1992 Mitsubishi Mirage Electric Conversion

[Shifty]

I have started an electric conversion of a 1992 Mitsubishi Mirage. I will be tracking its progress here. Hopefully it will be running soon.

First I have to give props to the University of Oklahoma and EVRI (Electric Vehicle Research Institute) for letting me use a shop on campus.

The car was donated by a professor for conversion many thanks for this.

Now here is a picture of the car.

[SVOboy]

Nice stuff! Looking forward to some interesting updates.

[Shifty]

I am still learning how this forum posting works so if some formats are funny it cause i got no idea what i am doing. Ok, now for the details on what i have for the conversion.

Car: 1992 Mitsubishi Mirage
Motor: 3 Phase Induction 50 Kw
Controller: Dolphin

Here is a picture of the engine of the car and me.


The motor control is provided by a dolphin controller powered by lead acid batteries.

In just a bit i will post the progress made so far.

[SVOboy]

If you have any questions about the forum, don't hesitate to ask!

[Shifty]

The first step in converting the car is pulling the engine and removing all the unnecessary parts like the exhaust, engine, gas tank, and radiator. The transmission is left in so the electric motor can be connected to it. A car lift made removing the gas tank and exhaust fairly easy. The hardest part was getting the engine out. There was not much of room to move the engine to clear the front wheel drive transmission.

Now for some pictures. Lets see if i can get these right.

Here is the engine still in the car.
Attachment 1

The car on the lift.
Attachment 2

The motor pulled.
Attachment 3

The next step is to go to the recycling center to turn in the parts for cash to further fund this venture. Before the engine can be turned in the flywheel clutch assembly should be removed an it is useful later.

[MetroMPG]

Nice to see another conversion underway. I always had a soft spot in my heart for the little Mitsu "bread vans".

50kw AC motor! Does the controller have regen?

And it looks like you've found some used components to keep prices down.

What are your plans for the battery pack/system voltage?

[Daox]

Wow, I second the 50kw AC motor! Looking forward to seeing more.

[Shifty]

The controller can do regen. It also has a built in DC/DC converter. The question is will it still work. These parts all are left over from an electric vehicle program that has been idle for a few years but that is starting back up. If anyone has any experience hooking up a dolphin controller let me know.

For power i am planning to use some optima yellow tops. The only downside to this type of controller is it requires about 300 V. I am not too sure if i can handle all that weight, so for starters i might use a bunch of 19 Ah 12 V back up batteries for testing.

[MetroMPG]

For info on that controller, I think there may be a US Electricar Yahoo group.

[jasonm]

In case you have any questions concerning the chassis/suspension of this car, you can go here: http://www.4g61t.com

I used to have the turbo version, and even though I had nearly 200hp to the wheels, I could still get 35mpg out of it.

If the weight is going to increase, you can use the front shocks and springs from an eclipse. The spring rates and valving should be suitable for more weight then the stock parts that you have on there now. I don't remember if the rears are interchangeable with the eclipse (FWD model), but I suspect they are since the suspension setups are nearly identical.