I Bought an ATV and Made It Electric 

You'll need a support bearing on the other end of the motor shaft if you want to run more power. Without it you're relying entirely on the bearing in the motor to resist the sideways force on the shaft caused by tension in the chain. That's a significant lever arm

Previous Electric Go-Kart mechanic here: First issue I see is as you pointed out, the ESC has no idea where the motor is in its rotation. That black wire coming off the motor is the encoder signal that the ESC uses to determine the position of the motor. We had issues if the encoder became out of sync or out of calibration or even just outright die, the motor would do funny things like make noise or stutter in it's rotation. This is probably why the first controller you used did not work, it was looking for that signal and couldn't do much without it. Our karts used a motor controller/inverter known as a Sevcon. They are about $300-$500 USD online for the models we had and our karts ran at a nominal 48v and max amperage of 100 amps. 100 amps was programmed as it was just below the max 120 amp output of the 16 nominal 3.2v LiFePo4 batteries in series to create the 48v. There is an alternative that has become popular that the kart manufacturer switched to known as Curtis controllers. Both controllers are pretty well-designed and we had little issues with the Sevcons, we did have one Sevcon that the battery terminal melted but that I had determined it was due to a loose/bad connection. I left the company shortly after they got a new fleet of karts that used the Curtis system so I can't speak to the their long term use but a lot of online shops that sold motor kits, included a Curtis controller. The only problem with using one of these controllers is the programming cable or software was the expensive part. The programming cord for the Sevcon alone was about $1000 with free software. If you did decide to use one of these, the only issue I can see if you used these is that they are not consumer friendly and require some knowledge of programming the controller to work properly with the motor. I never had to do that, the controllers came pre-programmed and we had a backup file to write to the controller if we ever had to. Though I will mention both of them had a calibration tool for the encoder that would walk you through how to calibrate the encoder so that it was in sync. The Sevcon was a more manual process that you had to take "logs" of the data and put it into the software and it would tell you what to set the encoder to and the Curtis had a one click button and it would go through the calibration process automatically without user input. If you were to pick one, I'd suggest the Curtis of the two. There is another controller that I can't remember the name of but I recall Colin Furze used one on his drift trike and that seemed a lot more user friendly and didn't require expensive software or programming cables. Gear ratio should not be an issue here as our karts had a ratio of 3.636 and had no issue of spinning the tires out from a stand still and I'd assume the weight of the karts aren't too far off the weight of your ATV. It comes down to programming the controller to how much power and torque it uses to get up to speed. If you would like to ask any questions, I'd love to help as much as I can. But I am no expert of the programming side, only the few settings I would have to go in and change like max RPM, throttle input, or calibrating the motor encoder. I'm pretty sure I still have the PDF files of the parts somewhere and could get you exact part numbers of various things like the TPS sensor, batteries, etc. EDIT: I do have those PDFs :)

Pains me to see that tiny sensorless controller running that motor, looking forward to part 2

you should use the original gas tank as the water reservoir.

I'd say first change the gear ratio. That will yield the biggest results and should limit how much current is needed, right? My guess is that the motor can spin much faster than ever needed, so changig gear ratio will not have any real downsides.

You need to use a VESC for this kind of use case instead of a regular ESC. VERY IMPORTANT! PLEASE research VESCs before buying any new ESC. When using this size of motors, the ESC/VESC has to be specialy calibrated to that particular Motor. Otherwise, the whole system will burn out at some point because of the high amp draw and voltage. You can do that with VESC, and not with ESC. a hobby ESC is made to output as many amps as needed to do whatever the PWM signal from the radio tells it to do. Even though it says 300A. That doesn't mean that it will cut or limit power at 300A draw to save itself from being damaged. with a VESC you can program an Amp limit draw, and it will adjust the voltage accordingly. Kinda like when you change lipo batteries. This will also save the ESC from amp draw spikes when starting up or doing hard accelerations. This is the key to not constantly burn out ESCs like you seem to do quite often :) Use the sotware called "VESC tool" program the VESC

I think, for that motor, an additional bearing at the end of the shaft is a necessity. And I strongly suggest FOC. Unfortunately, I can't suggest driver for that motor.

