Find out Friday interview: The Crazy Cart
What is the Razor Crazy Cart?
The Crazy Cart is an electric ride-on that I invented and features a unique design that enables it to make unbelievable manoeuvres, including on-the-spot 360-degrees turns, drifting and more.
We’ve been on an incredible journey with the Crazy Cart. It took nine years to develop and now it has become one of the year’s most talked-about toys. It was named the Toy Industry Association Outdoor Toy of the Year in the US and it’s fantastic that we’ve just launched in the UK.
The response to the Crazy Cart has been incredible but it offers something unique as we developed it with a patented drift system that allows the driver to vary the rear caster wheel angle so you can drive and drift forward, backward, sideways, diagonally, and everything in between. The driver can choose driving it like a regular go-kart or lifting the drift bar for what we have named Crazy Cart mode. It really is a ride like no other and no-one that I’ve seen try it has been able to resist laughing.
Who is it aimed at?
It is for children aged nine and above but it certainly appeals to adults too. It is fine up to a max weight of 63 kilograms (139 pounds).
How does it work and what tech is involved in its creation?
The Crazy Cart is driven by a powerful & quiet electric motor. The cart’s speed is controlled by a variable-speed foot pedal, while its direction of travel is controlled by the steering wheel. The Crazy Cart’s drifting, spinning and reverse driving are all engaged by lifting the drift bar and controlled by a combination of the three controls: the drift bar, the steering wheel and the accelerator pedal. The most important technological innovation in the Crazy Cart’s creation was the patented drift bar, which controls the angle of the rear casters, providing drivers with every degree of rear-end drift possible!
In the words of one of our product development team, think of it as a bumper car combined with a shopping cart, except that the shopping cart part has been modified with an innovative control system that allows the driver to dynamically angle the casters to control how the vehicle drifts.
What are its best features?
• Variable speed foot pedal acceleration with speeds up to 19km/h (12 mph)
• Up to 40 minutes of continuous throttle use on a single charge
• Drift Bar allows drivers to completely control the drifts and spins
• 360-degree steering capability for tight turns
• Simple spin-to-stop maneuvering
• Pneumatic front tyre and anti-tip caster wheels
• Flag and battery charger included
Do you need to wear a helmet or any other protection?
Yes you should always wear a protective helmet when using any kind of electric ride-on. As well as protection, you should always exercise common sense and use only where safe and allowed under your local laws.
How did it come about? Was the influence and inspiration behind its design?
As you can guess from my Ken Box parody YouTube video, I had a lot of inspiration from Ken Block. While I was working at Razor, a leading scooter manufacturer had the idea for developing a ride-on that had a drifting action. At that time, drifting was perhaps something only really known or talked about by those involved or interested in motorsports, so Razor didn’t consider my idea to be marketable. I had this incredibly strong belief in the product and so I didn’t give up. While I was studying at UCLA (University of California in Los Angeles) I continued to fine-tune both product and business plan by calling upon the help of those who had experience in the necessary fields. Eventually – some nine years later – we had a product that was right for the time and by then drifting had also become a more mainstream concept.
How will it add something new to a market of bmx’s, minimotos, e-bikes, go karts and skateboards?
It’s not one dimensional from a play point of view. The Crazy Cart is a skill-developing toy. As your skill with it develops you will discover that it too will develop with you and you’ll just keep discovering more and more than you, and it, can do.
What are the best environments to use it in?
Flat, smooth surfaces are ideal. Because of its unique ability to spin 360 degrees on the spot, riding a Crazy Cart takes less space than any other electric ride-on I can think of, so there are certainly more places to ride it than you might imagine.
What is its top speed and handling like?
Crazy Cart isn’t all about the speed, as where you ride it and the way you ride it will have an impact. That said it can achieve up to 19km/h (12mph), which feels pretty fast when you’re on it!
What tricks can you do in it?
I spend a lot of time exploring just what the Crazy Cart can do. The regular tricks would include spinning in place, drifting, reversing, drifting in reverse and pivoting on the spot. Unlike a car, which eventually comes to a stop when drifting, the Crazy Cart can drift infinitely.
I am able to perform spinning wheelies and jumps on it but it’s a case of ‘don’t try this at home’ unless you are extremely experienced.
How is it made safe?
Although the Crazy Cart defies any traditional product description, we created a safety protocol for its design and manufacture based on established principals.
What’s your role at Scootfest?
That’s a bigger question than it sounds! I guess right now I am team manager for the Team Razor group of freestyle scooter professionals, but I think it is fair to say that I am the pioneer of the freestyle scooter movement. Many years ago I was employed to develop the sport and it has grown to become huge. Scootfest could be said to have come about as a result of my endeavours. While I was at Scootfest, I saw someone with a Crazy Cart and it was incredible. It was like seeing two of my babies at once – my sport and my product.
Are you trying to make crazy carting into a sport?
Actually I would say that we’re seeing Crazy Cart as a feeder into existing sports such as motor-racing and drifting. It can inspire a love of motorsports in the younger generation.
Will there be a crazy cart 2 with updated spec in the near future?
Yes, we’re already very close to launching the Crazy Cart XL, which will enable adults to get the full Crazy Cart experience designed to fit them. And, though it is very early days in the process, we are currently exploring the idea of a Crazy Cart aimed at little kids, probably from three years plus. Watch this space.
Watch this space.
Describe the Razor Crazy Cart in 3 words
Lift, drift, laugh
