| Owner | David Peichel | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Minneapolis, Minnesota United States map | ||||||
| Web/Email | WebPage | ||||||
| Vehicle | 1997 Geo Metro 4 door sedan | ||||||
| Motor | Azure Dynamics/Solectria AC24 3-Phase AC 50 hp peak, 17 hp continuous | ||||||
| Drivetrain | 5 speed manual | ||||||
| Controller | Azure Dynamics/Solectria DMOC445 Digital Motor Controller with regen braking | ||||||
| Batteries | 13 Deka 8G31DTM, 12.00 Volt, Lead-Acid, Gel Deka Dominator manufactured by East Penn-Deka, 70 lbs each for a total of 900 lbs. These batteries worked well with the original Solectria Forces. | ||||||
| System Voltage | 156 Volts | ||||||
| Charger | Zivan NG3 Setup for 110V power source | ||||||
| Heater | One 1000 watt heater under the seat (powered by a separate lithium pack) and one 60 watt seat heater. Plan on upgrading to a 3000 watt fluid heater next winter. | ||||||
| DC/DC Converter | Iota 55 Amp This unit was installed without modifications and is mounted using vibration mounts. The car has pretty minimal load on the 12V, so this unit works well. | ||||||
| Instrumentation | Xantrex Link 10 battery pack monitor | ||||||
| Top Speed | 70 MPH (112 KPH) | ||||||
| Acceleration | Similar to original geo metro. | ||||||
| Range | 40 Miles (64 Kilometers) My daily work commute is about 36 miles and is half city and half freeway miles. In the winter, the range may be as low as 30 miles due to cooler battery temps and more drive train resistance. In the summer, if you could drive it at slower speeds without stopping you could probably get close to 50 miles of range. | ||||||
| Watt Hours/Mile | 200 Wh/Mile If we had concrete roads, you might get the advertised 175 Whr/mile, but our asplalt roads drive the rolling resistance up a bit. The 300 Whr/mile is for really cold days in the winter. | ||||||
| EV Miles |
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| Seating Capacity | 4 adults | ||||||
| Curb Weight | 2,700 Pounds (1,227 Kilograms) I haven't weighed the complete vehicle yet, but this should be pretty close. | ||||||
| Tires | Goodyear Integrity 175/70R14 | ||||||
| Conversion Time | ~200-300 hours | ||||||
| Conversion Cost | $15,500 included car and conversion parts, batteries were another $2700 | ||||||
| Additional Features | Upgraded to 14" rims for lower rolling resistance tires. The kit included upgraded rear load springs, and I also installed higher performance rear struts. Battery boxes were fabricated from welded polypropylene. Silicone strip heaters will be used to keep the batteries warm in the winter if the car is parked over the weekend. | ||||||
| Most of the batteries are still pretty balanced, but 2-3 of the batteries are tending to run lower voltage and tend to be the range limiters. Am considering adding some active balancers to help with these weaker cells. The vehicle accereration is less than what most people are used to, but it is sufficient for my commute. If you have a lot of hills or aggressive freeways to negociate then you will probably need more power. I've also gotten good at driving efficiently to maximize my range. As everyone knows with lead acid batteries, the slower you pull the energy out the more you get, so the best range extender is just driving slower using side streets. The lead acid pack also leaves something to be desired in the discharge curve. The last 5-10 miles of the range can be at reduced power levels due to the declining capability of the battery pack. I look forward to upgrading to a lithium pack when this pack wears out. | |||||||
1997 Geo Metro
“metroEV”
Last Updated 11-06-2012
Copyright © 1997-2024 by Mike Chancey