Electric Mini Buggy

[slisgrinder]

Hey guys,


New to the forums and new to this hobby. I just have an idea that I want endorsed but I have ZERO background in Mini buggy racing let alone building one.


My "bright" idea is using a gas engine to run an AC or DC generator to power the electric motor/s for the buggy... Is this feasible???

[nutz4sand]

Yah but for any kind of real performance its gonna COST YAH!

There is some mean electric things out there. The price is slowly dropping and will one day be a deal. But for now really good electric stuff aint cheap.

Unless you got a hotline on the parts to do it right a good sled motor or 600cc bike motor will give you the best bang for the buck.

[XRH348]

This company trialled an electric buggy for the US military,
American Electric Vehicles - Home of the Electric Car

there's a You Tube video

YouTube - 4 Military Electric Covert Vehicles

It looks like a converted Ridgerunner

[slisgrinder]

when you mean sled motor, you mean a snowmobile motor??? And you are also right about the cost but it was a thought...

XRH348 thanks for the video, I guess an AC motor will be much faster that a DC motor and while we are on this topic, are there any clubs or places where I can learn more (hands on experience) about building and driving Mini Buggies near by Edmonton or Calgary? Also, are there any places that rent them out?

[minibajaman]

I've thought about this before since I am working on building a hybrid electric off-road vehicle at work.

Originally Posted by slisgrinder

My "bright" idea is using a gas engine to run an AC or DC generator to power the electric motor/s for the buggy... Is this feasible???

Is it feasible, yes, but probably not very practical at this point in time. It would work best with batteries instead of solely using an engine/generator, as your gas engine would have to produce the same amount of power as your electric motor. In that case you might as well just use the gas engine to drive the wheels. However, good batteries are very expensive and still somewhat heavy. An electric motor with enough power to make a fun buggy is also expensive.

Originally Posted by XRH348

This company trialled an electric buggy for the US military,
American Electric Vehicles - Home of the Electric Car

It looks like a converted Ridgerunner

Pretty cool, looks like it has good performance. I wonder how long the battery lasts under normal use?

Originally Posted by slisgrinder

XRH348 thanks for the video, I guess an AC motor will be much faster that a DC motor?

Not necessarily. AC motors are typically lighter than a DC permanent magnet motor and spin higher RPM's. However, DC magnet motors make a ton of torque, so you can just gear them differently to get similar speeds and torque. The motors we are using on the vehicle at work are DC magnet motors, and can do 160 hp continuous and have a peak torque of 900 lb-ft. Oh, and there are 6 of them!

[slisgrinder]

whoa 6 of those??? Thats robotics heaven for me... do you know the make and model of those motors???


I know that AC can produce higher RPM and DC can produce higher torque but which would take up more energy --> a high RPM AC motor geared down or a high torque DC motor directly attatched to the wheels???

[minibajaman]

Originally Posted by slisgrinder

whoa 6 of those??? Thats robotics heaven for me... do you know the make and model of those motors???

Here is the company web site:
Magnet-Motor GmbH: Home
We are using the M69-2 motors, there is a datasheet in the downloads section.
Yeah the vehicle should be quite ridiculous when it's done.

Originally Posted by slisgrinder

I know that AC can produce higher RPM and DC can produce higher torque but which would take up more energy --> a high RPM AC motor geared down or a high torque DC motor directly attatched to the wheels???

That's a good question, one that I don't know the answer to right now. I'll have to think about that.

[slisgrinder]

Wow, this must be one heavy vehicle cause the motors themselves are 90 kg each... can't wait to see what it is...