HI ALL heres my ev and the metros
 

Hi everyone. You all have been all long standing inspiration to me and my quest for FE and a fully functional EV. I have a 1994 Firefly that i have been converting to EV over the last year. Currently my best overall FE on my1995 GEO metro 4dr sedan was 71.33 mpg imp on a 70-80 kph run. Ive been a year long lurker here and have learned a lot but now im here for some answers. My EV is still in the startup phase. I have had a few runs under battery power so far.I have just purchased a pack of Trojan T105s but as yet have not setteled on a charger for the pack. I have found a charger that supplies 12/24/36/48V out @50A with a 110V 15A in for $750 CAD. Yes it is a multi volt charger and yes my elecfly is gonna max out at 48V. I am a mechanic who has gotten sick of the current state of affairs, hence the reason i have joined your merry band of gentelmen. Lookin forward to talking to you all and hopefully I can be a help around here. (I am a journeyman diesel mechanic BTW)

Btw my garage right now is as follows
1994 electricfly ?mpg
1995 geo metro 4dr sedan 39mpg city / 71.33mpg hwy
1998 geo metro 4dr sedan ?mpg just got it
1996 buick regal 4dr sedan 37mpg hwy
1994 ford F250 diesel 17mpg city

Uh oh...a Firefly...better talk to Darin (MetroMPG)! Do you have any pics of your build?

been building for a year and just recently had a powered run, 2 weeks ago to be exact. no pic to post as im new here and am not sure of the hosting rules of the forum as far as that goes. anyone who can fill me in let me know ill have thm up in a few days in the appropriate venue if yuo could please let me know where to post an appropriate thread.

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You can post as many pics as you want here...the more the better...and vids are cool too!

holy mother you guys are fast here with the replies.. Ill get my photo album together and made an album to show.. where is the best area to post the new thread?

You say "ev" and people reply fast here :)

You can post all the pics and vids on this thread since you already have it started if you want.

Hi swede - welcome to EcoModder!

One way to add photos is by attaching them to your posts here. Click the "go advanced" button (under the text edit box), then "manage attachments". It'll open a small window that will let you upload images from your computer. (But the images have to be moderately sized - I think 100 kb each is the limit.)

Where do you live? I'm guessing it's not in a big city, or you wouldn't be aiming for only 48 volts in your Firefly! (48 volts requires a sleepy town with quiet side streets and/or pretty laid back drivers.)

Im in winnipeg. The car started out as an imitation of the forkenswift. I plan on using it as a neighbouhood runabout and occasionally to work so speed is not the primary goal here!

Looking forward to the updates!

Heres a rough timeline of the project so far, still pullin together the photo album!
sept 2008 bought baker walk behind forklift $200
-came with spare traction motor( 4 terminal) and controller (curtis 1205x 400A)

oct 2008 bought 1995 metro 4 dr $400 had bad tranny fixed up and still driving
(couldnt bear to butcher that one up!)
oct 2008 bought 1994 firefly hatch $100 removed engine and begun conversion

-sat over winter / did motor mount system and trans coupler at the shop over winter

july 2009 began serious work on car assembled parts and made battery racks, cables, etc.

july 2009 bought 6 trojan t105 batts. (yeah i know its only 36V, tests have it maxed out at 50kph with the 400A controller though.)

aug 2009 final assembly and test runs (first run @24V 275A controller max 30kph yikes) freakin speed demon!

aug2009 got the bigger controller(400A) hooked up @36V and getting top speed 50kph level ground no slope.

aug2009 looking for a charger. car batt charger is not near fast enough.
(found a multi volt forklift charger 12/24/36/48V with 50A output for $750 dunno how good a deal this is so I havent bought it yet)

aug 2009 JOINED ECOMODDER !!!!!

If you are into electronics, check out the open source EV charger thread for your charger needs. Then later down the road you could consider the open source ev controller to boost up your power to whatever level you'd like.

