| Owner | Ben Nelson | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner's Other EV | 1981 Kawasaki KZ440 | ||
| Location | Oconomowoc, Wisconsin US map | ||
| Web/Email | WebPage | ||
| Vehicle | 1996 Geo Metro converted to plug-in Battery Electric Vehicle | ||
| Motor | Nissan Forklift drive motor Series Wound DC 10" double-shafted forklift drive motor, rebuilt and tailshaft removed. Trimmed driveshaft to shorten to fit in car. Trimmed cast iron "shoulder" around tailshaft to fit in car. | ||
| Drivetrain | 5-speed manual | ||
| Controller | Curtis 1206 400 amp 48-72V controller, non-programmable, with secondary mechanical (contactor) bypass "Turbo-Mode" | ||
| Batteries | 6 Deka Dominator, 12.00 Volt, Lead-Acid, Gel Was able to get Gel batteries which were new pulled from NEVs | ||
| System Voltage | 72 Volts | ||
| Charger | ZAP Xebra chinese charger used charger out of a Zap Xebra, plus a Sears charger with a Gel mode for charging individual batteries as needed. | ||
| Heater | AC Oil-filled electric radiator heater. I have it in the car and "pre-warm" off wall AC power, then I unplug and drive. It stays warm for a good ten minutes | ||
| DC/DC Converter | None yet, just the 12V battery out of a friends Dodge Neon | ||
| Instrumentation | Currently have a 300 amp ammeter and a 0-100V volt- meter built into the dash where the radio was. Vacuum gauge to show status of power brake system. | ||
| Top Speed | 60 MPH (96 KPH) Runs up to 45 mph with the PWM controller, and up to 60 mph in bypass "turbo-mode" | ||
| Acceleration | Not bad, now that I turned the hidden AMPS pot on the controller all the way up. | ||
| Range | 20 Miles (32 Kilometers) about a 20 mile range, the battery pack is relatively small. It has been as short as 10 miles in the winter though! I need battery warmers! | ||
| Watt Hours/Mile | 300 Wh/Mile Hope to have a better battery monitor in the future to get good accuracy | ||
| EV Miles |
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| Seating Capacity | Seat belts for 4. Weight capacity is most likely two adults plus a back seat full of groceries. | ||
| Curb Weight | 2,100 Pounds (954 Kilograms) 1780 as stock Metro. Batteries weigh about 450 lbs. I haven't weighed again since conversion | ||
| Tires | just what came with the car when I bought it. Painted the rims white. (Looked better than rust!) | ||
| Conversion Time | less than one year from concept to "done". I don't think I will ever be done tinkering though. | ||
| Conversion Cost | Between 1200 and $1300, INCLUDING buying the car in the first place. Paid $500 for the car, sold $550 in parts off of it. Paid just under $400 for some machining work. The rest of the cost was: $50 for motor $50 for brushes $144 for batteries. (12 of them, only used 6 so far in conversion) $106 used transmission $200 for used 72v charger $300 for controller. | ||
| Additional Features | Car came with driver and passenger airbags. Appears that they are still working properly! Has daytime running lights. Hoping to replace those with LED daytime running lights. Also considering adding a large power inverter to power parts of my house in case of grid failure. | ||
| My second EV conversion. (1st was a motorcycle) Wanted to use a really basic car so that I could have something to experiment on that wouldn't be complicated or expensive. I have a fair number of YouTube videos about the project. Go to YouTube, my username is BenjaminNelson WebPage /> Follow my further adventures in Going Gas Free at my Blog: WebPage /> | |||
1996 Geo Metro
“Electro-Metro”
Last Updated 02-09-2009
Copyright © 1997-2009 by Mike Chancey