Third Conversion, ultra efficient (1993 Geo Metro EV) - Page 3 - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

EVmetro · 03-04-2015, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old Tele man

Are you using locking (nylon insert) nuts on those "clamping" bolts for the battery assembly?

No, those are just 6x1.0 flange nuts. I really like the flange style nuts n bolts, but that is probably from years of wrenching for a living.

EVmetro · 03-04-2015, 12:02 PM

A big part of the theme in this car is keeping it light, so I have been keeping extra or fancy features to a minimum. I deviated a little on the mirrors for this rig, and went with the larger folding style that was found on the GT versions of the Metro (Swift). I suspect that they are less aerodynamic than regular mirrors that come on the plain Metros, and they weigh a little more, but these ones fold. I have purchased numerous non folding mirrors after they break off, since they are so cheesy, so hopefully these GT mirrors will cure that. I kinda like how they look too. I did select manual only, no powered or manual lever. If you need to adjust the mirror, you roll the window down and adjust it with your hand...

Here are the GT mirrors painted to match, and I went ahead and did the handles too, for a little more style.

Here is how this stuff looks on the car:

I have a lot of electronics in the hatch, as well as 15 of the lithium batteries. I still want to be able to throw a case of soda or groceries back there, so here is an aluminum cover for the electronics. This will soon be carpeted, so I wanted to show this stage before that.

There are doors that open to allow access to the parts that I need to access. This one allows access to my configuration switches. All of the switches are on-off-on switches, so I can select between two options, or turn that option off altogether. There is one for my AC shorepower that allows me to switch between a signal from my Orion BMS or manual override, or disable. There is also a switch that does the same thing, but controls my charge enable signal. The DC DC converter switch switches between off, on with key, or always on. My wifi/Bluetooth switch allows those features to be turned on and off with the ignition key, off, or always on. There is also a motor controller switch that allows me to select between an signal from my Orion, off, or manual override.

This is my charger control panel.

This is just a storage compartment or toolbox

EVmetro · 03-07-2015, 11:55 AM

Here is how it looks with carpet on these panels

The dash had some cracks and some chunks missing, so I dug into them with a mini cutoff wheel on my die grinder..

and filled them with some two part plastic

Then repainted the whole dash

Here is that front pad mounted to the rest of the dash

Here is the instrument cluster

EVmetro · 03-07-2015, 11:59 AM

The interior is put together now, and the car is all built, so I went ahead and got a weight.

Here is the interior

I took it in yesterday for an appointment with a CA smog referee to get this thing exempted from the Smog program. It is now exempt!

Here it is waiting in the special parking spot for the smog ref.

EVmetro · 03-07-2015, 12:10 PM

I have an "economy switch wired into my dash that allows me to switch from full power mode to a different mode that is programmable. Full power gives me access to 650 amps, but I have the economy switch set up to limit my accelerator to 400 amps. I can also program in alternate regen settings in the economy mode, but I have it set up the same as full power mode, since these are already set up for maximum efficiency. After I left my smog referee appointment, I tried out the economy switch for awhile in city traffic, which allowed me to see that 400 amps is about like a gasoline Metro. Nice to know, but I switched back to full power mode after a few blocks...

EVmetro · 03-15-2015, 01:42 AM

So I took this one up into the foothills today for a play day. I wanted to push all the limits of my drive system, battery system, and suspension, so I saw lots of twisty roads, went up and down steep grades, and got some flat freeway down here in the valley. One of the things that impressed me the most, was the ability to recover pretty much all of my braking energy. I only used the brake pedal at an occasional stop sign, but never used the brake pedal at speeds over 5 mph. The ability to release my on demand regen button near the bottom of the downgrades allowed me to freewheel like no other EV with regen could ever do, so my efficiency numbers are looking really good. I still have not collected data for conservative flat freeway range testing, but that is coming soon.

KFM · 03-19-2015, 07:58 AM

This is incredible. At every other picture my jaw just dropped at your attention to detail. This is extremely well thought out.

Why did you put both a Wi-Fi and Bluetooth OBDII scanner in the enclosure? Just in case?

mikeyjd · 03-19-2015, 08:52 AM

To say I'm a fan of your work would be an understatement! I'd love an EV. At some point I may undertake such a challenge. Meanwhile thanks for letting me see what a top notch, no holds bard, conversion looks like. We've had quite a few conversion undertakings here, and many have done solid work, but I would say you win the blue ribbon my friend.

P-hack · 03-19-2015, 09:12 AM

that is amazing work, what size charger did you wind up with? I get the evse loathing part, but there are a lot of j1772 EVSEs out there which can do at least 7kw, would be preferrable to 120 @1.5kw. Worth considering having something like one of these as well, and checking plugshare to check availability. Would not be hard to integrate, tuscon ev has one with a pigtail and a j1772 with an integrated cover: http://www.tucsonev.com/ for $100 less ($150).

Still, amazingly thorough conversion there!