Rover Metro before conversionRear view after paint jobunder bonnet (hood)under bonnet (hood) - closerrearmost battery box in boot (trunk)plenty of welding doneMotor and adapter plate.
OwnerJames May
Owner's Other EV1991 Rover Metro
LocationCoventry, England United Kingdom map
Email email image
Vehicle1994 Rover Metro
Small British car with 1.1 or 1.4 Rover K-series engine.

March 2013: This car has been sold for parts. I believe the parts are going to be used in a roadster, possibly Mazda MX5
MotorAdvanced DC L91-4003 Series Wound DC
The motor and adapter plate are from my other Rover Metro which has been retired. This motor is possibly a little undersized, an 8 inch might provide better economy and performance.
DrivetrainFWD manual, flywheel and clutch
ControllerCafe Electric Zilla 1KLV
It's wonderful! I wish I had bought the Hall effect pedal input version though, all that power shows up a crunchy pot box.

Update: It now has the Hall effect Pedal fitted and control of the vehicle is much improved
Batteries12 Odyssey PC2150, 12.00 Volt, Lead-Acid, AGM
These batteries are great, they have very little voltage sag under load.
System Voltage144 Volts
ChargerZivan NG3
NG3 - 144V
I have added shunt-type battery balancers just to prevent the batteries going too far out of equalization. They consist of 4 paralleled 14V zeners on a heat sink and a flashlight bulb. They equalise the batteries quite well, but only over a long float charge. The heat sinks are cooled by PC fans
HeaterCurrently the Zilla controller coolant is pumped through the heater matrix. Long term an electric water heater connected to the original heater matrix powered by the traction pack.
DC/DC Converter
Morven 144-13.8V DC-DC converter. I'll be adding a trickle charger for the accessory battery.
InstrumentationAnalogue ammeter and voltmeter, LCD meter very similar to the e-meter called e-xpert pro
Top Speed75 MPH (120 KPH)
At least! It wouldn't be legal to find out the top speed on the road. I guess it's over 90mph. The car accelerates well between 50 and 70mph.
AccelerationVery good acceleration, like a kicked mule!
Range25 Miles (40 Kilometers)
25 real life miles at around 50mph with hills. This is with a Depth of Discharge of 60% registered conservatively by my meter. The car could go quite a lot further if you were willing to push it.
Watt Hours/Mile346 Wh/Mile
This is as driven normally and calculated from the capacity of the pack multiplied by the DoD and then divided by the journey miles. It's relatively low, I think this is because of the low internal resistance of those Odyssey PC2150 VRLA AGM batteries.
EV Miles
Start:62,474 Miles (100,520 Kilometers)
Current:68,680 Miles (110,506 Kilometers)
Total:6,206 Miles (9,985 Kilometers)
 
    As of 4/18/2013
Seating Capacity4 adults (although I run it without the rear seats for load space)
Curb Weight2,555 Pounds (1,161 Kilograms)
Weighed 15 Apr 2010
TiresStandard on rear, Continental EcoContact EP Low Rolling resistance on front
Conversion Timeexpecting around 3 months. All told around 8 months.
Conversion CostAround 6000 GBP
Additional FeaturesA plastic undertray covering the bottom of the engine bay, revcounter.
The donor car was bought on e-bay for 100 GBP. It wasn't in great condition and I had to do lots of welding while I was waiting for the Zilla controller.

Update 27 Aug 08: Nearly finished. The motor is in place and all the electrics are hooked up. Woohoo It runs! Still have to add the charger, DC-DC and instruments. Then comes the MOT safety test.

Update 16 Mar 09: Its finished now and I have parked up my petrol vehicle. I really like this EV, it's small but feisty!


It's a little more finished now than the pictures show, there are battery hold downs and covers in place and the charging socket is in place of the false fog light in the left hand side of the rear bumper.

Update 15 Dec 09: Mopped up a minor problem, the DC-DC blew two of it's MOSFETS on the high voltage side. I replaced them and am back on the road. I'm going to add trickle charging to the accessory battery to reduce the winter loads on the DC-DC a bit.
I changed the potbox potentiometer as well.

Added that trickle charger to the 12V battery.

Update 18 Apr 10: Fitted undertray

28 Aug 10 last week I thought my range was reducing because the battery was flat on arrival on one of my usual routes.
Looks like I'd just let the tyres go a little soft. 7psi makes all the difference. Range restored!

08 Nov 10 Over 5000 miles. No significant problems.

March 2013 The battery pack has started to wear out so I have sold the car for parts. I now have no EV, at least for now!

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