**Electric Miata: Can Mazda's EV Version Replace Its Gasoline-Powered Heritage?**

The world of motorsports is on the cusp of a significant change as electric vehicles (EVs) begin to make their mark on track days and racing series. One of the most iconic sports cars, the Mazda Miata, has been a staple in the racing scene for decades, but its EV version is generating a lot of buzz. But will it be able to replace its gasoline-powered heritage?

Firstly, let's address some common misconceptions about EVs in racing. While it's true that many fires have occurred on tracks and at events, they often have nothing to do with gasoline hot parts like brakes and electric motors. Even the battery itself can catch on fire, and using water to extinguish a battery fire can cause unsafe electrical discharge.

In fact, water isn't very effective in putting out battery fires, and it may take 10 times as much water to fully extinguish the flames. This is why safety crews are learning and adapting to EVs just like the rest of the world. Despite these challenges, tracks and racing series are already preparing for EVs.

One of the most popular and expensive EV racing series is Formula E, which has been racing purpose-built electric cars since 2014. However, even in this series, nearly half of the cars ran out of electricity before the race was over in April 2021 at the Valencia E-Prix.

In contrast, gasoline-powered cars can make quick pit stops for enough fuel to finish a race. EVs, on the other hand, lack an equivalent "splash and dash" strategy, as their battery packs are lightweight but still require a significant amount of electricity to maintain speed over a long period.

The main issue with using a Miata in endurance racing is that it would need to be able to sustain power for extended periods, which could be difficult given its current weight. The Mazda MX-5 Global Cup series uses heavier cars than Formula E, but the real problem lies in the fact that Miatas have long been used in multi-day events like the 24 Hours of Lemons.

These events require cars to be on track for eight hours a day or more, with no way to quickly add electricity. It's unclear how an EV Miata could ever be competitive in these series, but the organizers of the 24 Hours of Lemons have even offered a $50,000 prize to the first EV team to take a win.

Despite the challenges, Mazda is committed to building and selling electric sports cars, including an EV version of the Miata. The original Tesla Roadster, released in 2011, was just 2,800 pounds and produced 288 horsepower, but its high price point limited sales to around 2,500 units.

However, with advancements in technology and decreasing battery costs, it's possible that a lower-cost EV Miata could be developed. In fact, Mazda is working on making electric sports cars more affordable, with estimates suggesting an EV Miata could cost around $30,000 by 2030.

