Baby Steps

This whole project could be a little overwhelming.  But without any real time pressure, stringing together many little tasks makes it quite do-able and less daunting. Trouble is, you don't note any real blog-worthy milestone.

Jared and John making a battery pack for the nose.

Realizing then we're a bit behind in communication.  Since the last post, we've gotten the top and front battery racks in.  The latter was a conundrum because the mounting holes were seemingly in the wrong place.  Easy fix, but only after several emails and much hmmm'ing in order to determine that Mazda evidently moved something in the front sway bar mounting for 96-97.  So, it wasn't me.  Also now have cables from the front to the back and batteries in two of the 4 spots.  Each cell gets its own battery management system (BMS) circuit board and a strap to connect to its neighbor.  The challenge was to lay them out in a way to minimize the pieces of cable required, fit all the cells in the racks and hope that you can get to the connection spots once you've tipped the under-hood batteries on their side (required for the "fit all..." requirement).  14 in the trunk, 16 under the hood (8 on top and 8 in the nose).

Batteries on one side of the nose rack.  Top rack on left.

Along the way I determined that the charger I selected is too tall to fit under the hood.  Oops.  But it can go in the trunk just as well.  Very glad that was sorted out before pulling cables through the conduit, because it affects where the wires have to go.  Would have been an epic bummer to learn this when trying to close the hood for the first time.

14 in the trunk.  These will get covered with a clear plastic plate.

Other than mounting a few electrical components our mechanical work is about done.  Wiring will likely take a long time with a few more lost hairs.  Wiring diagrams provided with motor, controller, charger, BMS, conversion instructions create quite a puzzle.  And when we turn the key the first time....?  But that is many baby steps down the path.

In other news, I was quite surprised when notified that the Tesla would be ready for delivery between now and Feb 12!  Scrambling just a little to get a 220V 50A plug in the garage connected to the off peak meter.  Although it will charge from a 110 outlet, just slowly (and with a cost of about $.04/mile vs $.02). So, we won't be motoring in top down Miata style while waiting for the big EV, but still have our sights on a Miata deadline loosely defined as "spring".