How is it at towing?

Hello! I’m the previous previous owner of this car and I just wanted to clear some things up for you. The first is those wires in the glove box. This car used to have a “range meter” but I could never get it to work, so I removed it and just shoved the wires in the glove box. The meter used to sit where the cupholder is. Secondly, the terminology for the regen on/off switch refers to the road conditions. If the road is “dry” you want full regen, if the road is “slippery” you want no regen because regen+ice is a big no no. Also, I made a video about this car back when I first bought it, I’ll add a link. I’m so glad to see this car ended up in good hands. Maybe consider doing a lithium conversion at some point? kzfaq.info/get/bejne/jKdjpa1p07CalZc.html&feature=shares

I worked on the GM EV1 (Impact). They used Geo Storms for powertrain mule vehicles, during the development of it. At the time, the chassis was the strongest chassis GM ever built at the time. The chassis was all aluminum. They where building the chassis during a very hot summer in Michigan. They had to weld them together at night, due to the power consumption being so high in the Warren area, with the summer heat. Welding the aluminum at the time required a lot of power. The motors used where turbine starter motors, by Allison. And about 2ft in dia.

Never been excited about a Geo before... But you have my attention.

I will never get over the fact that my elementary school principal had an EV1 back in like 2001, I still remember seeing it pull up in that metallic green looking like nothing else I'd ever seen before. Such a shame I was too young to really appreciate it but that memory sticks. Would absolutely love to see one of those again one day

Fun fact. I worked at GM in a R&D center back then and we had a few of them. Only we also had a couple of Geo storms that were modified with Delphi inverters that could do massive front wheel drive Burnouts. Also they were used to develop the inductive charge system GM was developing during the time they were trying to standardize the charging system. GM called it the MAGNACHARGE. System. That was used for the EV-1's.

That battery disconnect cable looks just like the ones on the forklifts at work! Lol! 😂

I got to drive an EV1 in ~2006. The thing I remember the most was the regenerative braking. Turn it off and that small car was HARD to stop.

Someone in San Diego is rockin a beautiful EV1, I've seen it for years and remember it at the Saturn dealer back in the day. I was working as a tech at a Saturn dealer and the story I heard was the owner battled GM to purchase out the lease, threatening legal action and GM caved and let him purchase out the lease. He must really enjoy it, because it looks minty and is always arround town.

For those who are interested in them, there used to be an EV-1 on display at the Tellus Museum in Cartersville Georgia. I haven't been in a while, and the Savoy Automotive Museum opened recently down the road from it, so the car may heve been moved. But if anyone wants to see a rare piece of American experimentalism, there's one floating around SE US.

I would absolutely love a series on updating this car for no reason.

As far as the poor handling, I wonder if some of that could be due to the age of the shocks and struts. You might want to consider replacing or even upgrading them if you can. A bet new shocks and struts would make a world of difference as well as the new tires and alignment you mentioned. It’s so interesting seeing how this company engineered ways to make accessories designed for gas-powered cars work for an EV.

Something wrong when I been anticipating a video about a Geo 😂 but continue 😊

I believe they marked it dry and slippery due to road conditions. If regen is engaged and the the roads were slick, it could lock up the wheels and cause you to lose control. Basically their way of saying, don't use regen in slick conditions. Very interesting car for sure!

This would be a perfect candidate for LiFePO4 swap. You might wanna ask @agingwheels if he has a spare pack from his many Coda EVs. I'd also look at the potentiometer adjustment if its correct and goes all the way. Might explain why its only working at 3/4 throttle or more.

I always enjoy a JR episode when Jake is involved.

I definitely would check on converting it to lithium batteries like Jake did with his Insight that got wrecked. At least the batteries were replaced recently and sounds like you got a deal on it 👍

This is the kinda stuff I love out of JR. Relatable and interesting. This is gunna be a cool series

This unlocked a memory for me. Years ago, probably in '96 or '97 TVA was showing off one of these all around the area with local utilities. My dad was able to take it home for a weekend and I got a chance to drive it. I had forgotten about it completely until I saw this, thank you for the memories.

You may be able to adjust the throttle linkage at the potentiometer to get away from the 75% wasted petal. That may also increase the acceleration dysfunction.

One of the coolest cars you've had on in awhile, love it, great content!

One of your coolest cars. I love pre modern era industrial-ness of the design and operation. It's basically a forklift on the road

Love this JR , this is excellent content. Hadn’t heard of one of these before. Very cool buddy . BTW really loved your tribute to your Grandpa. Life well Lived ! Oh l was wondering how old was he ?

