electric minibike

[Frank Bullitt]

I would think it would be kind of cool to get a 5hp electric motor on mini. it might get boring being silent.
I love gas motors and I am not some environmentalist, but just think it would be interesting to see what it's like. I understand electric motors have full torque instantly. might make a cool drag mini that could just be recharged.
I figure that batteries would be heavy and expensive so that might make it unrealistic.
have any of you guys thought about building one?

 

[Strigoi]

there was one on craigslist for months with an electric motor. i guess the guy either sold it super cheap (kept dropping the price) or gave up.

 

[jeep4me]

This topic comes up every now and then. Here's a pic of one I saw at an estate sale last year. They wanted $500 for it and it didn't run.

 

[logiclost]

I've toyed around with doing a 72 volt AC induction system. Being the obsessive freak I am I was planning to use LiFePO4 batteries and boostcaps but the cost was prohibitive at a stark 7 grand. However I calculated 0-60 (traction loss not included) to be 3.2 seconds. And yes, it could easily hit 60 as well. This was well closer to being a full size motorcycle though.

I'm sure you could do a much more rudimentary setup that would have roughly the same performance as a gas mini for pretty cheap.

Oh yeah, and a 5hp electric motor is waaaay overkill on a mini. You realize that motors of that size usually put out well over 35 ft/lbs, instantly and mantain that torque throughout the operating band? When dealing with any sort of electric vehicle horsepower ratings are meaningless compared to their gas counterparts.

 

[Frank Bullitt]

geez that thing must weigh 100lbs!
its probably not even worth it how cheap hf motors are.