In conclusion, while the prospect of an EV Miata poses some challenges, it's not necessarily doomed to replace its gasoline-powered heritage. With continued advancements in technology and a commitment from Mazda to make electric sports cars more accessible, we may see a new era for the iconic Miata.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthanks to carmax for sponsoring a portion of this video cannon carving autocross track days racing even off-roading the miata has long been the answer if you wanted a cheap performance car but that could be coming to an end mazda announced plans to electrify every car they sell by 2030 including the beloved that's a problem because nearly all evs have a few unmiata-like things in common they're heavy they're expensive and they're not suited for race tracks but can electrification be made compatible with the cheat thrills we expect from the miata or is the happiest sports car since the non-roll cage go-kart doomed to a sad end future motorsports is hanging in the balance today we're going to see which way to tip the scales let's figure it out thanks to carmax for sponsoring a portion of this video buying a used car is not easy especially when some of us can spend hours days even a month to make sure the car you're buying is the one you love that's why carmax created the love your car guarantee not only do you get a 30-day money-back guarantee which allows you to return the car with up to 1500 miles on it but carmax also offers 24-hour test drives giving you a full day to decide if it's the right car for you before you buy cruise to the canyons get lunch drive it like it's yours because carmax knows that spending time behind the wheel will make you love your car guaranteed see what i did there love your car find your perfect car match today by checking out carmax's love your car guarantee which includes 24-hour test drives and a 30-day money-back guarantee to learn more start shopping at carmax.com or talk to an associate in store today now i'm gonna go drive this for the remaining uh 22 hours 40 minutes and 37 seconds 35 seconds 30 34 seconds thanks carmax for sponsoring that portion of this video for three decades the mazda miata has been the gateway sports car for amateur motorsports because of its low cost and it's lightweight it's accessible for new drivers and sustainable for experienced racers who want a lot of seat time without breaking the bank when the miata debuted 30 years ago the average new car in the us weighed 3 400 pounds about as much as a dozen baby elephants but the miata it weighed just 2 200 pounds four baby elephants less than your average car hey do you like baby elephants well if you do you should like this video too that really helps us out thank you very much every like we get i'm going to say a prayer for baby elephant the weight of a passion vehicle now is around 4 200 pounds twice as much as the miata but 30 years and four generations later the miata has gained just 150 pounds 150 pounds that's nothing i know people who put on more than 150 pounds during summer semester so on average cars have increased in weight by about 25 percent in large part due to more safety equipment improved crash structures and the addition of tech and luxury features but that extra weight doesn't mean they've gotten slower as cars have gotten heavier manufacturers have compensated with more power creating better power to weight ratios in the past three decades average horsepower has increased by 80 percent meaning the power to rate ratio of modern cars is better than ever the miata has seen a more modest horsepower increase just 56 from 116 ponies to 181. the 1990 miata's underwhelming power to weight ratio of 19 pounds for each horse is now 13 pounds per pony far better than most modern cars the original leisurely 0-60 time of 8.9 seconds has dropped to a brisk 5.7 seconds taking the car from it feels fast too it's actually fast of course in a world where teslas are breaking the two-second barrier and luxury suvs and even honda accords can get to 60 in 5.7 seconds the miata might not seem all that fast but power to weight ratio is only one part of the equation i guess two parts if it's power and weight it's two parts of the equation the more you know power car handles is where you really feel the weight of any car because the heavier an object is the more it resists changing direction we did an entire episode about how to engineer a driver's car and making it lightweight is a major tenant colin chapman founder of lotus famously said that to go fast at a racetrack you have to simplify and add lightness should i do a different voice simplify and add lightness all right even though adding more power makes you faster on the straight subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere modeled after lightweight british roadsters the miata has followed that same design philosophy which is why it's so at home on the track once things get racy it takes little effort for the lightweight miata to leave chunky modern cars behind has my catfish ever been passed by miata on the track no never yes it has but possibly the biggest reason why the miata is so popular for amateur racing is the price in 1990 a brand new miata cost just 13 800 bucks adjusted for inflation that's about 28.6 today a brand new miata right now sets you back even less just 26.8 with a better power to weight ratio than the original that means the current miata is a better value than it's ever been kind of like the donut underground you should check it out hit that join button down below but you should probably go and also get a new miata too because mazda might just be about to ruin it forever in just a few years the miata is going electric don't panic my worldly friends because we haven't seen the final internal combustion miata just yet the fifth generation is expected to debut for 2023 although that's likely to be a heavily revised version of the current car not a complete new one the 2030 electrified model could still have some form of combustion too mazda hasn't said whether the car will be fully electric or hybrid that probably hasn't been decided yet but in car development terms 2030 is just around the corner on average new cars take 72 months to develop and big decisions like what powertrain to use happened early on in that process mazda will likely reach a decision about the 2030 miata soon but best guess it'll be full electric having two power sources one gas and one electric like a hybrid is complicated and expensive to develop and manufacture since hybrid vehicles are likely going away with the rest of internal combustion it makes sense that maza would just commit to a fully electric miata but that creates some problems because current evs have some decidedly unmiata characteristics they're heavy they're expensive and they are not built for racetracks electric cars are honkers