SquidBonez
1 W
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2019
- Messages
- 54
So to preface: I've been planning out an off road kart/buggy build on a separate forum for a few weeks now, and while I initially started out with the idea of making it electric, it soon dawned on me that I am much better off building a gas buggy in the meantime due to both cost and lack of experience. And when I say lack of experience, I mean the closest I've gotten to working with electric motors is repairing an HVAC unit. :lol:
But on to the main point here, it seems that as the electric aftermarket is still quite immature (with the only major players being EV West and Electric Motorsport Inc), there is a lack of "user-friendly" motor controllers (I don't know how else to put it). For example, MoTeC makes tons of different stand-alone ECUs with the sole purpose of being used by hobbyists or custom builders. Electric RC cars have tons of aftermarket speed controllers that can be quite easily tuned with a laptop. Meanwhile, on the full size electric vehicle side of things, most smaller scale kart/buggy/motorcycle builds are controlled with Sevcons which - correct me if I'm wrong - just seem to be general purpose motor controllers that require a lot of knowledge on how to correctly program (I'm aware that to many users here programming a Sevcon is a piece of cake - some of you guys even make your own custom controllers - but to a mere internal combustion powered mortal like myself that's boarding on witchcraft).
The time we're in with electric vehicles right now is much like the beginning of EFI back in the late 80s/early 90s. When EFI was first introduced, many people were concerned that it would spell the end of home-tuning. But as stand-alone ECUs were released by the aftermarket, these fears were quelled. Now, today, we face a very similar situation. Not only do the vast majority of gearheads not know how to control an electric motor, but there is simply a lack of an electric MoTeC equivalent. AEM recently announced a brand new electric division, and say they are working on a stand-alone motor controller to fill this niche, but obviously it's not here yet (more on this here: https://jalopnik.com/its-time-to-get-excited-about-homebuilt-ev-hot-rods-1840494425).
That brings me to my main point. If you had to guess, how long until the EV aftermarket is full of universal motors, battery modules, and controllers galore - just like the electric RC car aftermarket?
But on to the main point here, it seems that as the electric aftermarket is still quite immature (with the only major players being EV West and Electric Motorsport Inc), there is a lack of "user-friendly" motor controllers (I don't know how else to put it). For example, MoTeC makes tons of different stand-alone ECUs with the sole purpose of being used by hobbyists or custom builders. Electric RC cars have tons of aftermarket speed controllers that can be quite easily tuned with a laptop. Meanwhile, on the full size electric vehicle side of things, most smaller scale kart/buggy/motorcycle builds are controlled with Sevcons which - correct me if I'm wrong - just seem to be general purpose motor controllers that require a lot of knowledge on how to correctly program (I'm aware that to many users here programming a Sevcon is a piece of cake - some of you guys even make your own custom controllers - but to a mere internal combustion powered mortal like myself that's boarding on witchcraft).
The time we're in with electric vehicles right now is much like the beginning of EFI back in the late 80s/early 90s. When EFI was first introduced, many people were concerned that it would spell the end of home-tuning. But as stand-alone ECUs were released by the aftermarket, these fears were quelled. Now, today, we face a very similar situation. Not only do the vast majority of gearheads not know how to control an electric motor, but there is simply a lack of an electric MoTeC equivalent. AEM recently announced a brand new electric division, and say they are working on a stand-alone motor controller to fill this niche, but obviously it's not here yet (more on this here: https://jalopnik.com/its-time-to-get-excited-about-homebuilt-ev-hot-rods-1840494425).
That brings me to my main point. If you had to guess, how long until the EV aftermarket is full of universal motors, battery modules, and controllers galore - just like the electric RC car aftermarket?
