Golfscooter - searching for stronger motors

[manfred59]

First of all I am very happy to have found this forum! It's great!
Untill now I have got very good information in the battery forum about loading LIFEPO4 cells.

My project was to build a golf scooter for people with walking disabilities etc.
A prototype is running for some times, but the power especially the power of the hubmotors an the controller is not as much strong as I like!
Now the scooter weighs about 40 kg inclusive the battery(5 kg). The golfbag transportet with about 15 kg. All together approximately 55 kg.
The 2 brushed hubmotors are from an Austrian producer of Ebikes named Schachner and have 400W each. The controller is limited to 25 A, so the two motors which are paralleled take max. 12,5 A each. The Watts Up meter shows me about:
25 A max
970 W max
40 V (12s6p A123)
The speed of these motors is about 9 km/h with 13'' tires (motors have 160 rpm and a diameter of 150 mm) and this is a little too slow for me, I would like to see a speed of15 km/h and a little more torque! 8)
I would wish motors and controller, faster and stronger, than these am using now.

So my request: Which motors are available like this motor from the german company heinzmann, which costs about US$600
specs of this motor:500 W, with 26'' tire a speed of 26,5km/h that means at 13'' 13km/h, 24,5% gradeability,max 60A, 80Nm,
But I dont know the dimensions of this motor.
What do you think about these motors (P2B,P3)? http://www.users.bigpond.com/solarbbq/bikesale/bsale.htm

 

[fechter]

Cool cart 8)

Your existing motors might be fine. Do they get hot after riding for a while?

The controller is what really limits the speed and power. Possibly just a new controller, or a new controller with some additional battery voltage (add another battery in series) might get you what you're looking for.

With a 100 amp controller, you should be able to tear up the turf

What voltage are you running?

 

[manfred59]

Thanks!
I am running my cart about 39 V and in flat turf (80% of the golfcourse) the motors take about 8 Amps, thats about 150 W/motor, but some hills require more power for short periods (maybe for 20 - 30 sec.)

Do they get hot after riding for a while?

I didn't check this for now, but next I will do after max. Power!

Possibly just a new controller, or a new controller with some additional battery voltage (add another battery in series) might get you what you're looking for.

Can anyone tell me an internetadress with good and cheap controllers for brushed hubmotors?

 

[Rassy]

Hello Manfred, welcome to the forum. That is a nice looking golf scooter. Might be appreciated by lots of golfers.

I use two brushed hub motors on a two wheel trailer that pushes my trike. Because I didn't want to restrict the amps to the motors, I used two 35 amp controllers, one for each motor, feeding from the same battery pack and both hooked to a single throttle. If you were to either up the voltage with a single controller or up the available amps by using two controllers (or even one modified controller), you would probably have to add some battery capacity.

Good luck.

 

[fechter]

You might check TNC scooters:
http://tncscooters.com/partsdb.php?type=ES

Not the best quality, but cheap. If you try one and it does the job, you could go for a higher quality one later.

 

[Dr. Shock]

More expensive, looks like high quality. Also has some mobility features that scooter controllers often lack.

http://www.4qd.co.uk/index.html?Home=+Home+

Also search scooter controller, PWM contoller and dc controller on ebay.

 

[mvadventure]

Manfred, welcome to the forum.

I have no idea of what is in Austria but it seems a motor from an older scooter would be available inexpensively enough to try. It shouldn't be too hard to find a 1000 watt one even if you have to buy the whole scooter.
Re your golf cart, a great idea and good concept. Your prototype however wouldn't be allowed on most US courses with that front wheel as small as it is. Likely turf damage would result. The rider wheels are also a little small and probably wouldn't be allowed either.
Since I have no idea about Austria or what golfing conditions are like there or in the surrounding area I can only comment on my experience in golfing primarily in the southeastern United States. A handicapped golfer who required your device may indeed have a problem loading and unloading it as it is bulky and heavy. Golf Cart rentals aren't expensive and if a rider has a handicap it is frequently permitted to "red flag" them (a tall flag attached to the back of the cart supports) that allows them to get closer to the greens. It's hard for me to imagine someone who needs your device to prefer it over a regular cart. However I still don't know anything about Austria and conditions there.
Most of the courses, if not all, in my area do not approve or allow pull carts on the course. Regardless of the wheel size to weight ratio they are simply not approved and the reason given is turf damage. A lot of folks think it's just as likely that a pull cart doesn't generate cart rental revenue and this may have an influence. When I see a course that does allow pull carts I don't notice any unusual damage but generally speaking they are public courses.
I do think your device has a market and likely not as limited as my comments indicate. Bear in mind a golf course is going to require your device to travel at least 4 miles on grass, up hill and down pulling the weight of itself, a golf bag and a rider who could be in the >250 pound (114 KG) range. Plus it has to be easily loaded and unloaded and leave room for a couple of golf bags in a car.
Good luck, it looks like a fun project.
Mike