Top Kart Ion

[Functional Artist]

Just came across this:
https://kart360.com/2019/top-kart-usa-in-final-development-stages-of-competitive-ev-ion-package

Here are a few excerpts:

“Karting is about to get a shot of reality with the release of the ION. We have been developing this package for several years now and we are set to make it available to the karting community very soon.” according to William McLaughlin Jr. “The internal combustion engine will be a thing of the past, you see it with car manufactures heading more towards electric vehicles as the technology becomes more affordable and performance and distance numbers increase.”

"The E-Rev motor package consists of 48 Peak HP and 85 ft-lbs of torque."

"Some other key aspects for the E-Rev are that the consumer will have no blueprinting costs, no motor rebuilds, no clutch repairs and maintenancing, no carburetor issues, no spark plugs, no fuel and oil costs, air filters, and flex to name just a few of the cost savings."

(see below)

 

[itsid]

for the visuals:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=miyi2gQZ7Qg

'sid

PS 50hp e-karts are not a thing of the future tbh..
and certainly the combustion engine will not be a thing of the past any time soon.

 

[J.S.@SMS]

I definitely agree. Internal combustion engines wont be a thing of the past for quite a few years. Unless, well that's US politics so I'll steer clear of that.

 

[JTSpeedDemon]

The Teslas of go karts....

 

[Functional Artist]

Electric karts are:
Super low maintenance
Zero (0) Emissions
Pure Torque

Again, the horse & buggy were around long before the automobile (still are)
...but, they are super high maintenance
...they shirt everywhere
…& they're slow as

So, after gettin' passed by ..well ...everyone
...most folks stepped their game up

Just sayin'

 

[J.S.@SMS]

The one thing that nobody talks about in relation to electric motors is that they still create emissions! Unless you're electric company uses solar, wind or hydroelectric power, emissions are released when generating the electricity that charges the batteries and then powers the motor.

 

[Tpdingo]

The one thing that nobody talks about in relation to electric motors is that they still create emissions! Unless you're electric company uses solar, wind or hydroelectric power, emissions are released when generating the electricity that charges the batteries and then powers the motor.

Low pressure natural gas and steam based turbines plus scrubbers are very very efficient and clean compared to a conventional engine, nonetheless a engine based on 1920's technology. Not to mention once you get a high compression head, large jet Mikuni, and a straight pipe, we'll there isn't really an emissions comparison any more. Yes, it is still CO2 when all is said and done but all the other crap your motor spits out really counts for something.

 

[JTSpeedDemon]

Low pressure natural gas and steam based turbines plus scrubbers are very very efficient and clean compared to a conventional engine, nonetheless a engine based on 1920's technology. Not to mention once you get a high compression head, large jet Mikuni, and a straight pipe, we'll there isn't really an emissions comparison any more. Yes, it is still CO2 when all is said and done but all the other crap your motor spits out really counts for something.

Yes high performance engines are not usually built with air quality in mind. BUT, have you ever stopped to think about how those batteries are made? And how they're disposed of?
And also, how are the electric powerplants built? On materials involving fossil fuels in the manufacturing process. America was built on coal, oil, and steel, and it will continue to be powered as such.
I'm not saying that fossil fuels are clean or necessarily modern, but they are an extremely viable and prevalent energy source.

 

[itsid]

that is a very dumb point of view!

fossil fuels are limited and WILL vanish ..
the more you use them, the faster they will be depleted.
And noone can argue that away.

Ethanol is the only alternatie we currently have that at least kinda makes sense for combustion engines.. but I remember seeing some of you peeing their pants with that too.

Yes batteries are terrible terrible eco-sins and the technoligy today is about the worst thing we can imagine
it got alot better in the last 20 years or so, still ecological nightmares.

Batteries will have to improve by a huuuuuuuge amount in the coming few years
Battery recycling has to be improved by a similarly big amount as well
(it has in the last five years made giant leaps forward though)
So.. building a battery is still terrible, recycling is actually only half bad as of today
Just make sure it will be recycled

But all that doesn't change the fact
that electric motors are the most efficient power converters we currently have,
and in order to WASTE as little energy as possible we
HAVE TO make use of them whenever wherever we can.

