Car Stats
I have always thought the MG Midget would make an excellent electric car. It is one of the lightest vehicles around, and it requires no power anything to work. By this I mean no power steering, brakes, air conditioning, etc. With LiFePo batteries you can keep the added weight down to the same as carrying a passenger. So here I’ll try to describe the basic characteristics of my converted car.
Components used:
Motor Warp 9 Impulse
Controller Soliton Jr.
Batteries (38) 160Ah Thundersky lifepo cells
BMS Elithion
Charger Elcon PFC2500
Heater Ceramic element (hi 1100 watts, low 375 watts)
Water-cooling Phobya CD12-220 pump, brass radiator for water cooled CPU
DC-DC converter 120volt to 13.8 volt (65 watts)
Weight:
I was able to obtain the use of 4 scales, one for each wheel when I started this project. This allowed me to weigh my stock 1974 gas midget, and my 1977 electric midget as I built it. Below are the weights (units are in lbs)
’74 Gas midget
LF 427, RF 436, LR 414, RR 403 Total = 1680, weight distribution 51.37%
’77 electric midget with the Warp 9 Impulse motor installed
LF 413, RF 370, LR 344, RR 376 Total = 1497
’77 electric midget, 20 batteries in the trunk, 18 batteries in the engine compartment, ready to run
LF 488 RF 489, LR 550, RR 533 Total = 2060, weight distribution 47.4%
Weight 2060 lbs
Cd coefficient of drag (est) .48
Frontal area (meters) 1.67
Crr Rolling Resistance .013
Max motor torque @580amps 90 ft-lbs
Estimated best 0-60 mph time 12 sec
Range @ 55 mph is 78 miles (no stops, starts, 80% DOD)
Latest measurements show 83 miles at 50 mph, 80% DOD, I removed the luggage rack (5% reduction in power required at 55 mph!!), and freed up the emergency brake cable.
Measured range to empty pack (when BMS detected a low cell at 2.7 volts) 112 miles!