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Electric Shopping Go-Kart Makes For Speedy, Stealthy Grocery-Getting

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leavethegun-takethecannoli
06/29/09

In reply to Electric Shopping Go-Kart Makes For Speedy, Stealthy Grocery-Getting
Yeah, it's Jalopnik.

35 mph in a shopping cart and no helmet, plus as an added feature- he looks bored with it.
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Elhigh
06/29/09

In reply to Electric Shopping Go-Kart Makes For Speedy, Stealthy Grocery-Getting
Just so you know, the Etek, while being about as good an electric motor as you're ever going to buy, isn't really rated at 15hp. It can deliver at that level, but not for long.

It'll do about eight horsepower all day, and when you consider how fast a moped can go with just a fourth of that, that's some pretty good beans. Having the extra twist for emergencies is just gravy on the spuds.
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something_unique_and_descriptive
06/29/09

In reply to Electric Shopping Go-Kart Makes For Speedy, Stealthy Grocery-Getting
Needs more steering angle and torque, with that sort of water on the ground there should have been some tail out action.
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Alexander Card
06/29/09

In reply to Electric Shopping Go-Kart Makes For Speedy, Stealthy Grocery-Getting
in a moment or two I full expect the germans to unveil turbo gixxer kart 2
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Skunky
06/29/09

@Alexander Card: 'ring time?
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Skunky
06/29/09

In reply to Electric Shopping Go-Kart Makes For Speedy, Stealthy Grocery-Getting
I also just realize how many of us have missed the oppurtunity to deride Target for using those cheap shopping carts with the plastic cladding...
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Skunky
06/29/09

In reply to Electric Shopping Go-Kart Makes For Speedy, Stealthy Grocery-Getting
If they really wanted to do this right, you'd put all the gear up in the nose, power the back wheels as they did, but keep the front wheels caster-style. Then you ride it like any respectable shopping-kart speed demon (like yours truly) does: one foot on the cross beam for the bottom rack, the other pushing/steering. Then you still have the cargo space.

Whenever I shop I always get soda first and put it up on the nose to counterbalance, then the rest of the shopping trip is me zooming about like a wannabe Tony Hawk. :D
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smalleyxb122
06/29/09

In reply to Electric Shopping Go-Kart Makes For Speedy, Stealthy Grocery-Getting
For a guy driving an electric shopping cart, he doesn't look like he's enjoying himself.

I'd have to see some better pictures of the diff, but it looks like a poorly executed attempt at a planetary differential with zero functionality, resulting in one wheel drive.

Ben, just to nitpick: There is no steering rack on this. It clearly uses a pitman arm and draglink.
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teamtestbot
06/29/09

@smalleyxb122:

The diff definitely works. It's not a limited slip, spur gears were just cheap.

Just saying.

:o)
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smalleyxb122
06/29/09

@teamtestbot: I understand the workings of a planetary differential, but the close up shot appears as though the side gear is integral to the cage, and there is no good shot of the engagement of the planet gears, so it appears to only drive the integrated side, and freewheel the planets on the side away from the sprocket. Like I said, I'd just like to see some better pics of the diff, because how it looks in the pictures here, it doesn't look functional. Though I admit that it might just be a bad angle.
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smalleyxb122
06/29/09

@smalleyxb122: Upon closer inspection, I see the engagement of the planets, so I must retract my prior statement, and assume that the side gear is not integral, lest it become a really complex spool by not allowing any relative motion.

Again, My eyes were deceiving me, and the differential looks to be well made, and functional.

It still doesn't have a steering rack.
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Ben Wojdyla
06/30/09

@smalleyxb122: Unless I'm completely wrong, it is a rack, just not a rack and pinion. A rack is simply the portion of the steering mecha that translates side to side and moves the tie rods. A pitman arm attaches directly to one steering knuckle and ties to the other side with a secondary control arm
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smalleyxb122
06/30/09

@Ben Wojdyla: Well, you are wrong, but that's okay. "Rack" is a gear term referring to a straight portion of gear teeth (a segment of a gear of infinite diameter). What you described is a draglink.

A rack will only be used in a rack and pinion, or a rack and gear assembly. In a gear train, the driving gear is referred to as a pinion, and the driven gear is referred to as a "gear". If linear motion is imparted to the rack to turn a gear, it is a rack and gear. If turning a gear is translated to linear motion of a rack, it is a rack and pinion.
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dragon951
06/29/09

In reply to Electric Shopping Go-Kart Makes For Speedy, Stealthy Grocery-Getting
Now they need to find a mean little old lady and put her in it and send her out shopping. I can just imagine her running over security guards at the grocery store, and bumping little kids out of the way.
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Skunky
06/29/09

@dragon951: Or being chased by baddies in a corvette.
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superbadd75, now I remember why I left...
06/29/09

In reply to Electric Shopping Go-Kart Makes For Speedy, Stealthy Grocery-Getting
All I can think of is how bad it would hurt if you ran into the wrong thing with that cart! It seems to be pretty stable though, the way he's leaning on it. Wonder how many cops you could piss off with it?
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Skunky
06/29/09

@superbadd75: All of them. That's probably good for at least a two star wanted level.
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TimTim
06/29/09

In reply to Electric Shopping Go-Kart Makes For Speedy, Stealthy Grocery-Getting
Needs a platform in the back for a passenger, who will then appear as though they are pushing the cart.
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leavethegun-takethecannoli
06/29/09

@TimTim: Great idea.
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