The Go Pedal Is Connected!

Hello Electrified Miata and Formula Mazda-E fans! Yeah, it's been a while since I last wrote y'all.   I'm now employed at Hyliion, where we are making Class 8, hybrid (series and parallel) Semi Tractors. The new job is taking nearly all my time learning new things, new people and having fun.  That said, we're still making forward progress on the Electrified Miata and Formula Mazda-E, thanks to a GREAT team.   Join us as we journey together to make these vehicles more efficient, quieter and faster!

Here are the highlights of our progress.

We have the go-pedal working.  Brian and Bruce adapted that to the Miata's cable pedal system, with Nolan and Eric supplying the necessary assists.

We have the 3 of the 5 battery modules test fitted in the trunk.   Next we'll be doing a test with all 5 modules in the trunk.   The thought is if there is trouble of any sort, it will be limited to the rear of the car with a cutoff switch and two contactors to keep us safe.

Our protoype effort on the BMS led me to realized I screwed up royally! The crux of the problem is that the BMS balancing function makes a very small (800 milli-amps max) difference to a 220 amp battery.  In addition, the charge curve is very flat in the middle of the range.  All this to say that the measuring function must be very sensitive, to at least 3 significant digits past the decimal point.  Three significant digits will not be accomplished with a 10 bit non-differential analog to digital built into the micro-processor we've been using.   Joe did some brilliant work with the hardware and software we chose to keep the cost down.   I didn't specify and think it through very well.. :(    We'll see how the Zeva BMS system works out on the Formula Mazda-E and make plans from there.   I still need a BMS, but that won't stop us from testing.   It will curtail charging and discharging limit testing for now.  Enough about the BMS.

Brian routed the 00 gauge wire in insulation and color coded the ends for our prototype testing.  Eventually, these will need to be orange conforming the Electric Vehicle High Voltage standard.

The Formula Mazda-E has made progress with the cooling system. While we have
received some parts, we are still waiting on batteries after many weeks. 

Plans going forward are to get the Miata to the point where we can feel
the torque directly and get some 0 to 60 mph measurements.   This will literally
drive our next choices on how to progress forward.   As always, thanks for
reading.