Pedal Go Kart to Electric

I modified a Kettler Kettcar pedal go kart to be an electric motor-driven go kart.

This is about how it looks stock:

I removed the pedals and pedal drive train and added a chain drive and electric motor together with two 12V lead acid batteries in series for 24V.  The motor is a 600 watt motor from an electric scooter.

As a pedal-driven vehicle, it is only one-wheel drive.  This makes it very maneuverable and easy to turn, but the traction is very limited.  Because I want the go kart to be able to be used on the lawn and on the hill in our front yard, I knew it needed a “live” rear axle, which which means both rear wheels are turned by the axle (which is turned by the motor) at the same speed at all times.  So, I had to make up an adapter to attach to the other wheel and the axle so that both wheels are turned by the axle.

Adapter for right rear wheel.  It was used for the stock, plastic wheels, but when I switched to pneumatic tires, the wheel hub was such a tight fit on the axle, the adapter wasn’t needed.

The advantage of a live axle is excellent traction, but the disadvantage is that it is more difficult to turn because both rear wheels spin at the same speed, which causes the vehicle to want to be just driven straight.  So, I knew I had to replace the hard plastic front wheels with pneumatic tires to be able to turn because the plastic wheels wouldn’t give any bite.