Published on January 28th, 2016 | by Kids Electric Cars

How to change electric motor on kids battery car?

If you’ve bought a kids electric car, but your child has grown and now wants a more powerful vehicle, what can you do?

We’re asked this question all the time, and there are two answers. The first and simplest is to buy a more powerful vehicle which is designed for your child’s current age group. Of course, this isn’t always possible for a variety of reasons. The second answer is to modify your kids electric car to fit it with a more powerful motor. This can be a cost-effective solution, but it can also be very complicated.

Before we get into the business of modification, it’s worth explaining some things about the way motors work. Firstly, don’t be fooled by a motor with a higher voltage: a 12v motor is not always more powerful than a 6v. The voltage a motor is designed to run at means nothing directly about how fast it can spin or how much power it can put out. What you need to look at is the speed and power of the motor. Speed is measured in RPM, or revolutions per minute, while power is expressed in Watts.

Simply put, to make your kids electric car go faster, you need more power. That means installing a motor which can deliver that power at the right speed, and the right battery that can deliver that power. As we said earlier, this has nothing directly to do with the voltage the motor is intended to run at, although, to some extent, higher power motors will require higher voltages.

So if you want to upgrade the motor on your kids electric car, the answer is to find the right motor for the job. This is where it gets technical: there is probably some gearing in your kids electric car. By pushing the vehicle forward manually over a measured distance while counting the number of turns the motor makes, you can work out how fast the motor will spin at your desired speed. Get a motor rated for the desired power at that speed. This could be a 6, 12, or 24 volt motor. The important number is the rated RPM.

Many people have had success with upgrading kids electric car motors, and there are some good guides on Youtube, from this guide on how to swap out simpler motors:

to this more in-depth look at how to accomplish some extreme upgrades:

One final thing we feel we ought to mention is that upgrading your motor could compromise the safety and integrity of the vehicle. Kids electric cars are often designed with plastic chassis, and these may be unable to cope with the increased power of the motor. In extreme cases, the motor could cause the car to tear itself apart. For this reason, we do not recommend upgrading cars for very young children. For an example of how much work can go into carrying out a safe, successful upgrade, check out this video in which a father gradually upgrades his son’s electric car, and take note of how many changes are required:

So if you’ve been thinking about upgrading your kids electric car, make sure you know what you’re doing and keep in mind that safety is of paramount importance. If you lack the skills necessary to carry out the upgrade, you may find that purchasing a new electric car is a better choice. After all, where your child’s safety is concerned, why would you experiment with potentially dangerous machinery?