Legality and Road-worthiness

Since one of the aims of the project is for it to be road-worthy, I decided that would be where I would start. No point in making something and finding out later you can’t drive it anywhere.


The main question for me was “How do I want to classify my Kart?” Since I live in Ontario, there were three main options presented to me: a Neighbourhood Electric Vehicle (NEV), an Off Road Vehicle (ATV), or a full-fledged Car.

Certainly the easiest to certify would have been an ATV but there are two problems. It forces design constraints – there must be handlebar steering, and the speed on roads is limited - 20km/h in a 50km/h zone, and 50 in an 80 zone. Worst of all (to me), you are forced to make the seat the type you straddle, it cannot be a bucket seat.

NEVs were a good option as they imposed fewer design constraints, though they are also limited to 40km/h on the road.

My goal is to go fast. Again, speed being secondary to acceleration but I want some kind of reasonable tradeoff here. 80km/h would make me satisfied. Therefore I decided to pursue the most difficult option – to make it a completely road-legal vehicle.


My journey started at the local licensing office (where they issue plates). The very nice gentleman at the counter was interested in my proposal, and called higher up to find out the legality of building your own vehicle from scratch. He suspected it would not be permitted; apparently Ontario is very strict about importing vehicles from other provinces, since they are concerned about the build quality.

To our surprise, the list of requirements is quite short, and not particularly onerous. To receive a VIN number and license plates in Ontario for a vehicle that you built from scratch, you need:

• A copy of every receipt for every major component of the vehicle.
• An Affidavit you write, which contains:
    o Your name
    o Statements of where all major components were purchased from (supplier + location)
    o A statement which includes “I completed this vehicle.”
• The Affidavit must be stamped at City Hall for a $10 fee.
• A regular safety inspection by a licensed mechanic.
• Insurance

So, the difficulties will lie in passing a safety inspection, and perhaps worst of all, finding an insurance company that will insure you. My brother-in-law Matt is a mechanic; I have no doubt he will be instrumental in designing my Kart to pass safety inspections. I feel I should probably have a different mechanic perform the safety, to avoid conflict of interest issues which could be bad for Matt in case of an accident.

The current insurance company for my real car is TD Meloche Monnex, and they were very adamant that they refuse to insure a vehicle that has been “customized” excessively; building your own vehicle being a flat no. The next company that I ask, I will be very clear that I only want liability insurance, I can’t imagine trying to find out the “value” of this Kart to get collision insurance.

Insurance to be continued once I try other companies…

My Background

My name is William Gibson. I have been dreaming of building a Kart since I was 16 or so. Now that I have graduated from the University of Waterloo (Ontario, Canada) with a BASc in Electrical Engineering, I think it’s time to put my skills to the test.
I also have a relatively strong hands-on background from growing up on a family farm – my parents owned and operated a greenhouse business for 30 years.

From fixing everything in the greenhouses I am good-to-proficient in:
• Welding
• Plumbing
    o Natural Gas and water piping
    o PVC/ABS
    o No experience with copper pipe soldering
• Electrical work
    o 110/220 VAC
    o Low voltage – environment control systems
• Carpentry (perhaps not applicable here)

I’ve also done some hobby electrical work with microcontrollers, so that will help with battery monitoring and controller design.
Therefore I feel that I am qualified to make the attempt. Also being out of school with lots of time on my hands gives me a great opportunity to live out a dream I have had for a long time.

Introduction

This is to document my progress on the road to building a Go Kart.

There has been much dispute over what terminology I should use, as I’m not exactly building a Go Kart, a Dune Buggy, or a Sandrail. It seems a little pointless to me, I'm just going to call it a Kart
I have always imagined a gas powered Kart because as a kid it seemed more powerful than an electric Kart could ever be (I'm not sure I even *dreamed* of using electricity). Now that I understand electric motors I see that really what I want in a Kart – acceleration rather than top speed – is best achieved with an electric motor. Specifically a series-wound DC motor which provides nearly unlimited torque at low RPMs - until you provide enough current to melt the windings that is.

The goal of this project is to do as much of the work as I can, buying as little as possible. This also helps save my budget, as I’m no longer a broke student – I’m a broke ex-student! Well maybe not broke, but if I blew $1000 on a frame and transmission, etc., I certainly would be.

I plan to buy a DC series wound motor, batteries of some kind (probably AGM), steel tubing for a frame, and disk brake for the rear axle. A nice seat and 5-point safety harness also seem like a good idea.

Typically people will buy a motor controller, but as an electrical engineering graduate I feel that would be in poor taste. Besides, I think it would look great on a resume to say that I designed a high-power functional controller for my Kart – they are very difficult to make!

Abstract

The goal is to build a one-person four-wheeled electric “fun machine” from scratch, with enough torque to worry about ripping itself apart, light enough for great acceleration, and road legal so I have places to drive it.

I want the vehicle to be a good mix of on-road and off-road capabilities. I know that means it won’t perform excellent in either use, but I think a more varied vehicle will allow for more entertainment. I guess we will find out!

 
Initial feelings for the vehicle:


Series wound DC motor (~6hp continuous, ~30hp intermittent. 36V at 350A peak)
Motor controller designed and built by me
About 7’ long by 5’ wide
Square tubing for main frame, round for finish and roll-cage
8 to 10” dia wheels
Solid rear axle driven by a synchronous belt; single disk brake
Spring suspension on front; no rear suspension (hard-tail)


Welcome to my blog; I can't promise anything about the Kart except that I am going to have fun!