# Daihatsu Mira conversion ?



## 85Turbo (Jun 27, 2008)

hi all, my first post here , so ill introduce myself.

my name is jason, im 36 years old, live in sydney australia.

im sick of paying $1.70 per liter for fuel in a car that uses 15L/100 round town.

this has led me to research an ev build.
i have done some looking into the possible build.

here's what i have in mind, and what i need it to be able to do.

120v system
motor and controller undecided.
batteries considered 10x optima D34 yellow top + 1 smaller battery for anciliries. 
10 x 15A chargers.
dc-dc convertor to charge the aux battery.
various amp and volt meters.

for simplicity, ill probably run no clutch.

the vehicle will need to be capable of a minimum of 50Km on a charge in real world driving conditions. 
that means day, night hils etc etc.
also, a top speed of at least 80km/h would be nice.


i have an initial budget of about 10,000 AU$.
i realise that in the end it will probably cost more than that, but it's a good starting point.

im reasonable competant on the tools, and will be doing a lot of the work myself (with the help of friends) 
i will however have to pay for most of the fabrication of engine mounts and battery box carriers etc.

can anyone tell me if the above goals are realistic given my initial budget ?
and anyone have recommendations on suitable motor and controller combo's ?

i look foward to hearing from everyone.

Jason.


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## mattW (Sep 14, 2007)

Sounds good Jason, that budget looks reasonable for a small car and your goals are reasonable. I'm in Sydney too so I'm happy to help out. I'll give you a few links to whet your appetite a little:


Australian Electric Vehicle Association- http://www.aeva.asn.au/forums/
Sydney Motor/Charger Shop- http://www.evmotors.com.au/index.html
Zero Emmissions Vehicles Australia- https://www.zeva.com.au/store.php
Convert ur Car (Sydney)- http://www.converturcar.com/
NSW EV's- http://www.evalbum.com/geo/New+South+Wales
That should get your research started, also look at our wiki, we've got an ever growing guide to the EV process.

Cheers
Matt


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## 85Turbo (Jun 27, 2008)

thanks for the advice.

i have been in contact with the zeva site operator for about a week now.
that's where i got most of my info from so far.

right now, im doing heaps of research, and concentrating on selling my old gas guzzler. it's currently listed on ebay.

the requirements for range and speed are based on my daily work commute of 40 km. and on those roads the speed limits are no more than 80Km/h.

once the hilux is sold, ill start looking for the donor car.

Jason.


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## 85Turbo (Jun 27, 2008)

just checked out the evcalculator. seems my needed range of 50km, is not remotely do able on my budget. 

with the D34 matteries (10 of them for 120V) my range is expected to be only about 14 miles. that would only just get me half way.....
and that doesnt take into acount hills or decent speeds (70kmh).

maybe this is not something i can do right now ?
anyone have suggestions on how i can reach my performance and range goals ?

Jason.


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## mattW (Sep 14, 2007)

No really I think it is doable, check out the other conversions in NSW that I linked to you as well as:


http://www.electric-echo.com/
http://www.evaustralia.com.au/EVs/TheEVAust1/tabid/63/Default.aspx
There is no reason why you cant get decent range in your conversion, its just a matter of getting enough Ah... Have a look at trojan batteries for higher Ah ratings 100+

And the best documented conversion on the web has to be KiwiEV's amazing Tredia with you tube videos... Even with just 85Ah batteries he gets 35km at 50% discharge... Don't get discouraged, it may end up costing $12 G or something but it will be worth it.


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## KiwiEV (Jul 26, 2007)

mattW said:


> No really I think it is doable, check out the other conversions in NSW that I linked to you as well as:
> 
> 
> http://www.electric-echo.com/
> ...


Thanks for that - I'll have to get my head through the door somehow now... 
As for that 35km at 50% DOD - I did get it but it wasn't easy as my battery pack may be 144 volts, but they're only small 85 a/h batteries. 
I really had to drive like a grandma on marijuana to get that range. I had to think ahead and roll as much as possible up to hills, I had to accelerate SLOWLY like it's 2am and there's no one looking, and stay below 50km/h *always*. It was absolutely tedious but I got 35km from half a charge. Personally it wasn't worth it. It was no fun whatsoever, so treat my claim of 35km (21 miles) from 50% DOD as a once-off that I achieved by _extreme_ economy driving which was as dull as hell!  

Although it's wasteful, I much prefer leaving the gas cars behind me at the lights. That's why I went for 144v in the first place as decent acceleration was paramount.


