Brushed EVT trike

I've had this trike floating around in my shed for years now and never done anything with it.

Inside it has some sort of mystery controller, possibly the original and also a curtis controller. Each hooked up to one wheel

It has 2x brushed 1kw DC hub motors at the rear and appears to have undergone some other electrical modification as there is a potentiometer to slow it right down to mobility scooter pace.

The Lead Acid batteries are well and truely scrap but I have tested it by using a bench power supply and stacking it on some bricks. The wheel controlled by the curtis works but the other does not.

My question is:

Is it possible to a run two motors from the curtis as a fixed diff style of thing, and use some lipo packs I have as batteries. This will be as a toy, not something meant for serious commuting. But don't want to blow up the curtis as its worth more than I paid for the whole trike.

Brushed motors can be run in series or parallel on a single controller.

In parallel, they will run at the same speed they originally did, since the votlage would be the same, but the current (if limited by the controller) will be split between them depending on their specific winding resistance and load/rpm.

If the controller does not do current limiting then the parallel motors may draw up to double the current (depending on their specific winding resistance and load/rpm). This has the potential to damage the controller, but the Curtis should have current limiting to prevent this. I recommend checking with them to get the manual / specs for it to be sure.

In series, the current will be the same in each motor all the time, but the voltage will be halved, so the speed will be halved.

I didn't even think about running them in series but that might not be a bad idea.

I've forgotten the model of the curtis but its way way overspec for the application at hand. It must have been in someones parts bin from a forklift. I'll see if I can find a photo I should have taken of the spec plate.

Thanks for your help.

Got it working with the motors in series. So maximum 15/20 m/k ph. But mostly going to be used for cruising round a field looking at cows anyway.

Found that the rear brakes stick a bit. Which I only noticed when the battery charge diminished rather rapidly.

Next stage build/find/liberate a bigger battery pack. Lipo packs did sterling service but frankly I don't trust my parents with them. Lets just say its a good job forklift batteries tolerate beneficial neglect fairly well.