Electric car conversion: Project ForkenSwift

[MetroMPG]

That's true. He did seem a bit uncertain of what specs were needed for the wanted preformance.

[will88]

i been a way for awhile had to move to Iowa so yeah....but u have made great strides from what i skimmed but ill read more in detail later when i have time

[MetroMPG]

The ForkenSwift recently became slightly more useful:




Picked up a lightweight trailer (for a small boat/dinghy) - only weighs ~160 lbs. Added a hitch to the car (~20 lbs). Now there's no need to fire up a gas car for those rare trips I need to move something (typically boat-ish) that won't easily fit in or on the car. I used to borrow a trailer and my brother's Ridgeline or my other brother's minivan to tow.

I'm also thinking of making a removable deck/box for the thing, so it can be converted to an occasional general utility trailer.

Haven't towed it yet - still need to make up a wiring harness for the trailer lights.

Another good thing is this hitch is definitely swappable to fit the ICE convertible Firefly too, in case I need to pull something beyond the ForkenSwift's range. Not sure if it will also fit the Blackfly.

[MetroMPG]

Oooo - just had a thought: battery trailer! Double my range!

Or generator trailer...

[bennelson]

Battery trailer falls under the laws of diminishing returns - you are pulling more weight, which means your car isn't as efficient, so you add batteries to make up for that, which adds more weight....

Generator trailer is always an interesting idea, and a relativly simple way to build a hybrid. It does make backing up and parking more difficult though.

For the Electro-Metro, I have considered adding a propane generator to a bumper hitch to make a Range-extended Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle, which could also be called a REally cheap VOLT or RE-VOLT if you will.

One of my personal favorite transportation memories is from transporting bicycles on a bike carrier on the back of the Electro-Metro. I got passed by ANOTHER Geo Metro with a bike carrier on back. The guy was smiling and gave me a big "thumbs-up"!

Metros can move more than people give them credit for.

[will88]

awsome iideas man cant wait to see what u really do with her

[Bicycle Bob]

My dad had a box on his boat trailer most of the time, and it did many jobs well. AFAIR, it was a standard plywood sheet with 10" ( 250mm) sides and ends.

[Tweety]

Originally Posted by bennelson

One of my personal favorite transportation memories is from transporting bicycles on a bike carrier on the back of the Electro-Metro. I got passed by ANOTHER Geo Metro with a bike carrier on back. The guy was smiling and gave me a big "thumbs-up"!

Metros can more more than people give them credit for.

You guys keep forgetting that over this side of the pond, up until a few years back a Metro was considered an average sized car... There was people carriers, econoboxes and cars the size of Metro's... And that's about it... No big battleships like you guys had...

[MetroMPG]

Tweety: I didn't forget. I was always sad about the ever expanding waistline of North America's fleet, when I saw what was available elsewhere. Even the venerated (on this forum) Geo Metro / Suzukiclones got ever larger and heavier through its 3 redesigns!

Bob: yup, sounds like the basic idea I had in mind.

Ben: I hear you about the added weight & drag = diminishing returns. Still might be fun to try. But I probably won't. Truth is, the car's current range (30 km, except winter) is more than adequate for the size of this town.

[MetroMPG]

The ForkenSwift's fork truck heritage shining through. I think it really likes moving bulky items around in low gear.





I'll tell you: it's elegant launching / retrieving from a boat ramp with electric drive compared to internal combustion with either an automatic or manual transmission.