Here are some pics finally, comments welcome.
The motor and mount assy
Attachment 4154
I used Darins safety disconnect idea here
Attachment 4155
Potbox made from old twist throttle off forklift and throttle body from car.
Attachment 4156
Potbox and controller arrangement
Attachment 4157
Main contactors
Attachment 4158
Battery pack in hatch
Attachment 4159
Garage with electricfly and "new" metro sedan
Attachment 4160
underhood electricfly
Attachment 4161

Please tell me you have some video of the conversion!? I'd love to see your adapter plate and coupler setup. How heavy is the motor you used? Watcha doin' about the brakes? I would be in shear heaven if I could get to 50kph at 36 volts!!!!

This project is looking very cool! I'm definitely going to be following closely.

By the way those disconnects are the same kind we have in the electric turret in an uparmored humvee (random useless info).

Adapter plate is a piece of 1/4" steel plasma cut to shape to fit up to the bell housing with a large hole for the coupler to go through and bolts to the origional bell housing bolt holes.

Coupler is a 7/8" bore "x" hub (the kind used for weld on sprockets and pulleys) with the clutch hub welded to it. I centered them together using a lathe, and tack welded it in place before checking alignement and final welding.

The motor is 7" diameter and 10" long about 60lbs.

Brakes are total stock with the "recommended":rolleyes: hole drilled through the diaphram in the booster. I stuck a 1/2" drillbit through the vaccum port and drilled right through. No worse than the manual brakes in the old 1966 pontiac I used tto have.

NEW update, I've done 60 kph :turtle: with it now and it has 62 electric kilometers on it.

Also, as a quick fix for the sagging rear end of the car from carrying 360lbs of lead in the hatch, I took a set of 13 " tires from one of my other metros and replaced the rear tires only (car origionally had 12"tires). Rides fairly level now and looks like I have giant racing slicks on it:D
It happened totally unintentionally though, I blew one of the rear tires and needed a quick spare and I grabbed another tire I had, put it on, then ended up replacing the other rear tire too and saved myself the work of changing out springs to heavier ones to correct the ride hieght. The car has very limited rear suspension travel, but what can you expect for a mod that easy.

For battery chargers I gave up on forklift chargers and bought 3 canadian tire chargers on sale for $28.99 (reg 64.99) They are automatic transformer based chargers with an output rate of 2/10A @ 12V. Selectable charging mode of regular/deepcycle/maintenance free means I can have some degree of confidance that the charging alogrithm is correct for my trojans when the set to deep cycle.

Ok, if I understand you correctly: the coupler is welded to the motor shaft? I'm guessing it's more likely you have a keyway and setscrews. Sorry to be so picky, but my setup is using a hub as well, but without any welds, just setscrews, and I don't think it will stand the test of time. Since your system has given you a proven 62 kilometers, I'd like to emulate it as best I can...

I dont have a pic to post at the moment so i will explain as clearly as I can.
The motor has a 7/8 keyed shaft. The transmission input shaft is as origional.
The motor and transmission shafts face eachother end to end with a 1/8" gap between the shaft. The hub slides over the motor shaft with a key and setscrew the trans uses the clutch hub the two hubs are welded together. Will see if i can get a pic up soon.

First two usefull trips in the electricfly happened this week. Grocery shopping on sunday and school supplies shopping for the kids today. Both trips approx 10 km round trips on a 60 km/h city street. They were on a fairly major route in winnipeg and there were no upset drivers behind me. No spectacular acceleration but enough to prevent a traffic hold up. Im sure I would love an upgrade to 48V or 72V but I must say I am pleasantly supprised with the functionality of the car thus far. Battery voltage after trip (with a rest period for accurate reading) was 6.1V per cell avg. over the pack.

Wow! I am simply amazed at what 36 volts will do!! I would be the happiest guy in the world if mine could do what yours does!!! Congratulations!!

Do remember that I am keeping speeds to a sedate 45-50km/h most of the time. There are no large hills around here and the most I have to tackle is one bridge on the way to work. Havent tried that one yet. Just taking baby steps with the electricfly till I get to know it a little better.

BTW vpoppy, are you going to do a 36V conversion as well?

I plan on 48v. I will use a 72v controller though, so that, if I choose, I could up the voltage. If I get anywhere near your results though, I'm sticking with 36v!! All I need is 25 MPH and 1.4 miles of range....