I'm building an electric go kart and am looking for some advice with a few things that I'll need such as a throttle system, how many batteries to use, and what kind of power i will need to achieve. I have a older DC motor that looks to be a 24/36 V motor. I looked it up and I wasn't able to get any specifications about it but was able to see that it should be just fine as it is usually used in golf carts. I'm looking to have a foot pedal throttle system but I think using some type of lever that is connected to a potentiometer would be cool also. I'm thinking that 4 12V batteries could do the trick to get me moving but I'm not sure just how fast a speed I could get up to. would this motor be enough to power a buggy to going around 25-30mph with the batteries and a person around 200lbs driving? If you have any past experience with this or any suggestions or ideas for me I would love to hear them. please keep in mind I would like this to be a low cost project but am willing to hear anything.

thanks

 

a pedal controlled potentiometer... possible, but i feel an encoder and a micro-controller would be mechanically easier.

also, as far as top speed, that would be whatever the top speed of you electric motor is, multiplied by the circumference of the wheels you use. now, whether it takes you 10 seconds to accelerate to 30mph, or 100 years is another matter entierly.

maybe it would be easier to just buy a golf cart... or something from tesla motors (you didn't define what 'low cost' is xD )

 

Maybe, if I was to go with the potentiometer way tho I would probably use a lever. Also just read up on the way golf carts have their propulsion system. 4 batteries hooked up in series, each with a switch on each that is triggered depending on how far the pedal is pressed down. The encoder and micro controller is a good idea also tho but I have little knowledge about that right now, will definitely be looking it up tho. Now about the acceleration problem you were talking about, I plan on have it being chain driven but that wouldn't effect the acceleration as much as the amount of voltage being fed to the motor would, right?