Steve Mangum Built This Electric Miata Right in His Carport in Downtown Tallahassee

The other day I received an email from Steve Mangum - my neighbor across the highway in Indian Head Acres.

Steve said, "I came across your blog in the Democrat and wanted to let you know that all-electric vehicles are closer and more affordable than you might think, providing you don't mind turning wrenches."

Saturday at 9 AM he dropped by my house with this beautiful little sports car. At first I thought it was Thomas Magnum PI the Hawaiian detective - but this guy spells his name M-A-N-G-U-M. The red convertible has no outside appearances of being electric - unless you count the "Bye Gas" vanity license plate. I hopped into the passenger seat and away we went. The car was perfectly silent. There was no starter grind - no throaty exhaust - no exhaust pipe spitting out smelly fumes.

After turning onto the highway I quickly realized that this was not the glorified golf cart I expected. A stomp on the accelerator - don't say gas pedal - pinned my head back to the leather seat restraint. The car shot off getting to 70 MPH without much effort. The Miata has its original 5 speed transmission which could be shifted from gear to gear without using the clutch - but the car could be driven all day in 3rd gear because electric motors have so much torque. The only sound was the wind whipping your hair about if you have any.

As we pulled up to many cars at the red lights on Apalachee - I had the urge to tell the driver next to me that we were in an electric car. The only giveaway would be the perfect silence while we were stopped. We easily left the others cars at the red lights with all the low end power this mute car has.

We covered a total of 15 miles - the car never exhibited a drop off in power. The 10 Sears DieHard batteries in the trunk and under the hood would provide a range of about 25 miles. There is room for a few more batteries. At $300 each - $3000 of the project cost was spent there. At least they were covered by a long warranty and could be purchased locally. The motor is under the batteries and takes up the space of about two volleyballs.

Back home on the driveway - I examined the car from stem to stern. Steve did not cut corners - the fit and finish rivals cars coming off the production line. Nothing was butchered to make the conversion. The owner said he could easily put it all back together as a gas-powered car in a couple hours. No expense was spared to buy top quality batteries - motor - controller - and other hardware.

Inside the cabin - the only thing different was a digital gauge on the console that could be toggled to read out volts - amps - watts - range - miles - and tons of other calculations. To the lay driver - all you need to know is put the key in - select forward or reverse and drive away.

Rough estimates of the cost are $13,000 and 200 hours of work. The Miata cost $4000 and the parts add another $9000 to it. If labor cost $20 an hour - which is low - it would cost $17,000 to build. Realistically it costs about 6 cents a mile to operate.

I asked Steve how his wife Rebecca felt about his tinkering. He said she is his number one fan. She said, "When Steve got the little car up and running we took a jaunt around the capitol in the middle of the night, freezing, (in our pajamas!), and laughing the entire time. (He hadn't even put the hood back on.) With support like that - bring on the next project.

This Miata is an excellent daily commuter. Steve rides it from home to his job near the Capitol. He has already built an electric bicycle and I understand that his next project may be a small truck. Rumors are - he might sell this car - to make room in the carport to build his next project vehicle.

Maybe the savior of the American auto industry lives in the innovative minds of weekend warrior dreamers like Steve. At least some people are happy with $4.00 a gallon fuel prices.









Pictures -
1 - Steve Mangum in his electric Miata.
2 - "Plug Er Up!" charging in the carport.
3 - Interior is normal except for fuel gauge.
4 - Computer toggles through volts - watts - amps - range.
5 - Under the hood are batteries - controller - motor
6 - No oil or grease to mess up this motor.
7 - Charger plug is under filler cap.
8 - "Bye Gas" get it?