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Are the battery boxes aluminum or steel? What kind of tools are required to build the kit? How long will it take to build? How much does the entire project cost? Does it have regenerative braking? Is the motor hooked right to the wheels? How many batteries and how many volts is it? How far can you go on a charge? How long does it take to charge? How much does it weigh, and does it handle okay? Do you need suspension modifications? What are the little boxes on the batteries? How do you deal with the power brakes? How do you deal with power steering? Can I keep the air conditioning system in my converted car? How do you warm the interior in cold weather? Does cold weather affect the car’s performance?
Why a first generation Miata?We decided to focus our first kit on the first generation (NA) Miata because:
What's included in the kit?The kit includes all the pieces that needed to be fabricated to fit the first generation (NA) Miata. Three battery racks Nose rack Top rack Trunk rack Motor mount Brackets Controller/Charger bracket (designed to support a number of different Controller and Charger combinations) High Voltage Enclosure bracket Detailed Installation Guide The motor, controller, charger, batteries, etc. are all available off the shelf from a number of suppliers. Rather than try to compete with these business, we decided to focus on the custom parts. This method provides two great advantages:
Are the battery boxes aluminum or steel?Our battery racks, actually all our components, are made of steel. We believe the weight savings of using aluminum wouldn't be substantial given the overall weight of the vehicle. Plus, we believe that steel will protect the batteries much better in the event of an accident. What kind of tools are required to build the kit?Our kit is designed to be assembled using common hand and power tools. There are two tools required that most people don't have in their shop which can be either rented or borrowed.
Also, our kit doesn't require removal of the gas tank for two reasons
With our kit, the gas tank is drained but remains in place. It's not heavy enough to negatively effect the car's performance. Weight distribution is maintained by balancing the pack between front an rear. How long will it take to build?There are a number of factors that will determine how long a conversion will take.
If you have good mechanical skills, all the parts, all the tools and could devote 8 hours a day to the project, it's estimated to take 3 - 5 days to complete the project. If you have average mechanical abilities and are planning on working on the project only during weekends, plan on 4 - 6 weeks to complete the project. How much does the entire project cost?In round numbers, the entire conversion will roughly cost from $12,000 to $23,000, depending on the battery type, options and whether you currently own an early Miata or not. Please see the project estimate for a breakdown of the costs involved. Is the motor AC or DC?Your choice - the kit works with DC or AC motors and controllers. DC motors provide more torque, so DC based cars are generally faster. AC motors are more efficient and support regenerative braking, so AC based cars generally have a longer range per charge. Does it have regenerative braking?Regenerative braking is offered with AC motors and controllers. DC motors and controllers do not provide regenerative braking reliably. Is the motor hooked right to the wheels?No, the kit uses the standard 5 speed transmission. You'll keep it in 2nd around town and 3rd or 4th on the highway. It drives a lot like an automatic - since the motor doesn’t idle you rarely need to use the clutch. As an option, you can choose to go clutchless. This option doesn't use a flywheel, so it reduces the weight and drag on the motor substantially. Shifting requires a little more attention than when using a clutch, but a lot of EVs are setup this way and for the most part, the owners are quite happy with it. Recently a controller was released that supports Automatic Transmissions. The Soliton1 controller has a setting that will make the motor "idle" - spin at low speed rather than stop. This spinning allows the automatic transmission to function normally. Naturally this extra spinning of the motor will impact the range as will he automatic transmissions reduced efficiency, but if a manual transmission is keeping you from going electric, this may be the answer, How many batteries and how many volts is it?The lead acid version has thirteen 12 volt deep cycle Optima AGM batteries - 4 in the nose, 4 above the motor and 5 in the trunk, all wired in series for a total of 156 Volts. These are sealed, they never need to be watered and won't leak or splash acid even if punctured. Of course, Lithium batteries are also sealed and don't need maintenance like watering. Our kit is designed to work with a number of Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO) batteries (which do not have issues with thermal runaway). Though there are lots of options, we wanted provide a couple for our estimates page. The examples we list in our Estimates page are:
