Australia's first electric MX5!

[Hoops]

Cheers guys, yeah I am very keen to start doing some motorsport with the car so it was good to come check out what the MX5 Club gets up to. Racing among the MX5's brethren seems like a good way to start. I also went for a quick meet & greet at tonight's committee meeting, and picked up a membership form.

I'll get in touch with Warwick Gates to see when I can next join you guys on the track. As far as I know it'd be the first EV in WA competing in motorsport, which'd be pretty cool. (I can't imagine it being particularly competitive, but gotta start somewhere!)

I'm not particularly precious about "my baby" so am happy to let others have a go behind the wheel too. As I say it's not super powerful (similar to a stock NA6 probably) but electric cars offer quite a different driving experience which I think can be appreciated most of all by car enthusiasts. I certainly enjoy driving it.

[zombie]

Hi Ian

Our next Motorsport event is on the 31st of October - it would be great to see you there

If you haven't already got an AASA or CAMS license, you will need to organise one before the event - details are on the linked page.

[Hoops]

Hmm looks like I'm going to be over east on the 31st.. and unfortunately again when the "Funkhana" is on in late November. (Busy couple of months ahead!) Oh well, soon enough we'll get this thing out onto the track.

Hey a question for the experts, the car currently has some rubbish D2 coilovers which I'm not very happy with, what suspension would people recommend around the $2-3K mark? Preferably something reasonably comfortable on the street as well. I hear good things about the Bilstein PSS9 though they might be a little outside the budget. And is it worth doing antiroll bars and strut braces etc?

[marcusus]

$2-$3K will get you some pretty good stuff. From what I recall when I was looking around, PSS9's were within that price range, but you'll have to confirm to see if that's still the case. I've got Tein Super Streets and I feel they're perfect for my use, which is daily drive with occasional track. I've also got a factory Mazda front strut brace along with Signature adjustable front/rear (I forget the exact widths... they're just the regular ones you can get from MX5 Mania) sway bars and I reckon they're all worth doing. Of course, the sways will be affected by my shocks and vice versa, but everything seems to work well together.

If you go for a slightly lower level coilover, you can easily fit in the front strut and sway bars wthin the budget too.

[Hoops]

So I'm considering selling this car now, in order to help fund a new EV project! (The more electric cars we can get on the road, the better )

It is hard to know what a fair market price is for such a thing though, with so little precedent for electric car sales. I'd be interested to know what people think might be reasonable (regardless of whether or not you actually have any interest in buying it). It cost me about $35K all up I guess, excluding labour of course. So I was thinking $20-25K might be fair.

The car has been running great lately (in fact I had it out on the track at DTEC again this week which was fun) but being a heavily modified 21y/o vehicle, I'd want to see it go to a good home i.e an MX5 and/or EV enthusiast!

[Okibi]

Given most people probably don't know what is required to build an EV I suggest you do a cost breakdown in your for sale ad.

ie.

3 super special 100000mhA Ze Uber battery packs from Germany cost $15,000 sounds better than "3 battery packs".

[Hoops]

Yeah, sounds like a good idea. For interest here's a quick list of the main bits, at today's pricing (most a bit cheaper now than when I bought mine):

40x ThunderSky LFP 3.2V 160Ah lithium batteries, ~$9K
40x CM160 Battery management modules, ~$500
NetGain Warp 11 motor, $4K
MC600S 144V 600A motor controller, $1450
Zivan NG3 2kW charger, $1750
IOTA DLS-45 DC/DC Converter, $350
MES 70/6E vacuum pump, $400
EV Management System, ~$300
Fuel Gauge Driver+, $200
Masterflux electric airconditioning system, ~$1500
ThunderSky 12V 40Ah lithium battery (for the 12V system), $220
Kilovac EV200 500A contactors x 2, ~$200
Nanfeng reversing contactor, $200
400A 500V Bussman fuse, $100
Power cables, ~$100
Aluminium motor mount and battery boxes, around $500 in materials and TIG welding.

So, a touch over $20K in parts, if someone wanted to do the same to their own MX5.

[marcusus]

I reckon my old man would love a look in. Shame he's in Sydney whilst I'm here in WA. He loves his EV's, and quite likes my MX.

[muncher]

Ian,

Great work with what you are doing! It's so refreshing to see someone with the same passions environment/cars!

Keep up the great work and don't let anyone tell you otherwise!

Cheers

[Hoops]

Ah that reminds me - the car has now been sold! Found a buyer quite quickly, and it was a bit sad seeing my precious baby drive off, but the new owner seems like he'll take good care of it. And I console myself with the fact that it's sale enables me to start my next EV project..

So I'm now on the hunt for a good Series 8 RX-7 Type RS. Not an MX5 I know but most would agree they're one of the finest sports cars of the 20th century, and one of my all-time favourite cars. Hopefully with a few more years experience behind me now, I'll be able to do it justice with a suitably high performance electric drive system.

[vrmmmpshhh]

nooo.. rx7s were made to overheat and break down... all my friends and gf loved having me smell like i toweled off with an oily rag.

[Okibi]

I love the FD RX-7s but I don't know if they're the same without the Brap brap brap of a rotary!

[hks_kansei]

Just have a whipper-snipper engine at the back powering a small generator.

Keep battery charged, and it sounds the same as a rotary

[outbreakmonkey]

Has anyone thought about doing a diesel electric? I know Topgear gave it a half arse go.

[vrmmmpshhh]

in europe the petrol stations have disposable gloves for the diesel pumps. Can you imagine a hippie tree lover in aus pulling up in their diesel/electric and getting diesel on their hands and their interior.