I've Made Vintage Electric Car For My Son

I want to share my electric retro car project. This is a little go kart for kids which looks like 20th racing cars. It's capable to get 9 Mph (15 Kmh), it can run on one charge more than 3 hours (up to 6 hours depending on the speed and the terrain). It has bicycle lights, upholstery, luggage space and adjustable seat. Oh, important thing - the car is made mainly from wood and it's construction is very easy, so if You have time, workshop and kids - I recommend to build electric car for Your kids. It's not so hard and they will definitely have a real fun driving it.

Music video from building process with test runs

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First the frame

I used the pine wood for the frame (because it is light and flexible enough to suppress the vibrations) and the oak wood for the suspension (because it is hard and durable).

Electronics and the engine

So, I chose the 350W engine with brushes and with built in gears/transmission which reduces the RPM to 600.

Why such engine ?

Power - 350W is just enough to get the go kart running with top speed up to 25 km/h. Moreover, bigger power consumes bigger energy.

Voltage 24V - I wanted to have 2 * 12V batteries to make my car better balanced. Batteries in front, engine in the rear part of the car.

Brushes - engines with brushes are a lot of cheaper than brushless ones.

Built in RPM reduction - standard engine gives more than 2500RPM this is waaaay to much. Reduction also provides more power at slower speeds

Suspension & handmade parts

It was a little bit hard with the bicycle wheels and the suspension. I could not the parts in any shop, so I've made them by own from.. yes, from wood (exactly from oak). On the picture above I'm making part of front suspension.

Car body

Plywood is light and easy to work with. In my project I've build some parts from thin plywood (the hood and the rear), but the 'door' sides I've made from 1" pine desks. It is because those elements will have to support the weight of the child during entering to the car.

Before painting I fill all wholes and the whole body was sanded.

Painting

The car was painted several times. Two undercoats and three final paint layers.

Details

As You can see, I've added many details to the car to make him be more like car rather than homemade gokart.

Final

The final touch was made by my wife. She made the artificial skin upholstery and added some vintage things like bicycle lights or luggage space.