Produce Delivery Kart
A local neighborhood farmer had been delivering his produce with a ebike and trailer.
He hired my friend and I to build him customized electric delivery vehicle.
Starting with a Frame
We started by asking the client questions about load, range, and driving style. We settled on a li-ion and brushless motor drivetrain. Once we accounted for his height and the bed length, we knew what size to make the frame.
Getting Comfortable
The client requested that we purchase a seat to use instead of building one. We settled on this forklift seat as it was easy to mount, had a seatbelt built in, and was adjustable. The adjustability was important as we wanted to make sure the kart fit the client perfectly, as he would be driving it for long hours.
Adding Power
The chassis of the kart was very similar to my high school go karts. The back axle is brushless driven with a disk brake and the steering is normal Ackerman steering.
Finishing Touches
After testing was finished, the finishing touches included welding on the truck bed and mounts for a tractor hood, a special request from the client. Finally, we took it down to just the frame one last time for a coat of green paint, to match the John Deere look.
We decided to use foot controls to maximize how intuitive the kart would be to drive. A old go kart pedal was modified to pull brake cable and a throttle pedal was mounted on the other side. There was a lot of ergonomic planning that went into the pedal locations.
In the back we mounted the electric motor right by the axle to minimize chain distance. It was also mounted with slots to tension the chain. On the other side we have a heavy duty disk brake that was capable of quickly stopping the vehicle.
We settled on a double parallel battery system. This would allow the client to drive on one battery while the other was charging, or use both for double range. They were mounted in a tray to be easily removable and allow the possibility for the client to buy more batteries in the future.
The client had requested a battery cutoff switch for storage as well as a key and forward/reverse switch. To do this, we modified a automotive battery cutoff for higher voltage and waterproofed it. We mounted the other switches on a panel to make them easily usable from the seat.
A Great Delivery Vehicle
Our end result was a go kart with over 40 miles of range, a top speed around 25 mph, and enough torque to carry over 500 lbs. All it was missing was a nice looking bed, which the client wanted to build himself. This kart represented all the experience we had built with the countless vehicles throughout high school. Here is a photo the client sent after more than 6 months of use, still going strong!