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Student project advice needed!

I'm a Tech teacher in Rochester, NY and I want to have my students design and build a two motor electric cart. I have two 24V 350W motors and a bunch of spare parts. 


What electrical components would I need (speed controls, switches, shut offs, etc.) would you recommend I purchase? 

Since you already have the two 24 Volt 350 Watt motors the other electrical parts that would be needed are a controller, throttle, power switch, battery pack, and battery charger. For two 24V 350W motor here are the parts we recommend:

1. SPD-241000 24 Volt 1000 Watt controller

2. Any throttle without power meter, or throttle with 24 Volt power meter.  If a handlebar mount throttle will be used then we have them available with built-in power switches and battery indicators so a separate power switch would not be needed. Examples of these type of throttles are item numbers; THR-105K, THR-73, and THR-132.

3. Since the controller output is electronically limited to 1000 Watts we recommend using a battery pack rated at 15Ah or above. Although if the cart will be used on primarily flat ground and with relatively low gearing then it should not pull more than 700 Watts from the controller and a battery pack rated at 10Ah or above would be acceptable.

4. The battery charger's output Amp rating depends on the battery pack. A 24V 1.6A charger is good for battery packs between 8Ah and 15Ah. Battery packs between 18Ah and 22Ah should be recharged with a 24V 3A or above charger.

5. There should be a 40-50 Amp fuse or circuit breaker between the battery pack and controller for overload and short circuit protection.

Those are all of the necessary parts that I can think of for now. Please let us know if you have any questions.

This is great information!   Do you have part numbers for these items?  If so I'll place an immediate order!   Don Murphy

I can make a list of the part numbers. I just need to gather a little more information first. Which throttle and battery size would you like to be included in the list?

I used to teach the FIRST Robotics program , so I have a number of their 12V 17Amp batteries around, as far as throttle, what would you recommend?  

Do you want the cart to have a foot throttle or handlebar throttle?

I'm open to suggestions, I was leaning towards a foot pedal, but I could be convinced either way

A foot throttle could be bolted onto to the cart's footplate while a hand throttle would require a 7/8" OD open end handlebar to mount onto. If the cart will not have an open end handlebar made with 7/8" tubing then the foot throttle would be the only option.

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