Quote:
Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary
Mazda says they want to go all electric. But I can't imagine an all electric Miata. Electric cars can be fast, but they're too obese to be nimble.
Then there's the whole charging infrastructure issue. At least that has some hope though.
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I can see how an all electric roadster *could* be made.
There are some advantages to the roadster Mazda *could* make use of to avoid having to use a big battery.
A roadster fitted with a fastback style hardtop has an absurdly low cda, it would be easy to beat even the gen 1 Insights cda with it.
Plus the low weight means it has a low rolling resistance.
And Mazda is great at aero as well as low weight these days, so if anyone can pull it off, it's them.
By pure coincidence the next generation Miata would be the "NE"
As for charging, with CCS it could be an interesting and allow you to get away with less range.
More than 200-300 km would likely not be required, and with a low drag body that shouldn't require much of a battery.
Given the EPA figures of the Model 3, using 170 Wh per km or 17 kWh per 100 km, a fastback roadster needing about 2/3 of that would require 11,3 kWh per 100 km.
So a 30 kWh battery would give it close to 300 km of range.
A 30 kWh pack weights about 150 kg, not exactly terribly much.
Add some 50 kg worth of motor(s) and controllers and you have a drivetrain that weights about 200 kg.
Not significantly different than the ICE drivetrain as the engine alone is probably about 100 kg, plus gearbox, exaust system, propshaft etc.
The drivetrain layout could be more or less EV-1 style with the T-shaped battery and motor(s) on the rear axle.
For better handling I suppose 2 small 50-75 kW motors, one for each wheel would be ideal.
Giving it torque vectoring abilities and the equivalent of a limited slip differential without the drawbacks associated with it.
But these are just my thoughts on it...