High Performance Electric Kart

The growing concerns with pollution emissions, the uncertain future about the availability of fossil fuels and the recent advances in battery technology put the electrical powertrain development forward. Hybrid and electric vehicles have already become reality and they are gaining more space in the market. Electrical motors have a peculiar characteristic: differently from combustion engines, their peak torque is already available at 0 rpm. Therefore, it is possible to obtain a much better acceleration response, in comparison to a combustion engine with similar power. Considering that, the objective of this project is to adapt the entire electric powertrain of a passenger car into a kart. Technologies of electronic control module, motor, inverter and battery are among the most advanced currently available and they may take the vehicle to 0-100 km/h acceleration results comparable to supersport cars. The project scope covers the vehicle dynamics calculation, specification of powertrain components, design of mechanical and electrical adaptation, development of functions for control software and vehicle’s on track calibration. This paper details the system and performance estimation of the vehicle.