Electric MX3 Conversion

[SpatialTerror]

wow this is pretty cool.
keep up the good work

[amnonholland]

Progress update:

Lithium batteries are just outside my budget so i will be going lead acid, either AGM(preferred) or wet cell.
Lithium cells need alot of associated hardware including cell balances and specials chargers that are expensive.

So i have had to make a new battery box to accommodate the much heavier weight of lead batteries. This box was constructed from 3mm steel welded all up and weighs about 20kg. It will be fixed to the cars frame, either bolting or welding. Some pics
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/amnonhol ... 1708795810
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/amnonhol ... 2189511426
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/amnonhol ... 6080166594

I am looking at something like 12 80Ah batteries to get the 144VDC. With 80Ah batts i can expect about 40kms with 50%DOD. Unfortuately 80Ah batteries weigh about 23kg each so thats ~276kg added weight. It will come out about 100kg heaver than the auto mx3. I will be able to fit 5-6 Batteries in the blue box and will have to get the rest under the hood. Batterie all up will be about 1.5-2.5k AUD depending on type. This is a real budget conversion.

To extend the range i have installed a 2-3kW genset with can be run whenever the battery voltage is lower than you would like i to be : )
Its only a small genset, giving about 20km range per hour it runs for. Some pics of it in the engine bay.
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/amnonhol ... 1658568226
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/amnonhol ... 0887368626

The clutch is not in use.
The brakes are boosted by a separate vacuum pump.
Power steering hydraulic lines are looped.

I have built a new instrument cluster in the dash. The instruments from left to right are; Voltmeter (how much is left in the battery pack), Digital speedo of a motorbike, Ampmeter( how hard your pushing the motor). Bottom gauge is clock and temp.
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/amnonhol ... 1880687106
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/amnonhol ... 0401526242
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/amnonhol ... 7666858274

Motor and controller have not arrived as of yet.

[_-Night-Shade-_]

Wow that's pretty amazing, some excellent progress so far! It sounds like you know exactly what you're doing.

[fowljesse]

That's awesome!
I can't wait to see more progress!
That motor looks tiny.

[SteeleMX3]

just a qick question..do you really need BOTH of those Euro mini sides
I mean, there are starving MX3's in Canada that have none, and here you are with 2!

[amnonholland]

Progress update: 2/6/10

I have 12 75Ah AGM batteries. 6 will go in the front and 6 in the back. 300kg all up unfortunately. These batteries can discharge 1000amps +
although the controller can only handle up to 400max. I purchased these second hand from a UPS system for $30 each, they are in relatively good condition. Later i still intend to get lithium batteries to get the weight down. From my calcs the car should come out at 1300kg with the lead acid batteries. this is about 100kg's heavier than the stock auto gs i believe.

I have the motor(see pics). It is 10" diameter ad 15" long and about 70kg. with the current controller it could produce ~60kW. A larger controller may let it see up to 100kW for short bursts. It only revs to 3000 RPM therefore will develop alot of torque compared to the high reving ICE engine. The next stage is getting the motor joined to the transmission through an adapter plate.
To power the 12v accessory system i am using a 144 to 12v dc-dc converter rated at 30 amps.
The accelerator is replace with a potbox variable voltage controller (see pics) for motor control
The 400Amp controller will be arriving in a few days.
I still need a 144v charger for the battery pack.

http://picasaweb.google.com.au/amnonhol ... onversion#
Updated with more pics

[fowljesse]

That's great!
Why didn't you put all of the batteries in the back?

[SpatialTerror]

well i think he did that to balance the cars weight.

[amnonholland]

Trying to keep the weight distribution around 60/40, F/R,
Also it gives me more space in the back, not that i need anmore space anyway now that its a 2 seater.

Also the nice thing about the 6 batteries (150kg) in the back is that since the pack is so low the the ground, the handling should be somewhat improved with its much lower centre of gravity.

[fowljesse]

Cool. That's what I thought. I showed your worklog to a guy who wanted to go electric, but wasn't sure what car to do. Another guy randomly suggested the MX-3, too.

I'm impressed with your build.

[killaPANDA]

thats gunna be sick keep up the good work

[MrMazda92]

Has this project progressed since the last update? Does anybody happen to know? I found it an excellent read, and some of the general ideas jumped out at me, such as making it a true 2 seater. I love the occasional convenience of having a back seat, but extra bodies make the car slow Who needs 'em?!

[ethand]

wow, this is incredibly cool...
Not sure on the progress, but I seem to recall seeing the white car in the pics up for sale online around june/july this year I think... Anyone else know about this???

[Newfie_dan]

this is wicked cool I have been considering doing this as well as a project, sourcing the electric motor locally would probably be hard unless I went to calgary for it. Getting an electric forklift for parts would be cool but they do not have any scrap yards here for them. Electric motors are really easy to rebuild and upgrade, my suggestion is a h style coupler unless you can get a female to female adapter machined to mate them, make sure you grease the splines well either way with some lithium based spline grease or anti sieze. It will help greatly with spline wear. 2 thumbs up from my end brother keep up the good work.

[mazdags94]

I have to say, when I read the worklog title I thought, yeah yeah, more speculation and theorizing, but after I saw your progress, I am now a believer!

Excellent work so far! Looking forward to some vids.