Ben Nelson's Electro-Metro Build thread

[bennelson]

I talked to a guy on the phone the other night to a potential buyer for the forklift. He isn't buying it, but mentioned he had an old sports car that might be good for electric conversion.

It is a 73 Saab Sonet.

I had never heard of one before

Here are some pictures (NOT of his actual car! Generic ones from the internet!)





I don't know what condition his is in, or what price he would want for it. Pretty cool looking car - it does have a "Retro" thing going for it. Also, it should be pre-power everything, which would make conversion easier.

The specs listed show that it's not too heavy - probably pretty limited in space for batteries though. Same limitations as the Miata. No idea how common or rare parts for this would be. I wouldn't want something that would be impossible to get brake pads or a door handle for.

I think I will go take a look at it when I get a chance.

Comments?

[Ryland]

I would vote for a Satern because they have a rear seat you can pull for more space and are extreamly comment/light, a Sonet has a little tiny v4 engine if I remember right, and I suspect very little trunk space.

[bennelson]

I e-mailed about that Saturn. (The body looks great!)
The seller is holding it for somebody willing to pay more, but can't pay for 2 more weeks. It is also an automatic but everything else makes it sound perfect for a conversion.

Not sure how long it will take to find a 2 door Saturn with a blown engine.


Yeh, that Saab has a V4.

[metroschultz]

Look very hard at the Sonnet. I owned two of them at one time and they are very prone to rust in the front. especially near the front suspension. one of mine actually broke the upper control arm mount from the frame as i was going home from work one evening. lucky i had some chain and binders in the car to make emergency field expedient repairs.
They are Pretty Cars though.
I loved driving mine.
I am sure you will too.
However there is Very little room in the car for anything other than passengers.
The fuel tank is actually stuffed into a pocket behind the seats from underneath th car.
The rear hatch is a piece of glass with 2 hinges and a clasp.
The seats are fiberglass shells similar to racing seats.
The engine is a V4 ford industrial modified for this car.
Used to have a three cylinder two stroke 800cc that sounded like a superbike as it drove down the road.
It will go VERYVERYVERYVERYVERYVERYVERY fast.
The front clip pulls right off for access to the engine compartment. That is where you would put most, if not all of your batteries.
Parts are gonna be hard to find. Some guy from Sweden has been scarfing them up in recent years to send back to the homeland. They were not available for sale in their country of origin.
As such they have become pricey.
They are still pretty cars though.
after my first one rusted out, i got another.(i worked at a Saab dealer then)
Bibb Svenska Imports
Saab & Volvo
Petersburg Road, Richmond Va.

It rolled down the median one day after a misjudged turn.
Became four inches shorter.
Krap.
They are pretty, even crashed.
S.

[bennelson]

Sold the forklift this morning!

Got $300 cash for it and freed up space to park a clunker car!

I also attended the Milwaukee Hybrid Owners group meeting today and met a guy who is building an electric car. He has a HUGE motor and is planning a 288 volt conversion!

More on that later!


PS: I also met Daox in person. His offer to chop my bike still stands.

[Daox]

Originally Posted by bennelson

I also attended the Milwaukee Hybrid Owners group meeting today and met a guy who is building an electric car. He has a HUGE motor and is planning a 288 volt conversion!

More on that later!

It was nice to meet you in person. I really look forward to the next meet should you be able to bring the bike out.

Funny I haven't heard of this other vehicle your talking about... must learn more.

[diamondlarry]

Ben, I missed getting to talk to you today at the meeting. Hopefully you'll be back next time?

[bennelson]

I plan on being at the next meeting. Hopefully, it works with my schedule and I can bring the motorcycle out too!

[MetroMPG]

Congrats on the forklift sale!

As for that Honda ad, $400 sounds like a lot for a dead Honda with cosmetic damage.

I take it you haven't heard back from Jim about your motor question (whether the drive motor is strong enough). I'd be willing to bet that if it's got four pairs of brushes, it would be fine as a low-medium voltage (less than 96v) application, pushing a small car with a low-medium power controller.

It doesn't have an internal fan, does it? You may just need to add external cooling. I'm sure you're going to get the green light from the guru.

[bennelson]

Been busy lately, haven't had a chance to pull the back end off the forklift drive motor to take a really good look at it yet. I would imagine it would work fine for a small, light, lower voltage vehicle.

I think to start off with, I may pull the controller from the motorcycle for early testing with the electric car. The Alltrax controller can pull information in real time to a computer. I could set a computer in the passenger seat, go for a ride, then come back and look at the recording of amps, volts, and whatever else it records.

Tom B., who I met at the Hybrid Group, is building a 288V vehicle. He is building his own controller. It may be possible that I could get some guidence from him on building a controller (or just have him build 2! ) That's still down the road (pardon the pun)

I guess the main next thing is just to find something inexpensive. I don't want to be overly picky, but I do want to find something both cheap AND appropriate.