Less Ambition…More Results?

So I have come to the conclusion that a car may be too big a project for my first attempt at electrical engineering.  So I am taking a step back.  I am going to try and retrofit a gas riding lawnmower with an electric motor.

This is a project I may actually be able to make progress on.  You see, I can buy a cheep, used riding lawnmower for $150 (especially since “runs” isn’t one of my primary concerns).  Then I only need to find a motor, controller and battery pack and get to work.  Also, because I only have half an acre of land…I won’t need a large number of batteries (though I will try to figure out how many batteries I need before finalizing my design).

So, here are my goals and mission statement for this project

Mission Statement: Build an operational electric riding lawn mower.

Goals:

1. The mower must be able to cut my grass on a single charge.
2. The mower must be rechargeable in one week
3. When overloaded (if the blades get stuck), the mower must not cause harm to the operator or anyone nearby
4. When overloaded, the mower must operate again when the overload is cleared without needing to replace parts.

That pretty much covers it.  Seems simple…now where do I start?