Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Posted ImageWelcome to the all new Geo Metro Forum. We hope you enjoy your visit.

You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are features you can't use and images you can't see. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free. If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Join our community!




Username:   Password:
Add Reply
Electro Metro; Lotsa pics
Topic Started: Aug 23 2012, 11:40 PM (15,546 Views)
evmetro


Stubby
Feb 1 2014, 06:50 PM
So what's the total cost so far? ballpark?
I usually do a good job dodging that question in all of my builds, but that was pretty direct. This rig has just a hair over 20k into it, plus a shitload of hours. It will probably never be "done" either, but I suppose that is the nature of custom cars. You could probably pick up a nissan leaf for what I have into this, but it certainly would not be as fast and fun and a leaf would jack your electric bill up a bit higher than this one. I actually looked at Leafs, but they only had the special EV plug for charging, and no 110 volt charge port. It also looked extremely proprietary where you can't swap any of the parts and you have to live with what you get, a big problem in my world. I like to work on my own car and upgrade things. I would never be content with so so power and speed, so so charging speed, and so so fuel economy in a blah looking chassis that can only recharge at special charging stations. Anyway, more than 20k so far, and another 6.5k when I get the second pack installed.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
GeoStalker
Member Avatar
"Chicks dig me and guys think I'm cool."

EV, have you ever looked into the feasibility of using solar to charge the batteries? I would assume you'd have an initial cost for the solar panels, but once they paid for themselves, could you generate enough voltage to charge the batteries within several hours or so of direct sunlight?
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
evmetro


GeoStalker
Feb 16 2014, 10:23 PM
EV, have you ever looked into the feasibility of using solar to charge the batteries? I would assume you'd have an initial cost for the solar panels, but once they paid for themselves, could you generate enough voltage to charge the batteries within several hours or so of direct sunlight?
Solar panels and EVs go hand and hand, but the catch to the deal is that they need to be left behind when you drive away. They produce less energy than it takes to haul them around. If you have your panels mounted to your garage, car port, or somewhere at home, they can very effectively "fill your tank". The battery pack in this EV reads 150 volts, so thirteen 12 volt panels wired in series is all that it takes to charge it. They can be 13 cheap panels from auto zone, or 13 big commercial panels, whatever ones budget allows. The small ones charge the car slowly and the big ones do it faster. Even faster yet would be several series strings of 13 wired in parallel. The small string of 13 would take about 3 months to charge it up, and a very large array can do it in an hour.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Freeman
Member Avatar
The Family Man

There was a question and then, for me at least, a depressing answer.

I do like the project to say the least. Interesting. I always click it just to see what's happening. But I would like there to be a 'finished' project sometime, which you said there really never will be. I like finished products :D
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
evmetro


I finally got my shipment of lithium from China, so this ride can get its second pack upgrade. This shipment had lithium for several EVs, so it weighed almost 1700 lbs. My pickup was squatting pretty low all the way from the port in Oakland to Sacramento, and I was thinking that this was a bit heavy for the pickup. Then I realized that this load was the same weight as the heavy lead batteries that this Metro came with when I rescued it. It blows my mind to think about a metro loaded with 1680 lbs of lead. I guess if a metro can haul 1680 lbs, my pickup can too.

The biggest lithium cells are 300 AH cells for a different build, and the next size down is what I got for this ride. I have 45 of these 100 AH cells in it already, and now have 47 more of these. My plan is to run 46 pairs of 100 AH cells, but I am going to program my computer to think that it is seeing 46 200AH cells instead of 46 pairs of 100 AH cells.

Those really small cells are to make lightweight 12 volt batteries for the wipers and headlights and such. (Aux battery). I got enough to put four of these into each of the electric metros instead of the lead wheelchair batteries that I have been using. Since they are 3.2 volts each, four of these will make a 13.8 volt battery instead of the 12 volt batteries that we use in metros. I can have the group of four rest at 14.2 volts.


Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Coche Blanco
Member Avatar
Troll Certified

Can you put a dollar bill in that picture so I can get some reference?
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Anita
New Member
[ *  * ]
Any more updates on this project? We've been wanting to turn one of our Geo's into electric and finding this thread got us all excited. :-)
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
evmetro


The wheels and tires are updated to match the wheels on the Tevie1 electric Metro in my signature below. This is a pic from the car show today.

Posted Image

You can see the wheels match the sister car on the right.

Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Mythstae
Member Avatar


Yeah... after I saw the knife-wheels on the car, I realized it was a mistake to suggest them.
Sorry! :( My bad.

(I've seen them on the older cars, though, and they look better on them, for some reason.)
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
evmetro


Mythstae
Aug 24 2014, 05:33 PM
Yeah... after I saw the knife-wheels on the car, I realized it was a mistake to suggest them.
Sorry! :( My bad.

(I've seen them on the older cars, though, and they look better on them, for some reason.)
I still like the grey knife wheels, but they just didn't go with this car very well. The knife wheels are on the white 93 now, and it have a pretty good feeling that they will look pretty good with the white and the early body style.

Here is one last pic of this car from the car show today. It is too late to close the hood all the way and retake the pic, since the car show is over now. Oh well.

Posted Image
Edited by evmetro, Aug 24 2014, 06:29 PM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
LT7A
Member
[ *  *  * ]
I realize this thread has been dormant for awhile but still wanted to say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Good photos. Fabrication and welding are superb. I've never been interested in electric cars, love internal combustion and the sounds that go with it. But this is the first time I have ever thought having an electric car would be cool. I've never seen a hot rodder do an electric car. BTW, from me, calling someone a hot rodder is a compliment, so please hear it that way. Something about 240 silent hp on tap "sounds" like fun. The costs associated with this method of propulsion will keep me out of the juiced coupes for another decade though.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
evmetro


LT7A
May 16 2015, 11:41 AM
I realize this thread has been dormant for awhile but still wanted to say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Good photos. Fabrication and welding are superb. I've never been interested in electric cars, love internal combustion and the sounds that go with it. But this is the first time I have ever thought having an electric car would be cool. I've never seen a hot rodder do an electric car. BTW, from me, calling someone a hot rodder is a compliment, so please hear it that way. Something about 240 silent hp on tap "sounds" like fun. The costs associated with this method of propulsion will keep me out of the juiced coupes for another decade though.
Thanks for checking it out, and thanks for the good words.

There are lots of mid blowing videos on youtube about hotrod EVs. If you want to see some serious electric hot rodders, youtube white zombie and black zombie.

If you are into the fab work, there is a bit of that in my 93 Metro, there is a link in my signature...
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
georandy
Member Avatar


Sisters B-) B-) :thumb :thumb :cheers

Thank you ev for sharing, here and other sites.
As always, I am humbled by your passion and your attitude and your persistence, and your accomplishments and your talent, and your....(it's a long list.)

Now that I know, next trip to Austin (oldest daughter will be a senior at UT so I go to see her and/or geogonfa several times a year,) I'm going to visit zombieland. And yes I'll drag Ernest a.k.a. geogonfa to zombieland with me (soon, school's now out for summer, probably a week or two tops.) Thanks for that share also.

Sacramento, loved it. You might never get rid of me




Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
kel


How much to get to switch to electric? Parts and labor?
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
evmetro


kel
Jan 26 2016, 04:45 AM
How much to get to switch to electric? Parts and labor?
Converting to EV can be compared to building a hot rod, since it can be done for very little or a whole lot of dough. You get what you pay for, and doing your own labor can save quite a bit. I have read a few threads on ecomodder about doing a conversion for about $1000, and I have seen conversions cost more than $100k. The differences are huge. The only way to nail down a price is to have all of the components picked out so that you can add them up, and have the build plan all figured out if you are paying for labor.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
Go to Next Page
« Previous Topic · Project Forum · Next Topic »
Add Reply