| Owner | Mike and Dave | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Brisbane, Queensland Australia map | ||||||
| Web/Email | WebPage | ||||||
| Vehicle | 1990 Mazda MX-5 Sporty convertible with low centre of gravity and excellent road holding; original ICE was 1.6 L | ||||||
| Motor | Asea Brown Boveri 3GAA 131 008E 3-Phase AC 22 kW (cont @ 230 Vac, 50 Hz), 2 pole, long 132 frame, Aluminium frame | ||||||
| Drivetrain | Standard 5-speed manual gearbox and clutch; using 3.636:1 diff in place of stock 4.3:1. | ||||||
| Controller | Tritium Wavesculptor200 165 kVA 450 Vdc | ||||||
| Batteries | 228 CALB/Skyenergy SE40AHA, 3.29 Volt, Lithium-Ion Sky Energy SE40AHA Lithium Iron Phosphate x 212 via bulk buy from EV Components. Added another 16 from EV Works. Stage 1: 375 V; stage 2: 750 V | ||||||
| System Voltage | 375 Volts | ||||||
| Charger | Elcon TCCH-417V-5.5A-CAN With CAN bus option. We have two of these now. | ||||||
| Heater | 2 x 500 W ceramic PTC heaters (not installed yet) | ||||||
| DC/DC Converter | We hope that 2x Meanwell HLG-240H-15A power supplies in parallel across each half of the pack will be enough | ||||||
| Top Speed | 75 MPH (120 KPH) Stage 1: est 120 km/h; stage 2: est 160 km/h | ||||||
| Acceleration | Unknown; will be better than original ICE | ||||||
| Range | 100 Miles (160 Kilometers) Est 160 km | ||||||
| Watt Hours/Mile | 322 Wh/Mile Est 200 Wh/km. | ||||||
| EV Miles |
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| Seating Capacity | 2 adults | ||||||
| Curb Weight | 2,163 Pounds (983 Kilograms) Before conversion. Engine and gearbox combined are 170 kg. | ||||||
| Tires | Stock | ||||||
| Conversion Time | Not finished yet; started in February 2009. Spent months developing analogue BMS; abandoned. Spent well over a year (1-2 days per week) on digital BMS development. | ||||||
| Conversion Cost | Batteries AUD 13K (212) + AUD1K (16) Controller AUD 7K inc GST Motor AUD 2600 Chargers US$ 649 each plus import costs but including freight (US$ 165) and CAN interface DC/DCs AUD 440 | ||||||
| Additional Features | Replaced manual steering with power steering Keeping existing air conditioning Upgraded brakes to NB model 250 mm disks all wheels Upgraded to NB8B 3.636 differential | ||||||
| Attempting to produce a sporty conversion with better performance than the original. We planned to do more MX-5s to amortise the learning costs over several conversions. 2009/Apr: the engine is out. Still considering two lithium battery options: 40AH Thunder Sky, or 30AH China Power (high discharge versions). 2009/June: Sky energy batteries ordered weeks ago; controller arrived; motor almost ordered (just waiting for final options). Motor will take 5 weeks to manufacture and 9 weeks (!) to ship. 2009/Oct/13: Batteries arrived months ago; started battery racks. BMS PCB design completed and prototype arrived. Motor ordered and now due late December. 2009/Dec: Having completed an analogue BMS design, we're now considering a redesign using a microcontroller per cell. Three battery cages are welded (no cells installed yet). 2010/May: Decided to switch from industrial controller to Tritium Wavesculptor200. Motor has arrived, and we have a plywood "adapter plate" for measurements. Completed the digital BMS design; testing prototypes. Almost complete on 5 battery boxes. 2010/July: Installed potbox. 2010/Nov: Tritium controller and motor are home from dyno testing 2010/Dec: Installed custom flywheel. 2011/Jan: Got the motor running from 24 VDC. 2011/Feb: Driver Controls is talking to both BMS and charger, cutting back charger on over-voltage, and detecting all BMUs (Battery Management Units) in bypass. 2011/Mar: Motor coupled and installed (still needs final balance) 2011/May: still tweaking BMS. Using industrial fibre. Chasing measurement glitches. 2011/June: First drive with one battery box (28 cells; 93V). Video: WebPage . 2011/Sep: All battery boxes complete and painted. Now concentrating on getting the car ready for the Brisbane EV festival. 2011/Oct: Air conditioning bracket completed, also mounts vacuum pump, starting contactor boxes. Power steering pump mounted. Three battery boxes installed. Frame for mounting two under-bonnet contactor boxes made and painted. Three contactor boxes completed; controller pre-charges and connects to the pack with the key-switch now. It moved under its own power for the Brisbane AEVA festival. 2012/Jan: Three battery boxes (of 8) are complete. Still chasing possible BMS comms problems. Had setback with pre-charge resistor exploding: adding thermal cutout, redesigning 12 V wiring. Repositioning motor controller to allow space for two more contactor boxes. 2012/June: BMS testing is complete, final PCBs have arrived, parts about to be ordered. Motor controller repositioned. Started installing cells into next battery boxes. Boot floor reinstalled. 2012/July: BMS parts arrived, started loading components using a frypan and a rework station (the latter mainly for the bypass resistors). Two more battery boxes are ready for BMUs. 2012/Sep: The BMUs are finally manufactured. Starting the last battery boxes in earnest; installing BMUs in all boxes. See also our AEVA Member's Machines page: WebPage | |||||||
1990 Mazda MX-5 AC
“MX-lightning”
(under construction)
Last Updated 09-29-2012
Copyright © 1997-2013 by Mike Chancey