OMG here we go! tooo happy to see my old motor 😍🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

Look up Fardriver or Kelly controller, they make "real" motor controllers (made for electric vehicles) which don't go up in flames as they have over current protection. The controllers are actually not more expensive than high power RC controllers, they are around 3000-5000 SEK. They are more tricky to set up, but they are sensored, have FOC and are just better and more reliable in every regard

I feel like this is going to be one of your better vehicle projects. Avoid fire and you'll be in good shape!

I NEVER NEVER NEVER watch the ads.. but that map ad had me drooling. I watched it twice! This project is amazing! Thx for going hard on this video!!

Nice thing about the small motor and lack of fuel storage is that you have somewhere to clip a small fire extinguisher! Just remember to wear gloves that are flame proof when testing!

0:23 "So I started removing all the parts I didn't need." I love how the first thing he removes is the wheels😂

Great job! I love seeing the struggle/learning/failed attempts. It happens to us all, but often the internet makes it look like that's not the case. Keeping it real + having fun + getting to make stuff everyone else wishes they had time to.. Keep up the great work, and thank you for the entertainment!

Very cool as always! Maybe strap a little fire extinguisher to it.

There is something magical in the electric vehicles. I really want to make one for no reason :)

I enjoy your vids cuz it seems like you're making something for yourself rather than for views. You use whats at hand and make it work until you can get the right part. showing mistakes is great. keep up the great work.

Just bought a gas powered quad bike but would have gone electric in a heartbeat. Your skills are amazing and these projects are a tinkerer's dream. Would love to see you mod a personal water craft! Keep doing what you do for those of us who cannot. 🥰 Also, you realize you have done what major ATV manufacturers can't seem to do, with their huge engineering departments.

Cool project man. Can't wait for part 2. I would love to see the final build to have a nice professional built quality

can't wait for part 2 of this! Excellent progress so far for something just thrown together with parts you mostly already had on hand.

Before I even watched, I liked. I’ve had my eye on a 50kw outrunner very similar to this, and was wondering when I’d find someone to use a big boy one, how it does with temperature, and how well it’s protected as far as iron filings and dust getting into it over time from kicking up dirt on the road. This thing is gonna be badass man! Thanks for the upload!

Cheap tire pro tip: jack up a car, slide the tire underneath, stack boards on 2 sides so when you lower the car the weight strips the tire right off the bead. Maybe not necessary for little atvs or lawn mower tires but hey.

NICE !!! Use controller with hallsensor input Use support bearing so motor axis do not bend and get broken soon Instead of a printed plastic part for the smaller Pulley use a Planetary Gear Box Use its slower turn for easyer start

The camera use and cinema design in this video is amazing

We need more electric ATV builds, this feels like something viable, that I can attempt. Unlike every other youtuber building electric hummer and retrofitting Teslas and Etrons etc. Out of touch with reality, this however, this is something.

There are many non-hobby ESCs / controllers / inverters that are designed for automotive apps like this, such as Sabvoton, Kelly, Phaserunner etc, though i think the latter only goes up to 4kW. As you know, you really have to have Hall sensors! Still, it's fun watching you discover new ways of breaking things!

Cool project. A number of years ago I modified a Kawasaki kz305 to electric with a Curtis controller and motor combo good for up to 72 volts and built my own battery from 18650 cells. It was fun but the range was limiting so I got an old quad and did basically what you did. I also hit the lack of torque you saw so I added a jack shaft to give me better gearing. (I could not go bigger on the back sprocket because I would have been hitting the ground and other parts of the sprocket grew larger. Now I can pull garden carts and I added a hitch ball on the nose and I move my homebuilt teardrop camper around with the quad. Nice little workhorse.

Still one of my favorite YT channels.

Maybe use a sensored motor controller like the 75/300 VESC or one from sabvoton or the asi bac, they will run your motor way smoother and with great startup torque and are even cheaper then the one you showed at the end :)

Hey man! Cool project 👌 You HAVE to adjust the gear ratio! When you dubble the voltage, you dobble the RPM of the motor. You should try something like a 1:10 gear ratio. Electric motors like higher rpm than gas engines. You should be able to do burnout’s with this setup 💪🤩 Greetings from Norwegian bro 👊🤠

At least the forest didn't burn down. It's a cool vehicle too :) Looking forward to part 2.

