Super Simple Electric Scooter!!

by jackjackboom in Workshop > Electric Vehicles

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Super Simple Electric Scooter!!

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Yes, today we build a friction drive electric scooter that is powered by an 18 volt cordless drill!!

Personal Story: My parents wouldn't let me buy my own electric scooter, so I built one out of stuff we had around the house.

P.S. Keep Dad happy.  Buy your own cheapo cordless drill at Harbor Freight and don't use his!!

Okay, onto the parts list.
> A cordless drill (the bigger the better)
>A simple push scooter
>A piece of stick-on velcro (you will use the scratchy side only. If you can get it use rubber tape.)
>A rectangular piece of wood or plastic (this will support the drill)
>A whole lot of zipties 
>A bicycle hand brake and cable (for the throttle)

Here is a link to a video of the scooter in action.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGU0sXQlGlY&context=C3c53192ADOEgsToPDskJShJx5qy0SGTljaewFJPcT

Remove the Brake Pedal

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Step 1: Removing the only safety system on a razor scooter, the brake!!

My scooter had a small pin on the brake assembly that I hammered out with a small bolt and a hammer.
Your scooter may have a bolt and nut or something like that and it shouldn't be that hard to remove.

Before posting this, I tried to make the scooter with the brake pedal still on. It presented many challenges, so I removed the stubborn thing. Removing it made everything easier.
After you have done this you can move onto the next step.

Add Friction to Your Drill

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Step 2: Adding velcro to your drill's chuck

Okay, now you need to add something to your drill's chuck to increase its friction against the scooter wheel.
I used the scratchy side of stick-on velcro.This worked for me but you could use anything that will increase the friction between the drill and the wheel. Now you need to wrap the velcro around the chuck. Easy-Peasy-Lemon-Squeezy.
Also, make sure that the chuck still spins.

Add the Drill Platform

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Step 3: Now it is time to add the rectangular piece of something mentioned in the parts list.

I used a piece of plastic that came with a science kit. You can use a piece of plywood with holes drilled in it, if you can't find something similar to what I used. Position the platform at the rear of the scooter with part of it hanging off the left side of the scooter .To mount it, take a ziptie and thread it through one of the holes that the brake pin went through. Now, tie the platform down with the zipties. If you can't do this, then thread some zipties under the bottom of the scooter and up through holes in the corners and middle of your platform.

Tie the Drill Down

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Step 5: Adding the drill
Position the drill at an angled position so that the chuck is touching the wheel at an angle.
Begin to ziptie the drill onto the scooter. Be sure that the drill retains it position on the scooter.
Position some zipties so that they pull the drill into the wheel. This will increase the friction and thus speed.
You can test how tight your drill is against the wheel by pulling them apart softly. The bigger the gap the tighter your zipties need to be.
If your drill is tight against the wheel and not slipping off the scooter you can go onto the next step.

Adding the Throttle

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Step 5: Adding the throttle

To add the throttle you need the hand brake and cable. Start, by putting the hand brake on the handlebars.
This is simple, all you need to do is remove the hand grip (I didn't have any), slide the hand brake onto the handlebar, tighten it down, and put the grip back on. Now, lead the brake cable down to the drill and position it right behind the drills trigger. Ziptie the end of the black cable guard to the drill handle. Lead the rest of the cable around the drill trigger and ziptie it to the cable guard. Secure the cable as best as possible as it is prone to slipping. If you can pull the brake handle and the drill moves causing the wheel to spin then you are DONE!!!!!!

YOU ARE DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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YAY!!!! YOU ARE DONE!!!!
However, something is bound to go wrong.
Most likely, your chuck won't be rubbing against the wheel hard enough.
So if your motor is running and you aren't moving, that is the most likely cause.
This machine went about 5 mph for me, about electric barbie car fast.
See ya next time!! Hope you enjoyed my Instructable!!!