An innovative electric go-kart that breaks records
On May 13 and 14, the University of Montpellier participated for the first time in its history in the national “Mobelim” challenge, which pits electric-powered karts developed by vocational and higher education institutions against one another on the indoor track in Limoges. The competing team, “Gream Rocket,” which included members from the Institute of Electronics and Systems (IES), broke the track record several times and won nearly all the stage victories.
An electric go-kart like no other
Developed entirely within the EEA (Electronics, Electrical Engineering, and Automation) Department of the Faculty of Sciences, with support from the IES, the faculty and students of the EEA master’s program were deeply involved in both the design and implementation of the program.
In fact, the team built an all-electric “race car” from a discarded rental go-kart. The powertrain was designed and sized to match the track layout—specifically, a system with limited top speed but optimized dynamics to improve acceleration and braking performance. The installed electrical power is five times greater than that of a conventional kart, as electronic modules for real-time and remote monitoring were also developed to ensure driver safety, similar to practices in Formula 1 racing.
Mechanical engineering, embedded systems electronics, electric propulsion, electrical energy storage management, telecommunications, and signal processing: all the expertise of the EEA master’s program and IES researchers was put to use to ensure the success of this innovative go-kart, which has won nearly every race and broken every record.