No experiment will ever succeed without a little bit of fire. Awesome vid man.

Max power of an BDLC occurs generally around 50% of no load RPM (peak efficiency at 80%). If you run the motors at say 20% of that you're not going to get anywhere close to the max power output (except heat). If that wasn't the case, you would get 1 gazillion Nm at 1 rpm to with 12 kW power (power=torque × angular speed)

Awesome! That motor is insane! The problem with this project is cost. As you now know the ability of the controller to deliver ... say 500 Amps at 100 Volts is amazing. What it can't do is deliver 1000, or even 500 amps at 24 volts for 30 seconds. Once the HUGE investment in a battery that can actually deliver 500 amps at 100 volts is made the motor and controller will throw you forward so quickly it will only need to make that high amperage for a few seconds. And you will need to hold on tight. Be very careful playing with these current levels. You are dealing with more electricity than I use to weld 1/2-inch plate steel. You know what a MOSFET is, and now you know why we call them Metal Oxide Fire & Smoke Emitting Transistors instead of Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors. P.S. You are not the only one to learn the hard way ... my collection of catastrophic fire controllers is quite impressive ... until you calculate the $$$.

higher voltage controller will increase motor speed. A jackshaft with extra gearing will be necessary….cogged primary belt from motor to jackshaft would keep the noise down. fun project!

I just love your videos and the projects you make! Awesome project again Simon!!

Seeing a fire while sitting on batteries has to be one of the scariest things.

its the perfect amount of jank and fun 👊

Use E-bike battery pack, charging system. Make it nice and little more safe. It's an interesting and fun project. Waiting for version 2 with improvements

Wow! Nice job. I’m adding this to my list of projects!

Love your projects! I’d love to see a video recapping all the ESCs you’ve used over the years as an education for the rest of us as to what works and for what applications. Would help foster other successful projects from the rest of us 😊

This is some awesome camera work the angles, camera quality, and the editing

I'm about to start building my own electric go kart and this video is not only ABSOLUTELY AWSOME! But it's also really helpful to me, I'd absolutely love to see another video on this with improvements and gears, I'd really love to see how you do it!!

That was an amazing idea. Very cool electric ATV. You threw that thing together in like no time. Looking forward to seeing you soup it up.

Amazing dude! I enjoyed watching the whole video and waiting for pt2. Now i have to make one of this!

That's a cool video! I'm playing with the thought of building an electric RC snowplough, so this project is helping build some basic knowledge, and it's very entertaining, too!

Just wanna say I really noticed and think the production quality in this video is amazing. Keep it up, you're doing amazing man

another great video! super nice projects Simon, thanks for sharing!

I have experience building various electric vehicles and what I know is the gear ratio needs to be between 9 to 1 and 10 to 1 to the rear wheel from the motor. You need more reduction simply put. I am converting the Can-Am 650 outlander to pure electric using a giant permanent magnet DC motor and 8 kilowatt hours of NMC lithium.

We missed you man! Such a cool project, looking forward to part 2!

Thanks for sharing the progress and putting videos' out more often than waiting for the fully developed project!

Can't wait for part 2! Super cool project

Nice! There's a lot of potential there! Look at adding a jackshaft to help with the gear ratio. They're used a lot on go-karts. It'll also let you move the motor around to a better position and relieve a little stress from the 3D printed part, which I'm AMAZED held up so well!! Can't wait to see the next video on this! Good luck!

Use a VESC for speed control. It has FOC control and current limiting which make it suitable for moving people around. VESC is also much cheaper than the speed controllers you are looking at. You can use gokart sprockets to get enough reduction. Use something bigger than #25 chain like #219.

Great project. Waiting for part 2.

Great video! Really liked that kind of video style! Well cut and easy to watch! Keep going like this :)

0:48 You can't polish a turd but you can roll it around in glitter. Make the best of what you have.

