Repurposing a 3rd gen prius battery?

[Brokenrachet]

Hello There, I am new to this forum. I have two 3rd generation prius batteries and was trying to repurpose the cells to try to make an electric go kart for child. Amazon has components to make a 36 volts electric driven vehicle. My first idea was 3 car batteries, which might be the easiest then I remembered about these old prius batteries. I just looking for some insight on wiring, charging and not blowing up the house. Thanks

 

[amberwolf]

What specific chemistry batteries do you have? If you don't know what they are exactly, you can provide pictures of what you have and we may be able to help figure that out.

If these are the old NiMH battery sticks, you won't get much range or probably current out of them, because you can't parallel them, only series them (that's why such a high voltage is used in the car, so the small current in A and capacity in Ah is multiplied by that voltage to get a much larger power in W and capacity in Wh). You'll also need a NiMH-specific charger. (some NiCd-capable chargers also work, it depends on exactly what kind and capability it is for whether it's suitable).

If they're something else, let us know and we can help figure out what you can do.