So pushing technology forward is the only thing we can do or at least hope for
And for now that unfortunately does include using batteries.

Many Electric cars do not actually use batteries..
they use super capacitors (or small sets of batteries)
and a small engine to charge them,
the engine can run at it's optimal load to charge the caps/batpack
using way less fuel than it would propelling the car,
and the electric motor can then move the car
(still being more efficient than the engine itself would be powering the vehicle)
Such concept wouldn't work on a kart of course.

Ah well....
Yes electric vehicles are the future (just not near of a future we would need them to be)

'sid

 

[Functional Artist]

Yes high performance engines are not usually built with air quality in mind. BUT, have you ever stopped to think about how those batteries are made? And how they're disposed of?
And also, how are the electric powerplants built? On materials involving fossil fuels in the manufacturing process. America was built on coal, oil, and steel, and it will continue to be powered as such.
I'm not saying that fossil fuels are clean or necessarily modern, but they are an extremely viable and prevalent energy source.

Yes high performance engines are not usually built with air quality in mind

Usually to gain something, you must give something up (like do you want torque or speed?)
...do you want to go fast or want to breathe?
have you ever stopped to think about how those batteries are made? And how they're disposed of?
...new technologies are making huge leaps (lighter, more powerful, recharge faster & safer)
...um...recycled

America was built on (horses) coal, oil, and steel, and it will continue to be powered as such.
I'm not saying that (horses) fossil fuels are clean or necessarily modern, but they are an extremely viable and prevalent energy source.

Sounds like the old "horse & buggy" argument

 

[Kartorbust]

Nothing new to me really. Formula Zero was started over a decade ago building go karts that ran on hydrogen fuel cells I believe. That fell short, but Formula E took over. I'm all for it, however give us a battery pack that weighs no more than 125lbs, gives about 3 hours of continuous run time and for the combined price of $500, I'll be the first person in line. Until then I'll stick with good old gasoline.

Its bound to happen within the next 20 years or sooner that internal combustion engines of any size will be out right banned everywhere.

 

[Panhead5496]

If internal combustion engines are banned in the US I'm moving lol! I don't know if they will ever be banned (unless you mean building new ones?), because they are cheap, fairly easy to operate, and create a LOT of jobs. Think of all the people who can work on engines that would have no idea how to work on electric stuff. That's a whole different kind of work there. Not trying to argue with you Kartorbust! Just 20 years seems awfully soon

 

[itsid]

..., and create a LOT of jobs. Think of all the people who can work on engines that would have no idea how to work on electric stuff. ....

uh.. I hear them cry..
"stop the automobile, think of all the coach builders and black smiths"..
(that was a real concern back then)

'sid

 

[JTSpeedDemon]

We could debate this until the air quality is worse than China, and everyone's got their own point of view, but either way, it is simply impractical right now to make a massive switch from internal combustion engines, for a great many reasons.
And that is undeniable.
I'm not saying that I hate electric motors, it's just that they're about where the combustion engine was in the early 1900s progress-wise.
Not quite perfected.

 

[Functional Artist]

Electric karts are:
Super low maintenance
Zero (0) Emissions
Pure Torque

Again, the horse & buggy were around long before the automobile (still are)
...but, they are super high maintenance
...they shirt everywhere
…& they're slow as

So, after gettin' passed by ..well ...everyone
...most folks stepped their game up

Just sayin'

I'm mainly talkin' about go karts ATM

I run diesel trucks
…& I know I'm not gonna be runnin' an electric truck anytime soon (for many reasons)

But, electric karts are a good start
…& lots of fun too.

Hard to argue with: 48 Peak HP and 85 ft-lbs of torque

 

[JTSpeedDemon]

I'm mainly talkin' about go karts ATM

I run diesel trucks
…& I know I'm not gonna be runnin' an electric truck anytime soon (for many reasons)

But, electric karts are a good start
…& lots of fun too.

