MetroLectrical (lithium-ion Geo Metro electric car)
 

Hi. Darin and metrompg.com suggested I post here about my recently completed Geo Metro EV conversion. No web page yet, just a video of the first ride last month:

Go to YouTube and search for this exact phrase: "Electric Car First Rides".

The car has 36 Kwh worth lithium ion cells from ThunderSky. Range at 65 mph:

100% DOD = 145 miles
80% DOD = 115 miles
60% DOD = 88 miles

225 Wh/mile

Bill Dennis

I can't view your video atm, but those are some really impressive ranges! Welcome to the site.

Nice! And yeah, video is dead for me too

I changed my earlier post so that the video link should work now. If not,
go to YouTube and search for this exact phrase: "Electric Car First Rides"

Bill

DOD?
Range has always been my spook on EV. That seems like it could get me to and from with range to spare.

DOD = Depth of Discharge. 100% DOD means running the batteries until they're totally empty. 80% DOD means taking out only 80% of the battery's energy.

Bill

Welcome,

Great :thumbup: and the range is excellent.

How many hours did you worked on it and how much did it cost you ?

Please do stop building all these electric cars... I may go from diesel to EV directly, without going through the hybrid cars ;)

Currently I'm dreaming to have a tank with less CO2 generation by km than a prius (I'm currently at 20% more than the prius). Doctor, is it the first symptom ?

I also like your nick ;)

Denis.

How long did it take? I'm proud to say that I finished this 2-month project in only 3 short years.

$9,000 for batteries
$8,000 for EV parts
$2,700 for car

Bill

I love you man!

I seen the video

No, seriously, welcome to ecomodder :)

Bill - thanks a lot for posting this. First Li-ion home conversion I've seen. You're a pioneer!

I bet you'll get a lot of people wondering about cost/mile estimates for the lithium batteries vs. lead. I know that may not have been the reason you chose that chemistry (range was, I'm guessing).

I've seen your posts on the EVDL as well. Did you ever experience the "bucking" and temporary controller shutdown again on your steep hill?

Darin

Turns out that I don't think the problem was controller overheating. I think that the 12V chassis ground wires for the relays and contactors had worked loose, and thus the contactors had just opened and cut power to the controller.

wjdennis -

Welcome to EM! Fantastic conversion. Like others said, the range is great.

PS - I took the liberty of trying to fix your YouTube video, but I failed. I also did a new "test thread" of the video and got the same behavior. I think it's a YouTube glitch.

CarloSW2

How do you like the thundersky batteries? I read an article about someone building an electric vehicle that used them and found that they didn't meet claimed specs and I would mind a lithium battery for my citi-car, nd if your pricing of $9,000for 36,000 watt hours of battery is correct, then that is only twice the cost per usable watt hour compared to lead acid batteries, that is if they really work.

I've fixed the YouTube link in the first post. Bill, CarloSW2 - can you confirm you can see it?

Ryland, so far I'm happy with the ThunderSky cells. There are the older LCP cells, but I think you'd probably want to go with the newer LFP cells now. The only issue I've encountered so far is that the cells get too hot when I pull more than .33C out of them, so I'm going to have to install an active cooling system. I'd suggest installing three times the Ah that you think you'll need in average amps. For example, if you car will be pulling 100A in average driving, then install 300Ah worth of cells.

Bill

I tried the video link, and it still didn't work. So I've just edited it now and put in the exact YouTube search phrase that brings up my video first.

Bill

Testing...

YouTube - Electric Car First Rides

Anybody know the guy who did this:

http://www.explodingdinosaurs.com/20.../IMAGE_441.jpg

Bill Dennis