but it's not because of their motors those are actually lighter than an equivalent internal combustion engine the problem is the batteries they're the single heaviest component in an ev and can weigh as much as 1200 pounds there aren't many cars available in both gasoline and electric versions to see how much difference electrification makes for a single model but the ev version of the ford f-150 weighs 1600 pounds more than its gasoline equivalent because electric motors are very good at making power for an application like an f-150 that extra weight doesn't matter all that much but in a sports car extra weight is a huge problem for cornering and slowing down batteries don't just present a weight problem they're the most expensive part of an ev2 around 30 percent of the total cost to manufacture it the 80.5 kilowatt hour battery pack in a long range tesla model y it's estimated to cost around 9250 bones that high price is because batteries contain expensive metals like cobalt nickel lithium and manganese which need to be mined and processed and converted into high purity versions suitable for long-lasting batteries the weight and cost of batteries doesn't necessarily mean that there can never be an electric sports car though we've already seen that evs can have neck snapping acceleration and that is definitely a good thing on a racetrack electric cars often have their batteries mounted in the floor so weight is low in between the wheels which is good for handling batteries are getting more efficient so weights are going to be decreasing and they're even getting cheaper the cost per kilowatt hour of a battery has dropped from over a thousand dollars in 2010 to 137 dollars in 2020. that's how technology works guys it's expensive at first and then it's cheap so even though the first tesla model s didn't have a great reputation on track the model 3 has become a bit of a sensation appearing regularly at track days around the country although it's still not as common or as cheap as a miata evs are becoming a serious option for some enthusiasts but the increasing number of evs at racetracks creates some new problems for on-track safety on a racetrack accidents happen man they suck but they happen and when they do there are well-trained crews ready to respond but that is a dangerous job tickle not only are there fast-moving vehicles to avoid there are plenty of hazardous and flammable materials too evs are no more likely than any other car to have an incident on a track and you might think because they don't use gasoline evs would present less of a hazard to safety crews but that's really not the case the dangers that evs present are just different one concern for safety crews is electrical discharge under ordinary circumstances the batteries and charging system of an ev are shielded so that no one can come in contact with any part that's dangerous but in a collision the structures and materials protecting people from electrical discharge can become damaged this becomes a bigger concern once fire is involved car fires are something track safety crews have to be prepared to deal with and fires often have nothing to do with gasoline hot parts like brakes and electric motors can ignite plastic or rubber parts of the car or even start fires in dry grass if a car runs off the track in an ev the battery itself can catch on fire too because water conducts electricity using it to extinguish a battery fire can cause unsafe electrical discharge not only that water isn't very good at putting out battery fires and take 10 times as much water and batteries can even reignite after visible signs of a fire are gone so evs aren't necessarily well suited for race tracks but because they're coming anyway tracks and safety crews are learning and adapting just like the rest of the world evs may already be commonplace at track days by the time an electric miata hits the market but miatas are also used for racing and that presents a problem the most popular and most expensive ev racing series is formula e and since 2014 the series has been racing purpose-built electric cars that weigh just 1800 pounds every formula e-race is only 45 minutes long so you'd think that having enough of a charge to run an entire race would be no big deal right but in april 2021 at the valencia e3 nearly half of the cars ran out of electricity before the race was over with gasoline powered cars you can make a quick pit stop for enough fuel to finish the race with evs there's no real equivalent to the late race splash and dash the cars in formula e are lightweight purpose-built race cars racing miatas are road cars adapted for racing and that means a good one like the cars used in the mazda mx-5 global cup series can still weigh more than 2 300 pounds more weight means more electricity is needed over the same race distance which means more battery which means more weight and so on and so forth but the mx-5 global cup races like formula e are only 45 minutes long the real problem of an electric miata for amateur racers is that miatas have long been used for endurance races multi-day events like the 24 hours of limon's lucky dog and champ car require cars to be on track for eight hours a day or more with no way to quickly add electricity it's unclear how an eevee could ever be competitive in these series but everyone knows evs are coming to racing eventually and they're not unwelcome the organizers of the 24 hours of lemons have even offered a 50 000 prize to the first eevee team to take a win so we probably shouldn't give up on miatas once the ev versions arrive tracks and race series are already preparing for evs and batteries are getting lighter and cheaper every single day with those changes it may be possible to make an ed miata that's as good as its combustion forefathers but the real proof that it's possible to make a lightweight electric sports car is because it's already been done the original 2011 tesla roadster was just 2 800 pounds it made 288 horsepower and it had a 244 mile range the problem with that car was it cost a hundred thousand dollars so then we sold about 2 500 of them and that's the scariest part an ed miata might simply be too expensive but the technology is getting cheaper and better every day and if mazda commits to building and selling enough units we could potentially see an eevee miata around 30 grand in 2030. if anyone is going to make the low-cost electric sports car work it's gonna be mazda freaking got faith in those guys so what do you guys think do you think the miata's is doomed we're not gonna have that fun zippy car anymore do you think it's going to be better let me know in the comments below thank you guys so much for watching this episode of b2b follow us here on instagram at donutmedia we got a lot of funny memes on our page we got a whole guy now who's just working the memes we're just a meme page now go follow us