Hard to argue with: 48 Peak HP and 85 ft-lbs of torque

Electric karts can be fun! Take K1 Speed for example, it made me partial to electric karts.
It's just I don't want to build and fix them.

 

[itsid]

We could debate this until the air quality is worse than China, and everyone's got their own point of view, but either way, it is simply impractical right now to make a massive switch from internal combustion engines, for a great many reasons.
And that is undeniable.
I'm not saying that I hate electric motors, it's just that they're about where the combustion engine was in the early 1900s progress-wise.
Not quite perfected.

Again... you are wrong,
you mix up motors and batteries again..
electric motors advanced WAY more than combustion engines did efficiency wise
in about the same timeframe
(one of the earliest cars was in fact electric btw 1881 to be precise)
it's solely the batteries causing problems in mobile applications.

Anywho, I do love combustion engines (especially two strokes tbh)
I'd love to lay my hands on a RGV250 for example
(250cc v twin two stroke 65 horses in a tiny little sportsbike.. love it!)

BUT that doesn't change facts, and it being inconvenient for some doesn't change facts either.
No politician can discuss it away..
and hiding behind "china is worse" is about the worst excuse one could ever think of.
"but moooooom .. he started it..."

IIRC Volve (not too small of a car company) wants to have their whole fleet converted by 2022
(three years from now) either fully electric or at least hybrid.
I hope they can!

And I hope that more and more companies follow such example..
MAINLY because that will cause more money being spend on battery research and improvement

'sid

 

[Kartorbust]

I'm still betting my money on hydrogen fuel cells for the long term. Get enough companies interested in building facilities to produce refueling stations and it wont be that big of a deal.

 

[itsid]

hydrogen fuel cells are not exactly promising atm either...
at least for portable applications
HOT cells are not practical (1000°C you don't want in your car)
COOL cells are rather limited in currently (PEMFC and AFC are the only ones I can think of ~100°C and ~200°C)
oth are rather inefficient (max efficiency 60% or such.. but only for large scales [non portable]
portable we talk ~40%
and are exactly in the realms of combustion engines efficiency rates.
with the downside that instead of <50 bucks per kW (for a combustion engine)
we talk 8000-10000 bucks per kW for a fuel cell currently
since most variants I know require platinum or palladium in significant amounts (which isn't exactly cheap )

And worst: you do not want a significant tank of hydrogen anywhere near your home or car
(it's either three times as big or three times the pressure of your BBQ gas bottle to store the same amount of energy)
And it exploding will scare the living daylight out of your mom's child!

Storing hydrogen is a huge pain in the behind, and above a very small quantity illegal for homegamers in many countries for good reason

So no, ethanol or methanol fuel cells maybe.. hydrogen not too practical I'm afraid.

There was another type I was curious about.. but by now I think it's just been vaporware...
Some sort of saltwater fuel cell ?..
(uhmm Quant nanoflowcell it's called)
it essentially stored the 'fuel' in a saltwater solution
and during 'conversion' most of the saltwater got evaporated as pure H20 and the rest remained as sludge in a seperate tank, ready to be re-expanded with water and some magic I guess... IDK.. never seen any details, only outlines
They even made a nice looking car (Quant 48V 700 some horses 300 km/h)
that allegedly was ready for massproduction in 2014.. never heard anything since.

And no that neither was very efficient nor very eco friendly for all I remember..
I think half the energy density to pump gas [still a ton better than batteries]
still using precious metals as a catalyst [exfrickingspensive]
And the 'sludge' wasn't pure saltwatersludge either 'the magic' in there had to be "professionally evacuated and disposed" after a certain amount of cycles.

but it was a (hopefully) working concept that might improved over time
or spark newer better ideas *shrugs*

'sid

 

[Panhead5496]

Its bound to happen within the next 20 years or sooner that internal combustion engines of any size will be out right banned everywhere.

uh.. I hear them cry..
"stop the automobile, think of all the coach builders and black smiths"..
(that was a real concern back then)

'sid

I was basing my response off of what he said, that all IC engines were to be banned. If that were to truly happen, then my point would be valid. But again, I can not fathom engines being banned in the future at all. At least while we are alive lol