History

Lonestar EV Performance has been supplying batteries for EV Junior market since 2016. At first the motors being used to propel the dragsters were Netgain Warp 9 brushed DC motors. These motors are heavily modified forklift motors. Forklift motors have no reason to be weight efficient since the parts of the forklift have to function as a counter balance. The weight of a stock Warp 9 is 155 lbs. This is very heavy for a junior dragster.

Newer junior EV's use a Netgain Hyper 9 SRIPM motor. These still weigh around 120 lbs.

Lonestar EV Performance has come up with new drivetrain packages that uses ultra lightweight permanent magnet AC bike motors: Motenergy ME1115 (ME1917) or Motenergy ME1507 (ME1905). There are also recently released Netgain IPM line of motors that would be suitable for a Junior EV application but we haven't tested them yet.
The Motenergy ME1115 weighs only 35 lbs.
The Motenergy ME1507 weighs only 44 lbs.
The Netgain Micro 880 weighs only 40 lbs. Meant to work with a proprietary X1 controller that can do 750A at 100v nominal. Requires different battery voltage.

These motors will achieve performance necessary for a 7.9 second spec junior dragster vehicle with proper chain gear ratio. Our most recent dragster build had a curb weight of only 360 lbs. In comparison a Warp 9 + Zilla 1k car would end up weighing around 420 to 440lbs depending on chassis selection.

There are 3 modern EV Junior drivetrain variants Lonestar EV Performance now offers.  Parts packages or complete installations on Halfscale dragster chassis can be ordered.
(note: the battery pack image is prototype image. Final build on most recent dragster ending up looking significantly different. Prototype battery had BMS components outside the case. In the final build the batteries, BMS, user service-able fuse, current sensor, thermal monitoring, etc are completely contained inside the steel containment box. Specs and price of battery may change. Battery pack meant to be mounted to rear of dragster. A battery installation in conventional position can be ordered but we'd have to do R&D on the overall chassis design to make sure battery can fit in conventional position.
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Main Components