I did a quick test of how long it takes the Electro-Metro to go from zero to 30 mph in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th gears.
This was me taking off from a dead stop onto the main road in front of my house. It's actually just a tad uphill from the stop, the the first section of the main road is pretty level.
In second gear, it took 17 seconds to get to 30 mph. It had real good acceleration from 0 to 25 but was slow to get from 25 to 30. That's exactly where I normally would have shifted in a gas car.
In third gear, it took about 13 seconds to go from zero to 30. Easy to pull away from a dead stop, and the motor wasn't over-revving at 35.
Fourth gear was also about 13 seconds, but takeoff was real slow and pulled lots of amps, once it got going, it got going fast.
This car really likes third gear. I can put it in third. Pull away from a stop and have smooth speed up to a little past 35 mph. After that, I shift to fourth.
To upshift, I need to pull the stick to neutral, and then wait a few seconds, THEN put it in the next highest gear.
Downshifting is difficult without a clutch.
The camcorder rode shotgun with me, so expect a YouTube video soon.
EDIT: Here it is!
I also just calculated last night's "fuel economy". It cam to just under 119 MPGe. Guess that's may penalty for running the batteries all the way down!!!
0-30 in 13 seconds is totally respectable. I bet nobody would even honk at you.
Nobody's ever honked at me, but the ForkenSwift takes around 25 seconds to accomplish the same thing. (I also make a point of driving on "side roads" though. I have video, but I'm way behind on editing them into YouTube flicks.
Has anyone tried adapting a turned down flywheel to the electric motor so you could keep the stock clutch? Seems like it would make driving a EV that much better. Would it be more efficient to be able to use 1-5 gears?
1st and 5th are completely useless gears in this car.
1st gear spins up really fast and isn't needed, because you can pull away from a stop in either 2nd or third.
5th just doesn't have any power with the gear, weight, and voltage of this system.
An EV can be built with or without a clutch.
You even CAN build one with an automatic transmission if you really wanted.
Usually the flywheel would not be shaved down, but rather buy or build a custom version of what a shaved flywheel would be like.
Machining something like that is beyond my skills. Buying or having one made would have been a budget buster.
This car drives like a golf cart in 3rd gear. You can pull away from a stop and go up to a little over 35 mph without shifting, using a clutch, or have anything weird happen when you come to a stop.
Just to compare, here is a video response to my YouTube video from another EVer:
Looks like his shifts a lot nicer. He's also using Optima Yellow Tops, which I know you can pull a LOT of amps from!
Not sure if I ever mentioned it or not, but I made a poor-mans' shock absorber for the motor end mount, and I installed the big ammeter and voltmeter in the dashboard where the radio was.
That looks much more "normal" without the giant meters duct-taped to the dashboard.
My "custom" motor end mount is just a turn-buckle with an eye-bolt on each end. I figured that way, I adjust the length or tension between the motor and the frame of the car.
The top eye-bolt is bent over far enough to angle into where the original engine mount was, and simple has the engine mount's bolt go through the eye of the eye bolt. This was a lot simpler than trying to manufacture or weld something between the engine mount and the motor.
The problem was that there was still a little space between the bolt and the eye-bolt's eye, so I still got the "ka-lunk" everytime I accelerated from a dead stop.
I finally resolved that by making a rubber spacer. I took some rubber hose, slit it, and put it around the diameter of the cross bolt, then put that whole thing through the eye-bolt. It fit almost perfectly! Now there's some rubber in there and no more "ka-lunk" sound!
I promise to post some photos of the the eye-bolt and mounted meters soon.
EDIT: This one isn't very good, but at least you can see where the meters are and about how they look.
After watching your acceleration vids, I've changed my technique when I want to accelerate quickly. If I'm starting from a stop, I'll use 2nd or 3rd and upshift to 4th pretty early. I think I'm doing much better than 25s to 30 mph now. Hard to believe I'm still figuring the car out.
I just checked my Killawatt for how much energy was used to recharge from yesterdays driving.
It came to just under 280 watt-hours per mile as measured at the wall, which is about the equivelent to 130 MPG!
I showed the car last night to a guy I work with quite a bit.
I drove the car to a parking lot just off the freeway for him to pick me up and us ride together with his equipment out to a gig in Madison, WI.
I still had the hand-written flyer in the back window that I made for the Electric Utility open house. He saw it and asked "That's an electric car?!?!"
We had to get going right away, but he wanted to see it at the end of the day. I did mention that reverse is still a bit touchy, and there's a few other things I still have to do on it.
When we got back, I put my gear in the car and then threw it in reverse. The first thing he did when I quickly backed out was to burst out laughing. I don't think he was prepared for how quick the car can be, especially without going "vroom vroom" first.
I did a few circles in the parking lot, then said good night, and drove home.
Hey, what's the deal on the black screen youtube video??? I want to see the Forken but it seems like anywhere I look on this forum all of the video postings no longer work after a day.
Kim: I think it might be something on your end. They're working OK for me.
Try clicking the video player (anywhere except the controls or the center of the box where the big "play" button should be). That should open it up at the YouTube site. Maybe that'll work for you.
I have decided that rigging the vacuum pump for the power brake system to the brake pedal switch isn't the best thing.
It works fine in regular light traffic, but if I am stuck at a light, or worse yet, on the yielding side of a busy intersection, I am stopped for too long with the pump running.
I imagine the pump pulls even more amps when it gets up to where it really can't pump anymore, which is right around 20.
I hadn't had any luck finding a good, cheap vacuum switch anywhere. Yesterday, I got to see a nice (high-budget) S10 conversion. His has a fancy 12V vacuum pump with a switch built right on it.
I took a digital still photo of the markings on that vac switch. I was able to find that particular switch through an on-line retailer. I just placed an order for it. $22!
I have not been too fond of paying for new anything on this car, but this should make the brake system really slick, and be good for a long time.
I also managed to stumble across a price for just the battery charger on that S10 - it costs MORE than my entire Geo Metro conversion!
OK Ben, how about a vacuum flask or receiver? Something with a capacity of a gallon or so with a wrecking yard check valve between the vacuum pump and the storage tank will help in stop and go traffic. It might run the vacuum pump longer for a while but you will have brakes even with everything shut off. The vacuum cutoff switch is a MUST.
I was thinking about getting a Ford electric vacuum pump as used to run the dashboard vacuum controls and let it pump its merry (cheap and low amp) heart out until 22 inches vacuum is reached in the storage tank. I am eyeballing an old twin tank air compressor for a tank. John Wayne ran on one lung. So can my compressor.
Like you, I scrounge for inexpensive parts. My Metro convertible was $100 with bashed in front end. That's why there is so much red metal on a white frame. Keep up the good work!
I already have the vacuum flask, and it's installed.
The vac pump sucks the air out of this white aluminum bottle, and that sucks on the power brake booster.
I have a vac gauge on the dashboard to show how much vacuum I have. The bottle holds enough vacuum for about 10 pumps of the brake pedal.
The problem is that, right now, the vac pump keeps running, needed or not, as long as my foot is on the brake. That works great for quick stops, and start and stop driving, but bad at long lights, when the pump just keeps running and running.
Once I get this new vac switch in, the power brake system will pump up automatically and run only as needed!
