Over the past ten to fifteen years, the European indoor karting market has been increasingly successful. This success can be partly attributed to the fact that true wheel-to-wheel, Grand Prix racing has had a much greater following in Europe than in the United States. Motor sports has had a rapid growth in popularity mostly fueled by the success of NASCAR, IRL, Champ Cars and Formula 1 racing. This new popularity has led many in the karting industry to the indoor karting market in the United States. While it would seem to be a logical and easy transition to bring the success of the European market to the American market, there are many distinct differences that have presented many new challenges.

The most distinct differences are in the karts themselves. In order to comply with insurance regulations, environmental standards, and national safety regulations, karts are required to be much safer and more durable. The European karts are a slightly modified version of real racing go-karts. These karts are very fragile and difficult to steer. In addition, they use metric parts which are not readily available in the United States.

The way companies compensate their employees is also significantly different. European companies do not pay their employees as much as in the U.S, and instead offer many different perks. These perks include group outings, and team building as a company event. The European market does not have as many amusement parks or family entertainment centers as are found in the United States. These differences make the financial details of the karting business distinctly different.

The design of the European karts alone limits the target market to adults only. The United States has many more amusement parks and family entertainment centers whose focus has been to include all age groups in order to meet the demands of families seeking alternative forms of entertainment. The trend toward complete entertainment centers that can provide a full day of activities, including food and retail service. We have found that the facilities that run profitably, longer term, have karts and a marketing focus that includes all age groups and not just corporate adult groups.

Formula K has been building several models of karts which give the appearance of a racing go-kart with the durability and handling to meet the needs of the U.S. Market. Formula K builds gas powered go-karts for all ages that can be run successfully indoors in a well ventilated buildings. However, it is very difficult to heat or air-condition a building that has the required ventilation needed to meet environmental standards. This does not even consider the fire standards for storage and refueling that an indoor facility would be required to meet.

Electric Karts solve many of the issues related to indoor karting: Noise, fueling, ventilation, climate control, and speed controls. Recharging is the one downside of electric karts. Electric karts need to recharge every ride or at least every 10 minutes of running. Cost of fuel is the upside. The energy required of an electric kart is 1/3 of the cost of gasoline or methanol.