on instagram follow me while you're on instagram there too check me out at jeremiah burton thank you guys so so much for watching this episode of b2b until next week bye for nowthanks to carmax for sponsoring a portion of this video cannon carving autocross track days racing even off-roading the miata has long been the answer if you wanted a cheap performance car but that could be coming to an end mazda announced plans to electrify every car they sell by 2030 including the beloved that's a problem because nearly all evs have a few unmiata-like things in common they're heavy they're expensive and they're not suited for race tracks but can electrification be made compatible with the cheat thrills we expect from the miata or is the happiest sports car since the non-roll cage go-kart doomed to a sad end future motorsports is hanging in the balance today we're going to see which way to tip the scales let's figure it out thanks to carmax for sponsoring a portion of this video buying a used car is not easy especially when some of us can spend hours days even a month to make sure the car you're buying is the one you love that's why carmax created the love your car guarantee not only do you get a 30-day money-back guarantee which allows you to return the car with up to 1500 miles on it but carmax also offers 24-hour test drives giving you a full day to decide if it's the right car for you before you buy cruise to the canyons get lunch drive it like it's yours because carmax knows that spending time behind the wheel will make you love your car guaranteed see what i did there love your car find your perfect car match today by checking out carmax's love your car guarantee which includes 24-hour test drives and a 30-day money-back guarantee to learn more start shopping at carmax.com or talk to an associate in store today now i'm gonna go drive this for the remaining uh 22 hours 40 minutes and 37 seconds 35 seconds 30 34 seconds thanks carmax for sponsoring that portion of this video for three decades the mazda miata has been the gateway sports car for amateur motorsports because of its low cost and it's lightweight it's accessible for new drivers and sustainable for experienced racers who want a lot of seat time without breaking the bank when the miata debuted 30 years ago the average new car in the us weighed 3 400 pounds about as much as a dozen baby elephants but the miata it weighed just 2 200 pounds four baby elephants less than your average car hey do you like baby elephants well if you do you should like this video too that really helps us out thank you very much every like we get i'm going to say a prayer for baby elephant the weight of a passion vehicle now is around 4 200 pounds twice as much as the miata but 30 years and four generations later the miata has gained just 150 pounds 150 pounds that's nothing i know people who put on more than 150 pounds during summer semester so on average cars have increased in weight by about 25 percent in large part due to more safety equipment improved crash structures and the addition of tech and luxury features but that extra weight doesn't mean they've gotten slower as cars have gotten heavier manufacturers have compensated with more power creating better power to weight ratios in the past three decades average horsepower has increased by 80 percent meaning the power to rate ratio of modern cars is better than ever the miata has seen a more modest horsepower increase just 56 from 116 ponies to 181. the 1990 miata's underwhelming power to weight ratio of 19 pounds for each horse is now 13 pounds per pony far better than most modern cars the original leisurely 0-60 time of 8.9 seconds has dropped to a brisk 5.7 seconds taking the car from it feels fast too it's actually fast of course in a world where teslas are breaking the two-second barrier and luxury suvs and even honda accords can get to 60 in 5.7 seconds the miata might not seem all that fast but power to weight ratio is only one part of the equation i guess two parts if it's power and weight it's two parts of the equation the more you know power car handles is where you really feel the weight of any car because the heavier an object is the more it resists changing direction we did an entire episode about how to engineer a driver's car and making it lightweight is a major tenant colin chapman founder of lotus famously said that to go fast at a racetrack you have to simplify and add lightness should i do a different voice simplify and add lightness all right even though adding more power makes you faster on the straight subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere modeled after lightweight british roadsters the miata has followed that same design philosophy which is why it's so at home on the track once things get racy it takes little effort for the lightweight miata to leave chunky modern cars behind has my catfish ever been passed by miata on the track no never yes it has but possibly the biggest reason why the miata is so popular for amateur racing is the price in 1990 a brand new miata cost just 13 800 bucks adjusted for inflation that's about 28.6 today a brand new miata right now sets you back even less just 26.8 with a better power to weight ratio than the original that means the current miata is a better value than it's ever been kind of like the donut underground you should check it out hit that join button down below but you should probably go and also get a new miata too because mazda might just be about to ruin it forever in just a few years the miata is going electric don't panic my worldly friends because we haven't seen the final internal combustion miata just yet the fifth generation is expected to debut for 2023 although that's likely to be a heavily revised version of the current car not a complete new one the 2030 electrified model could still have some form of combustion too mazda hasn't said whether the car will be fully electric or hybrid that probably hasn't been decided yet but in car development terms 2030 is just around the corner on average new cars take 72 months to develop and big decisions like what powertrain to use happened early on in that process mazda will likely reach a decision about the 2030 miata soon but best guess it'll be full electric having two power sources one gas and one electric like a hybrid is complicated and expensive to develop and manufacture since hybrid vehicles are likely going away with the rest of internal combustion it makes sense that maza would just commit to a fully electric miata but that creates some problems because current evs have some decidedly unmiata characteristics they're heavy they're expensive and they are not built for racetracks electric cars are honkers but it's not because of their motors those are actually lighter than an equivalent internal combustion engine the problem is the batteries they're the single heaviest component