Either of these options could be wired partially in parallel for lower voltage motors and controllers. How far can you go on a charge?The Lead Acid version gets about 20 miles per charge with a DC motor and controller or about 25 with an AC motor and controller.. The examples we give for Lithium:
How long does it take to charge?The Lead Acid version with the Zivan charger takes about 6 hours to charge when the pack is fully discharged. Since a good amount of this time is spent conditioning the batteries, the charge time is estimated at 8 hours for the 40 Amp and 10 hours for the 90 amp version. What’s the car's top speed?The top end is estimated at 93 mph. Speed, however, reduces your range substantially. How much does it weigh, and does it handle okay?The weight of the converted car depends on the battery configuration you choose. Here’s a chart to give you an overview:
In general, the converted car handles well, as the weight distribution numbers indicate, though it will feel a little heavier than stock Do you need suspension modifications?No, you don't have to upgrade the suspension since the battery pack isn’t much heavier than stock and the weight is well distributed. We do lower the front sway bar 2" to clear the Nose Rack. What are the little boxes on the batteries?Those are regulators. Since the batteries are in series they all charge together and some will "fill up" faster than others. The regulators keep the full batteries from getting overcharged while allowing the batteries that aren’t fully charged to "fill up". This applies to both Lead Acid and Lithium battery types. How do you deal with the power brakes?In an ICE car, the power brakes work off of the engine’s vacuum. In an electric car, we need to add a vacuum pump to create the vacuum. The vacuum pump mounted below the battery rack on the passenger side beside the motor. It is plumbed to a vacuum switch, so when the brake booster needs more vacuum it turns on to keep the brakes working. How do you deal with power steering?Miatas come with both manual and power rack-and-pinion steering. Rack and Pinion is a very efficient design and, though the front of the car is heavier than stock, it's quite manageable with manual steering. Most conversions will either use the manual steering or if the car came with power steering, remove the power steering pump and loop the lines back to the steering box so that it doesn't run dry. If you do need to go with power steering, there are a couple of options: I
As for placement, there is room under the Nose Rack or beside the IOTA DC/DC converter. Another option is to mount the pump where the vacuum pump is located - under the Top Rack on the passenger side - and move the vacuum pump to another location. Even with an electric pump, power steering will impact your range. We would recommend choosing a battery option that had at least 25% additional range to provide adequate power. Can I keep the air conditioning system in my converted car?In general, air conditioning systems take a lot of power. One of the reasons a Miata makes such a great electric conversion is because it is a convertible. Hot weather is a good opportunity to put the top down and enjoy the breeze. Another option is to leave the top up, but lower the windows and unzip the back window. This will keep the sun off the occupants but allow the air to flow through the cockpit. If you live in an area where air conditioning is a necessity, then you may want to consider using a unit like the Cool Blue: http://www.electricbluemotors.com/coolblue.html We haven’t done an installation of the Cool Blue with one of our EV Miata Kits, but they are compact units and may be able to be adapted to work. How do you warm the interior in cold weather?A heater of some sort is needed to defrost the windshield and warm the interior in cold weather. An ICE car is warmed by the waste heat created by the engine. This heat is transferred to the cooling system which is connected to a small radiator (heater core) mounted under the dash. Since an electric car doesn’t have any waste heat, another solution needs to be devised. You can replace the heater core with an electric unit or, add a small electric water heater and pump to route the heated water through the heater core. A more common solution is to install a hair dryer in line with the vent pipe under the dash behind the glove box. The power can be provided from the battery pack, since the dryer will work on either 120 or 220 volts. A switch mounted on the dash can turn the dryer on and off. In any case, you will find that the car's cockpit heats up quickly under electric power. Does cold weather affect the car’s performance?In general, batteries don't hold their charge very well at low temperatures. We would recommend wrapping the racks in insulation if the car will be in below 40 degree weather for extended periods. A battery warmer is a good idea as well. There are a few battery warmers on the market and here is a link on how to make your own: http://www.instructables.com/id/EV-Battery-Warmer-Part-1/ Battery warmers could be installed below the Nose and Trunk Rack. The Top Rack doesn’t have the clearance below, so the warmer would need to be installed in the rack below the batteries. The battery hold down straps would then need to be shimmed since the batteries would now be higher than originally designed.
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