Micah's 1985 Mazda RX7

Owner

Micah

Location

Berkeley, California United States ^map

Vehicle

1985 Mazda Rx7 GSL-SE

Motor

D&D Motor Systems, Inc. ES-15-6 Series Wound DC
6.7" 48-72v 40hp peak, 62lbs

Drivetrain

5 Speed, no clutch

Controller

Alltrax AXE7245
programmable, 72volts, 450 amps

Batteries

8, 6.00 Volt, Lead-Acid, Flooded
Pack of 8 6V flooded lead acid golf cart batteries, 220Ah, 69lbs each

System Voltage

48 Volts

Charger

Chargetech TPRO-220
bank of 2 chargers, each charger will charge 2 12v batteries. 10A per bank.

Heater

Instrumentation

multi meter wired into traction pack, clamp on amp meter.

Top Speed

42 MPH (67 KPH)
on a flat and level road it can get up to 40+ in 5th. Cruising with the speed of traffic on the local main drag (30+mph) pulls about 100A at 42-46 volts, 3rd or 4th gear.

Acceleration

Its great up to about 20mph, 2nd gear. In 3rd its a little bit of a slow starter from a stop but it goes. Hills are terrible, 2nd gear, sometimes 1st and it just crawls up.

Range

25 Miles (40 Kilometers)
never taken it past about 12 miles, and the meter says I'm putting about 1/2 the pack capacity back in.

Watt Hours/Mile

500 Wh/Mile
the commute is a 10 mile drive on flat ground with a 2 mile climb at the end. I'm sure if i average both ways the figure will get much better. But that's the absolute worst case scenario 500w/mile

EV Miles

Start:	167,000 Miles (268,703 Kilometers)
Current:	167,030 Miles (268,751 Kilometers)
Total:	30 Miles (48 Kilometers)
	As of 6/28/2009

Seating Capacity

2 adults

Tires

17"

Conversion Time

2 months

Conversion Cost

$4K

Additional Features

Keyless entry, custom stick to hold up rear glass deck

This Car came from CraigsList. Someone had removed the engine, and everything else from the car. Cut a big hole in the back, then stopped and left it outside for a few years. It was free, and if I knew what I know now I would have walked away. But it got me started, the goal was the make the most basic of basic electric conversions. I set a budget of $4,000 and settled on a 48v system because I already had access to a 48v charger, and the other associated parts are cheaper. For around town driving is fine, it keeps up with the flow of traffic and its fun to drive in parking lots and stop and go. I have plans to go to 12 batteries for 72volts, not sure if the 300 extra pounds will offset the increase in power.

code by jerry