in an ev and can weigh as much as 1200 pounds there aren't many cars available in both gasoline and electric versions to see how much difference electrification makes for a single model but the ev version of the ford f-150 weighs 1600 pounds more than its gasoline equivalent because electric motors are very good at making power for an application like an f-150 that extra weight doesn't matter all that much but in a sports car extra weight is a huge problem for cornering and slowing down batteries don't just present a weight problem they're the most expensive part of an ev2 around 30 percent of the total cost to manufacture it the 80.5 kilowatt hour battery pack in a long range tesla model y it's estimated to cost around 9250 bones that high price is because batteries contain expensive metals like cobalt nickel lithium and manganese which need to be mined and processed and converted into high purity versions suitable for long-lasting batteries the weight and cost of batteries doesn't necessarily mean that there can never be an electric sports car though we've already seen that evs can have neck snapping acceleration and that is definitely a good thing on a racetrack electric cars often have their batteries mounted in the floor so weight is low in between the wheels which is good for handling batteries are getting more efficient so weights are going to be decreasing and they're even getting cheaper the cost per kilowatt hour of a battery has dropped from over a thousand dollars in 2010 to 137 dollars in 2020. that's how technology works guys it's expensive at first and then it's cheap so even though the first tesla model s didn't have a great reputation on track the model 3 has become a bit of a sensation appearing regularly at track days around the country although it's still not as common or as cheap as a miata evs are becoming a serious option for some enthusiasts but the increasing number of evs at racetracks creates some new problems for on-track safety on a racetrack accidents happen man they suck but they happen and when they do there are well-trained crews ready to respond but that is a dangerous job tickle not only are there fast-moving vehicles to avoid there are plenty of hazardous and flammable materials too evs are no more likely than any other car to have an incident on a track and you might think because they don't use gasoline evs would present less of a hazard to safety crews but that's really not the case the dangers that evs present are just different one concern for safety crews is electrical discharge under ordinary circumstances the batteries and charging system of an ev are shielded so that no one can come in contact with any part that's dangerous but in a collision the structures and materials protecting people from electrical discharge can become damaged this becomes a bigger concern once fire is involved car fires are something track safety crews have to be prepared to deal with and fires often have nothing to do with gasoline hot parts like brakes and electric motors can ignite plastic or rubber parts of the car or even start fires in dry grass if a car runs off the track in an ev the battery itself can catch on fire too because water conducts electricity using it to extinguish a battery fire can cause unsafe electrical discharge not only that water isn't very good at putting out battery fires and take 10 times as much water and batteries can even reignite after visible signs of a fire are gone so evs aren't necessarily well suited for race tracks but because they're coming anyway tracks and safety crews are learning and adapting just like the rest of the world evs may already be commonplace at track days by the time an electric miata hits the market but miatas are also used for racing and that presents a problem the most popular and most expensive ev racing series is formula e and since 2014 the series has been racing purpose-built electric cars that weigh just 1800 pounds every formula e-race is only 45 minutes long so you'd think that having enough of a charge to run an entire race would be no big deal right but in april 2021 at the valencia e3 nearly half of the cars ran out of electricity before the race was over with gasoline powered cars you can make a quick pit stop for enough fuel to finish the race with evs there's no real equivalent to the late race splash and dash the cars in formula e are lightweight purpose-built race cars racing miatas are road cars adapted for racing and that means a good one like the cars used in the mazda mx-5 global cup series can still weigh more than 2 300 pounds more weight means more electricity is needed over the same race distance which means more battery which means more weight and so on and so forth but the mx-5 global cup races like formula e are only 45 minutes long the real problem of an electric miata for amateur racers is that miatas have long been used for endurance races multi-day events like the 24 hours of limon's lucky dog and champ car require cars to be on track for eight hours a day or more with no way to quickly add electricity it's unclear how an eevee could ever be competitive in these series but everyone knows evs are coming to racing eventually and they're not unwelcome the organizers of the 24 hours of lemons have even offered a 50 000 prize to the first eevee team to take a win so we probably shouldn't give up on miatas once the ev versions arrive tracks and race series are already preparing for evs and batteries are getting lighter and cheaper every single day with those changes it may be possible to make an ed miata that's as good as its combustion forefathers but the real proof that it's possible to make a lightweight electric sports car is because it's already been done the original 2011 tesla roadster was just 2 800 pounds it made 288 horsepower and it had a 244 mile range the problem with that car was it cost a hundred thousand dollars so then we sold about 2 500 of them and that's the scariest part an ed miata might simply be too expensive but the technology is getting cheaper and better every day and if mazda commits to building and selling enough units we could potentially see an eevee miata around 30 grand in 2030. if anyone is going to make the low-cost electric sports car work it's gonna be mazda freaking got faith in those guys so what do you guys think do you think the miata's is doomed we're not gonna have that fun zippy car anymore do you think it's going to be better let me know in the comments below thank you guys so much for watching this episode of b2b follow us here on instagram at donutmedia we got a lot of funny memes on our page we got a whole guy now who's just working the memes we're just a meme page now go follow us on instagram follow me while you're on instagram there too check me out at jeremiah burton thank you guys so so much for watching this episode of b2b until next week bye for now