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its simple really. if the electric pump dies the car does not explode. remember this is a 1l 3cyl engine and a 1.6l 4cyl engine.
I simply get out and put the belt back on. problem solved.
the water pump and alternator from what I understand on a geo metro consume 15-18% of the engines power (less on the larger tracker engine)
thats a pretty big GAIN.
the point of lowering the power is not to increase mpg by reducing alternator drag but to ELIMINATE the alternator and water pump drag all together and make the power consumption low enough that "charging" the battery is convenient and not a hassle.
electric motors DESIGNED right are extremely reliable. if you had reliability issues you had crappy motors.
maybe your race car would be a toaster without its pump for a few seconds but I can go several MILES with no damage in a pump failure scenario in a metro. plenty of time to realize something is wrong stop and fix it.
I was THINKING about dual pumps for redundancy but they are so stinking reliable it should not be needed especially since I can always just put the belt back on as a backup.
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