My Electric MX-3

[mechman600]

I have owned this car for about a year now and finally decided to join this forum. I recently finished converting it into an EV. May I present: The Elecrtric Booger.



Motor: Prestolite forklift DC motor
Batteries: 12 X 12V 92aH AGM
Voltage: 72V
Controller 1: Alltrax 7245 (Armature)
Controller 2: Kelly 72100 (Field)
Chargers: 6 X 12V eCIty 240W PWM
Heater: blow dryer heater coils
Top speed: 90 km/h
Range: 30 km
Acceleration: sort of almost adequate....

[kulluminati777]

AH this is too cool!!!!!! WELCOME!

[Ryan]

I see you know the way of electrons.

[mikeetown]

this is really cool. Too bad the mileage is only 30 km at the moment.

I want a 4 cyl mx-3. I wonder what it would take to make it a hybrid???

[Dali]

Nice one, welcome to the forum. I take it you're in the vancouver area.

[mechman600]

Yes, I live in Surrey, close to Langley City.

This project was meant to be a very low budget EV conversion for my 6-1/2 km (4 mile) commute (each way). Most conversions cost north of $10K and I managed to finish mine at just under $4K, including the price of the car. I had low goals to keep the price down, hence the 30 km (19 mile) range and 90 km/h (56 mph) top speed. For $10K I could make one that could blow the original engine away and go 120 miles on a charge!

This is my first Mazda car. I found that with tearing the engine out and all the other work I have done on it, these are very well built cars. It sort of surprised me, actually. I wasn't looking specifically for an MX-3 at all, but it was offered for cheap. In hindsight, I'm glad it came up because it is a very nice car to work on.

If anyone is ever in the East side of Surrey, feel free to PM me to take a look at it.

[mechman600]

More pictures:




Does anyone need a 1.6 engine? It's sitting in my garage and nobody seems to want it!

[mitmaks]

It has cool factor to it. However 1.6L isn't a gas hog that was worth converting to electric car. I bet those batteries/motor setup are expensive. Energy is expensive around here, it probably would be cheaper to have gas car than to charge it every so often.

[mechman600]

Nope, the 1.6 wasn't cheaper.
The total build cost me under $4K. I didn't do it to save gas - I did it because it was a cool project. And as a bonus, it is very useful as a commuter now.

Now that it is cold and I use the heater a lot, it's current efficiency is 475-525 watt hours per mile, measured at the wall plug. That is the equivalent of 64-71 mpg. My electricity costs $0.11 per KWH, which is the equivalent of $3.63/gallon of gas.
The 1.6 did 28 mpg at $4.54/gallon.
Do the math. Electric is cheaper. And I expect my economy to almost double in summer when it's warm out. My batteries will be happier and my heater won't get turned on.

[mitmaks]

gas prices depend on state I guess, over here gas has come down a bit for winter.

[crazycanadian]

Thats a really cool interesting project...

You live not to far from me, I am just over in cloverdale...

[Nd4SpdSe]

I've wanted to build an electric car for YEARS. I've seen them well done in Festivas and I'd like to go that route and lighten it right up, doing fiberglass fenders and hood, replacing the rear glass with tinted lexan, finding a model with manual steering and manual brakes (so no vacuu, pump is needed for the brakes). Dropping it down for better aerodynamics. That project is still many years away and good luck finding a good condition Festiva...

[mazda915]

Wow that's amazing bravo my friend super cool man

[Mooneggs]

Welcome to the forum! This is awesome!

[mechman600]

Thanks for all the warm welcomes! I was half expecting "you've ruined a perfectly good car" type responses.... Maybe I have.

Thats a really cool interesting project...
You live not to far from me, I am just over in cloverdale...

Cool! PM me if you want to take a look at it. I will take you for a rip too, but you have to pay for the gas.

I've wanted to build an electric car for YEARS. I've seen them well done in Festivas and I'd like to go that route and lighten it right up, doing fiberglass fenders and hood, replacing the rear glass with tinted lexan, finding a model with manual steering and manual brakes (so no vacuu, pump is needed for the brakes). Dropping it down for better aerodynamics. That project is still many years away and good luck finding a good condition Festiva...

I have yet to "depower" the steering rack, but even now I find that having no power steering pump isn't a big deal on the MX-3.
The Vacuum brakes issue wasn't an issue at all. I used a Volvo vacuum pump ($50 used off eBay) and a $20 vacuum switch to turn it on and off through a relay. It works just as well as when the engine was providing vacuum.