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Electrical Rules

Drivetrain

  1. The Drivetrain of the kart must be entirely electric.
  2. Teams are allowed to use Brushed and Brushless motors.
  3. Teams are not limited to the number of motors driving the rear tires.
  4. Teams are not permitted to use motors to drive the front tires.
  5. The Total Drivetrain Output of the motor(s) driving the rear tires must not exceed 15KW.
    • Teams are permitted to use higher output motors as long as it is configured not to exceed the above value.
    • Total Drivetrain Output must be measured before motor controllers.
    • Teams are encouraged to seek out ways to record their Total Drivetrain Output in a manner that the data can be monitored without external systems.
  6. The Wiring Harness for the Drivetrain must include a fuse for the maximum expected current draw for a team’s configured Total Drivetrain Output.
    • Example: If a motor allows 20KW then the fuse must be able to support the full 20KW regardless of the team’s intended power output.

Batteries

  1. Teams are allowed up to two battery systems which are listed below.
    • Drivetrain Battery System
    • Auxiliary Battery System
  2. Each battery system must have an accessible and clearly labeled Kill Switch.
  3. Teams are allowed to utilize the following battery chemistries:
    • Lithium Polymer (LiPo)
      • Lithium Cobalt Oxide (LCO)
      • Lithium Manganese Oxide (LMO)
      • Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP)
      • Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (NMC)
      • Lithium Nickel Cobalt Aluminum Oxide (NCA)
      • Lithium Titanate (LTO)
    • Lithium Ion Cells (18650, 21700, etc.)
    • Lead-Acid
  4. All batteries must satisfy the following criteria:
    1. Clearly labelled and secured in place.
    2. Safely constructed.
      • Batteries must be enclosed within a proper container that allows cell expansion.
        • Shrink-Wrap is not a suitable enclosure.
      • See mechanical requirements for weatherproofing.
    3. Sufficiently cooled.
      • Batteries enclosures must have ventilation.
    4. Cannot have any exposed connectors or contacts.
    5. Contains Short Circuit protections to disconnect power in the event of a short circuit.
  5. Battery enclosures should contain an internal fire supression system.
  6. Drivetrain Battery System Cannot exceed 100V nominal.
  7. Auxiliary Battery System Cannot exceed 50V nominal.
  8. Batteries must use Anderson SB® 175 connectors as the external connectors.
    • Alternative connectors may be allowed on special request from teams.
    • The alternate connectors must at minimum meet the Anderson Specifications.

General Wiring

  1. All Wiring Harnesses must be contained without any wires hanging out.
    • Wires are not contained when they are able to easily get caught on something or loosely laying on the kart.
    • Wires are contained when they are tied down and/or enclosed in a wire loom that is tied down.
  2. Internal wiring must be routed and internally mounted such that the wires do not get tangled.
    • Example: All internal wiring must be “best-effort” neat and orderly.
  3. All wires must be rated appropriately for the power being drawn through them.
  4. There should be no exposed contacts or connectors.

Computers and Sensors

  1. There is no regulation on sensors
  2. There is no regulation on computers
  3. Computation must be entirely contained to the kart
    1. Karts are not allowed to send data to an outside computer for computation used while running.

Design Documentation

  1. Teams are required to provide a design document for the electrical systems.
  2. Electrical Design Documentation must include at minimum the following:
    1. A description of every Wiring Harness.
    2. A description of every battery system.