[Thorium-Synfuel]

Hey ecomodders,

I have a 1994 Suzuki Cultus/"geo metro", with 113,000 km on the clock and having read Darin's chronicles on the "firefly", got to thinking if there are a few mods worth considering straight up, that make more sense, in the years between Darin having penned them.

Firstly and while there is no rush as the 1L 3 cylinder engine is fine, with the now glut of 2 cylinder engines available in the market. I was wondering If anyone has looked at the atkinson cycle engines, or the bi-fuel "Fiat flatTwin Air", running on petrol or better yet CNG, as having enough torque for moving the econo-box?

Imagining what a lite-weight car could do with a new engine, got the rusty mental gears working, to send up a seek beacon, if anyone has thought about it here?

As the panda /Fiat gets 3.9L per 100 km on CNG. According to this site. Could we get 2.5 L when in the lighter Suzuki/geo metro...and with the alternator deleted? Sounds in the realm of possibilities right? Imagine the savings.

spritmonitor[DOT]de/en/overview/16-Fiat/136-Panda.html?fueltype=4

Secondly With the dropping price of high discharge rated lipo 18650 cells, namely the Sony VTC5, at 2 dollars a piece. A "4s" (4 in series) 16V/14.8V lipo battery pack. Doesn't look so expensive. With the small engine of the Suzuki Cultus, I wouldn't be surprised if just one or two packs would provide all that's needed. The "vaping community" have generated the nice benefit of making available battery cradles, that can handle very high amps. So as long as your destination has a power outlet. You can reload each cell into a large cell- phone, power bank, charge each cell up at 4V, then put each ond back into the cradles in the car...and away you go again.

I'd post up a pic of a proof of concept of the pack, that I threw together for an airsoft gun a few years ago.[though the forum doesn't permit pictures from mobile devices?] A gander at ebay for the "vaping 18650 battery cradles" and a 6 cell "power bank". Should return just how cheap this can be.

With a big enough supply of VTC5 cells, you can run the electrics in your car, keep your phone charged when on foot, energize your hi-power glove-box torch, or even keep your airsoft gun juiced up if you're like me. All wrapped up in one nice versatile setup.

The only thing, I'm curious about is if a dual pack, in parallel, would be sufficient to delete the alternator, to get us up and running. The VTC5 is used in cordless drills, so it can do a CCA "cold cranking amp" of 80A in a short pulse reportedly without issues. It's rated at 30A continuous(for those in vaping). Are these sufficient CCAs, to turn over, the tiny "geo metro" engine?

Naturally a quad pack, would be needed to really run head-lamps and peripherals in the car. That'd be $2 x 4(4) = $32 just for the 14.8V quad-pack, parallel-wired VTC5s. With a total capacity of (3000mAh)(4) = 12 Ah. Enough for most trips? Definitely, if your destination is work-to-home, both placez you can plug and charge your discreet "phone" power banks into.