How to Maintain an Electric Ride-on Car for Your Kids

August 4, 2021

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

Children love ride-on electric cars and they can’t get enough of them. Electric ride on cars are more than just toys; they’re portals to a make-believe world full of fun, smiles, and adventure.

Kids’ electric cars are designed to be safe and durable. But that doesn’t mean wear and tear won’t take its toll on them. As sleek and sturdy as your child’s kids electric car is, you still need to maintain and store it properly if you want it in good shape.

Read our exclusive guide on how to maintain an electric toy car and ensure their favourite vehicle lasts longer. Buckle up and enjoy the read!

Here are 5 easy tips on how to maintain and clean your little one’s electric car:

Step one: go through the instruction manual

Once your child has chosen the perfect electric toy car, it’s important to read the instruction manual. Your little one might want to jump straight in and take it for a spin, but you need to do your research!

Before you begin assembling a kids’ electric car, you need to educate yourself on the kids’ ride-on car you have purchased. Always start by reading the instructions manual that comes with the toy package. Doing this helps you to understand how to set your toy up and use it safely.

Once you know the do’s and don’ts, explain them to your little one in simple terms. Tell your child how the car works and set some basic rules for its usage. The point is to make them feel like they are equal parties in the car adventure.

Step two: teach your child how to drive their ride on car

After you’ve finished reading the instruction manual, show your child how to safely drive their car. This isn’t always an easy task so be prepared to be patient and put the time in to teach them. Kids are quick learners, so with some time and effort they should be riding their toy car in no time.

Safety is the top priority so teach them how to drive just like it was a real car. Take your time and go through everything slowly to ensure they understand what they can and can’t do whilst driving an electric car.

Step three: clean the car regularly

It’s equally as important to make sure you clean the kid’s car regularly. By showing your children how to clean their own car with a damp cloth after every drive, you teach them how to responsibly care for their belongings.

We suggest setting up a cleaning cabinet, stocking it with all the necessary supplies and showing your child how to properly wipe and keep the body paint, seating and rims clean. Establishing a post-playtime car cleaning routine is also a great idea.

In addition, tell your child that if they want their car to look stunning and new, they should avoid scratching its body at any cost. Scratches can cause the body paint to peel.

Step four: store the car appropriately

Choosing the right toy car storage for your ride-on car helps to maintain a good shape. When the ride-on toy isn’t in use, cover it using a sheet or canvas to prevent dust from settling.

Make sure that you store ride-on electric toys indoors, especially during wet weather. Find an appropriate storage area in your house, making sure it’s big enough to move your car in or out safely. This could be a garage, basement, kid’s room or another space.

Step five: maintain all parts of the ride-on car

You need to maintain each and every part of the car and check regularly for any potential damage and for necessary repairs. Maintenance is an integral part of owning electric cars and keeps your little ones safe at all times.

From checking the car parts to replacing a battery connector, everything needs to be kept in top condition.

Wheels

Typically wheels are the first part of a kids’ ride-on car to be damaged. Start your maintenance routine by checking the wheels, inspecting each wheel for signs of wear and tear.

Even though power wheels are designed to withstand pressure, most electric cars should be driven on smooth surfaces rather than hard surfaces. Wheel damage usually happens when a child drives on rough terrain, in grass or on wet ground.

To keep your little ones safe and comfortable, regularly check the condition of the wheels and oil them. You should also ensure that the vehicle is balanced and that the tyres are in prime condition. Don’t take any risks if they aren’t and replace the old wheels with new wheels for the ride on.

Routinely cleaning the rims and wheels prevents a build-up of dust, dirt and rust. To keep the wheel rims clean, dip a damp cloth in water and gently wipe until all stains disappear.

Body

One of the best ways to take care of your kids’ vehicle’s body paint is to regularly clean it after each and every use. We suggest using a damp cloth to carefully clean the paintwork and rims. Using a cloth helps to prevent water from being accidentally spilt into the electrics, stopping potential damage.

You should also tell your little one not to hit anything in the car if they can avoid it. If they do hit objects you could find the vehicle body covered in scratches and dents.

Another thing to avoid is adding stickers to the body. Removing these can be difficult and cause paintwork to come off.

Battery

The battery compartment of your kids’ electric car is something you need to be extra careful with. Most electric ride-on toys are battery-powered. If the battery stops working, so does your toy car, and this may result in tears and tantrums.

So how do you make your batteries last longer? It’s not that difficult. All you have to do is follow a few simple guidelines and stick to the exact battery charging time. Avoid undercharging or overcharging as this can damage your car batteries and shorten their lives.

In case you have to buy a replacement ride on car battery, make sure you pick the same battery that is compatible with your 6v, 12v or 24v electric toy car. If your car isn’t going to be in use for a long time, unplug the batteries to avoid battery corrosion before stowing it in an appropriate storage area.

Tips on how to repair your kid’s electric car

Sometimes no matter how much you take care of your kids ride-on toy car, repairs will be needed. As parents, we love to see our children driving around having fun, so repairing any damage or broken parts is top of our list.

Diagnose issues and equipment needed

If you suspect a repair is needed, the first thing to do is diagnose the key issue. There are a few common issues that can stop a car from working and a volt multi-meter can help to diagnose more serious problems.

Although in some cases much smaller fixes are needed to get most electric ride on cars back up and running. This could simply be repairing any loose wires or fitting spare parts or a new battery.

Testing the connections and batteries

When your kid’s car isn’t working, you need to check that the battery has enough power with a volt multi-meter. For 6 volt batteries, the meter should read 6+ volts and for 12-volt batteries it should read 12+ volts.

Sometimes you can get a false reading from the battery, so make sure that you also check the battery terminals inside the connectors battery and vehicle side. There can be several reasons why the batteries aren’t working, including problems with the motors and electrical problems.

Testing the foot pedal switch and throttle

Make use of your volt multi-meter to test for any issues with the foot pedal switch and throttle switch. To help identify where the fault is, disconnect the foot pedal switch. You’ll know the problem isn’t to do with the pedals if the motor starts turning.

Other places to test if you have a problem are the fast and slow switches as well as the forward switch and reverse switch. If your kids electric toy vehicle is slow, won’t run or only goes forwards or backwards, chances are there is an issue with these switches.

Replacing the battery or battery charger

Fitting a replacement battery or battery charger isn’t the easiest repair to do, so you might need assistance. Check which parts you need for your make, model and voltage as different batteries will be needed for 12v ride on cars and 24v ride on cars.

Once you’ve undone the casing remove the plug connections. The metal clips can sometimes be soldered, but you can usually take these apart and use the plugs again. Make sure you know where the positive and negative cables are.

If you’re fitting a new battery charger, ensure that you make contact with the metal clips in the connector. This should be positive to positive and negative to negative. After this, check the charger is putting out the correct voltage and that it cuts off when meant to. If it doesn’t cut off, this could result in a burned-out battery.

Checking the motor and controller

When electric cars aren’t working properly, you should always check the batteries and switches first. If neither of these is the problem, then you can move onto checking the motor and controller.

To do this step slowly on one pedal or carefully turn the throttle. If you hear a click sound, then there’s either a problem with the motherboard or controller.