I love the trial and error. So many people don’t do things these days, cause they ‘don’t know of it will work’ instead of just having fun with something.

Dude, your videos are amazing. Thanks for sharing and keep it up!

When you seated those batteries I was like "Sure this lad likes grilled eggs." and after seeing the fire I blasted a hard laughter.

Nice edit. This is a fun and educational video 🙂 with just the right touch of snarky sarcasm. Good quality!

Come on part 2! that is an awesome project!!

should try to fab up a chain tensioner on the bottom or top side of the floppy part of the chain, itll make it alot safer.

Was going to say you could easily use a brushed Etek motor or Lynch pancake motor with a Curtis, Kelley, or Alltrax controller. This is what most of us use for Electrathon racing and they provide plenty of torque at 24v or up to 50v easily. Just get your heating correct and you're golden.

That’s awesome man!! Glad you didn’t get hurt 👍 can’t wait for the next video!!

Hello! You vitally need a step-down gearbox for this electric motor. The brushless electric motor has sufficiently high revolutions of its rated power. For its implementation, large revolutions are needed, which a direct drive to the sprocket and chain will not allow. You need a step-down gearbox with a ratio of at least 1 to 5, but it is better of course to calculate the optimal revolutions required by your electric motor. At the same time, the load on the motor control controller will also decrease and it will heat up less, as the operating current will drop. Good luck with the project!

great project! looking forward to next episode. One thing: between the motor mount and the sprocket you have a huge moment arm. as soon as you use some power/torque, the motor bearings are gonna suffer. maybe stabilize the shaft on the opposite side of the sprocket with a bearing. good luck!

I remember when you first showed the giant beastly brushless motor originally in a video a little while back, so it is cool to finally see this thing in action!

can't wait for you to get out working this looks so promising and would love to follow your guide to make one

I love it! Please keep posting? Your a real inspiration to me . Thankt

Always love your uploads. Keep up the good work…..always entertaining!

This is amazing build, you done a great job bro😊

So much fun. Thanks for sharing!

Fantastic start, dude! 😃 Looking forward to see more about the project! Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

The CVT in a GY6 motor would help alot with that power curve

Good info. To fix your starting torque problem, you probably need rotor position feedback sent to your controller so it knows what firing angle to apply to the 3-phase motor windings, since your rotor consists of permanent magnets. Be careful not to over current the motor windings and demagnetize the rotor. It should have very good starting torque when integrated properly. Read the motor specs.

Like your dares towards everything new. Get in touch with "GreatScott!". He should be able to build you custom electronics for your projects. Would be a hell of an collab series to watch!

Great project, two suggestions, add a bearing to sprocket side of the motor for driveline stiffness. Use a go-kart style split rear sprocket for quick gearing changes.

It turned out too cool. Congratulations.👏👏👏

I also very much appreciate it. What and idea! And you pulled it off. Great video and stay safe 😁👍

You are a great engineer

Nice video, you derserve a comment, here is one. Looking forward part 2. Good luck!

Dude I missed you, glad to see your crazy projects again!

I’m looking forward to part two and all of the issues you run into because I am also trying to do the same project

great project, looks fun!

1) My e-mountainboard is riding on 15S battaries. I think you should use 20-24S battaries. 2) Every one, who riding/driving electric bikes, ,scooters, boards etc, have to use motors and esc with HALL SENSORS! 3) FLIPSKY 75100 is very very good ESC.

Impressive. This gave me an idea to work on something like this with my son.

Good work 👍 . You can use a temperature sensor. Also a cyclical gearbox to reduce the current. Looking forward to Pt2

Great video (and editing). At least the motor survived!

living the dream, man. Keep on building!

Another fantastic video, this time making an ATV of all things! Keep up the great content!

Amazing video man, exactly what i needed rn 🙏💪🏽💪🏽

Love your projects as always!! 🔥🔥🔥

Love your vids. They always make me want to build something crazy

Add a centrifugal clutch, that should solve most of your issues :)

I'm really excited for that motor to be running better. Seems like a pretty useful and practical ATV for future projects I guess.

Really cool project

crazy and fun, as always, nice work dude !!

Awesome content, great montage, keep it up

That hose sound was so good