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## DVR (Apr 10, 2008)

Hi 85Turbo!!!
Nice to have another Aussie on board. (some one else in Sth Aus would be nice tho)

When I first read up on EV's I found this guy in Victor Harbour SA. With his "Iffy" conversion af a Suzuki Swift and dual ETEK's at 48V he got 50+K's at 70 kmph, alltho I suspect it would have been slow. His next conversion ran an PERM 132 at 72V in a Suzuki Alto (very similar to a Mira) with 6 X 12V AGM's and he said it was "much better with 83Kmph and was much more zippy."

He's getting pretty much what you want on low Volts and Victor Harbour is fairly hilly. 120V will be better.
Anyway check out the link and you may get enthused. There are better motors out there also.

BTW I would think twice about running 10 individual chargers as it ties to to charging only at home and negates opportunity charging (at work for instance). I think KIWIEV found that system unsatisfactory (cost him $700 in kiwi play money but he only had 3.5 amp chargers) and then spent $1400 on an onboard Zivan


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## 85Turbo (Jun 27, 2008)

gav,

your conversion was what inspired me to at least research the feasability in the first place. but given my needs for a minimum of 50km real world useability and a butget of not much more than 10k, im not sure it's an option right now.

can you recommend a setup for a mira or charade that might be able to acheive my needs ? (and rough budget)

im completely open to any and all ideas here.

Jason.


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## 85Turbo (Jun 27, 2008)

DVR said:


> When I first read up on EV's I found this guy in Victor Harbour SA.


i had already seen this conversion too....

and as for the individual chargers, my idea was that they would be permanently wired to the batteries, and carried on board. then all i would need would be a 240v outlet to charge. and 15A chargers (10 of them) run to about $1400 & should be able to charge the batteries quickly enough.

my concern with a single charger is that it won't ballance any cells in the pack individually. it would look at the pack voltage as a whole.
where the individual chargers would be better at making sure each pack is at the same (or very similar) voltage at the charge termination.

my first (on paper) design wont work, as the 10x55A AGM's will only supply enough power for about 15 - 20 miles on a charge. and that's not enough.
as that doesnt take into acount hills etc.

so i think ill do more research, and try to figure something out that has a better range. thought about running 20x trojan 210A 6v floodies.
but the weight and space issues might prevent this idea.

Jason.


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## DVR (Apr 10, 2008)

85Turbo said:


> and as for the individual chargers, my idea was that they would be permanently wired to the batteries, and carried on board. then all i would need would be a 240v outlet to charge. and 15A chargers (10 of them) run to about $1400 & should be able to charge the batteries quickly enough.


About the same price as a ZIVAN but much larger and heavier


85Turbo said:


> my concern with a single charger is that it won't ballance any cells in the pack individually. it would look at the pack voltage as a whole.
> where the individual chargers would be better at making sure each pack is at the same (or very similar) voltage at the charge termination.


This is unfortunately true but a BMS at about $30US per cell will cure this and be much lighter than carrying 10 15A chargers onboard. People got buy without them for years though and many still do. Just do a balancing charge once a month or so to top em up.




85Turbo said:


> .............20x trojan 210A 6v floodies.
> but the weight and space issues might prevent this idea.
> 
> Jason.


All the more reason not to lug around 10 individual chargers.

It's all up to you mate, do what you think will suit your needs best. The Mira is a pretty small car tho and needs to be kept light. As a lead sled, any spare weight carrying capacity should be reserved for batteries.


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## 85Turbo (Jun 27, 2008)

looks like way more research is needed on my part.
the trojan T875 looks like it might just fit the bill.

15 of them give me 120v and 150A. with careful driving,
they should provide the range i require.

Jason.


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## 85Turbo (Jun 27, 2008)

*http://tinyurl.com/453rwl

link to the evcalculator that i did.
what are your thoughts on this ?

jason
*


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## poprock (Apr 29, 2010)

85Turbo said:


> hi all, my first post here , so ill introduce myself.
> 
> my name is jason, im 36 years old, live in sydney australia.
> 
> ...


 Hi Jason; have experimented with my 36v 68 Hillman and now have a 1991 Charade 1.6 5 speed. Has anyone had any experience with this conversion?


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## PatricioIN (Jun 13, 2008)

check out my conversion and website... I did a small car at 120v using 170Ah Interstate batteries and could easily do 35miles in range (56km) in warm weather. In cold weather of course you'd get less range if you don't heat and insulate your batts.


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## PatricioIN (Jun 13, 2008)

sorry... that was with 15 8volt batts... weighed 975lbs


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## 85Turbo (Jun 27, 2008)

i have been very slack / lazy.

i still want to build an EV, but it's now on the back burner.

Jason.


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## poprock (Apr 29, 2010)

Thankyou Patricio. It weighs 930kg /2,046 lb. Also, a question for the charade convertors:-when a charade was converted did you remove the whole front platform with gearbox and suspension or were you able to remove the motor only?


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