Last week I picked up my latest EV project, a 1992 Solectria Force. The Solectria Force was a manufactured electric car that used a Geo Metro glider and AC motor and controller setup. They were built using lead acid, NiCad or NiMH batteries. This Force is a 144 volt with a 28 KW drive train setup.
The Solectria Force I have just purchased was in a wee little parking lot accident at my University. It has 8,407 original miles on it and has back end damage, front right fender and headlight damage. There was solar panels on the hood and roof that have been removed.
With the car I also got a pack of NiMH batteries and a bunch of parts from past Solectria employee who was emptying his supply and the Azure Dynamics auction this past fall. This car has heat and air conditioning, needs a new radio, but has no rust and besides the body damage is in decent condition. It's never seen salt or snow as it was garaged during the winter times and only driven during the summer.
My Plans:
Over the next several weeks and months I am going to be rebuilding this car up with my dad. Right now I am reviving the NiMH batteries and see how much range I can get out of them. I also have a charger that I hope I can reprogram, or I will use my own charger that I've been working on for a while.
The first thing I am doing is checking over the entire electrical system. The driver of the car said it went "run away" during the accident. Upon investigating I don't think it really did, I think it was just driver error, but I will put the car on stands and check everything out. The car currently has a AMC320 controller which is 28 KW peak and I have a UMOC440 controller which is about 50 KW that I am considering installing.
Once I get the electronics running we are going to bring the car down to the body shop to get a quote on fixing all the damage and get a new paint job. Right now it has decals all over it and Velcro that held the solar panels. We want to clean it up and give it a bright green or bright blue paint job.
Here is the link to my blog:
1992 Solectria Force Rebuild