,

Me and my friend have decided to build electric go kart. We want to participate in Go karting competitions. The primary reason is fun and also learn everything possible about EVs. We have decided to start on something small(1KW motor, VFD, Li-ion battery) and then scale up to high performance Go kart. We decided on AC 3 phase motor(because of the advantages of regen breaking etc.).

We are just a couple of grad college passouts. We are working on shoe string budget. We are building our own inverter and controller. We want to test this on 1-2KW motor, which can handle variable frequency speeds.

We are looking for suggestions on sourcing a motor in India. Also let us know any tips and tricks in choosing a motor.

Thanks in advance.