I used to work at Solectria back in ‘96. Man, lithium batteries are so much better than those lead acids were! The weight savings from fewer options and sluggy acceleration were all to squeak out as much range as possible (which was a losing battle with those batteries). As you explained, we mostly sold to utilities and government fleet users (I don’t remember so many military customers) because they could assign the cars to known regular and short routes, and charge every night. Get a wheel alignment and pump the tires up. There is a 12v electric vacuum pump for the brakes in there somewhere, which should help. Great to see one of these cars still running and being appreciated!

Dude one of the coolest car's you've had on your channel. I never knew they even existed before your first video on it. You have to lithium swap it.

I remember seeing the S10 when you came to Chicago. That thing was pretty cool. You should have seen the electric Dodge cargo van I had a couple years ago.

Good find, more Jake!

Wasn’t expecting to see a vlog under recent circumstances but I’m super happy to watch, I would do a conversation to extend it’s distance and life in the new world it was designed for. Hope your dad and family are coping well. See you next time. 👌🏻👍🏻

Like you, I loved the GM EV-1. I lived in Phoenix, and we had a couple of those cars rolling around there. The old Fiesta Mall in Tempe even had the paddle connectors meant to charge these EV-1s. I thought the EV-1 was the PERFECT car for me; my car at the time was a Honda CRX. The EV-1 seemed like an electric CRX in my fevered imagination. I would love my own EV-1 even now. Back in the 2000-2010 decade, the military had fuel-cell powered Chevy SUVs. Out at Pearl Harbor, the Navy was cracking sea water into hydrogen and oxygen using solar. Also using solar power, this hydrogen was processed into liquid hydrogen and used in these promotional/test Chevys by the military. I miss seeing those vehicles; they had LOUD wraps that let the whole world what they were! Also, Toyota showed their MIrai here on O’ahu. These MIrais could actually be filled at Pearl Harbor, for all I know. Never saw a hydrogen-powered Kia eNiro or a Toyota MIrai running around here, though.

Jake, near the end, "My reverb's not wet enough." LMAO!

You upload at the perfect time thank you

JR - I have a guy that works for me who helped build these things. He worked for the brothers who started the company. He grew up with them... one of the brothers created solar powered go-karts that are on display in the Boston Museum of Science. He used to do test-drives on the cars to ensure systems like engine breaking would work. He used to have his 9-year-old son ride in the passenger seat and record the voltage every minute. Pretty interesting!

Love the hand roll window cranks. Looking forward to your thorough road test.

I saw a guy that bought a newer Nissan Leaf for $3500. The battery is getting older, so it only charges to 60% now. He can only drive 52 miles, before the battery is completely dead.

Weird and cool car - also gotta love Jake with the sound-tech wet/dry mix reference! :)

Apart from the GM EV1, all the other major auto manufacturers had EVs in the late 90s as well, as was mandated at the time by the California Air Resources Board. There was the Ford Ranger EV, Toyota RAV4 EV (1st gen, not to be confused with the Tesla powered 2nd gen), Chrysler TEVan, Honda EV+, and Nissan Rnessa. Much like the EV1, most of those vehicles were all crushed in 2003/2004 when the EV mandate was repealed after the automakers put a lot of pressure on CARB. If you ever want to learn more about that period of EV history, I highly recommend checking out the documentary called "Who Killed the Electric Car" (theres also a sequel called "Revenge of the Electric Car", which focuses on the early days of Tesla, and the grassroots EV conversion movement). Back to the subject of those latest 90s/early 00s cars, about 400 each of the Rangers and RAV4s were saved from the crusher after a lot of pushback from owners, so there's still a fair number of those floating around. I actually used to own 2 Rangers myself, and have a couple videos about them. I've also worked on one of the first gen RAV4s as well at the shop where I work (there's a video of that car as well where we compared it to a 2nd gen RAV4 EV on my shop's youtube channel). A couple years ago, I actually almost bought an early Solectria Force myself (the two door hatch version) which was in need of batteries. I'd say that if you're up for it, a lithium swap would make a MASSIVE improvement to the car. Not only would you increase your range, but you'd likely get a lot better performance thanks to reduced weight and A LOT less voltage sag under acceleration.

Swap over all the lighting to LED to save a little juice. Cool little car! I don't even remember seeing the Metro sedan, only the little hatchback.

Love your channel!

You should get one of those "solar generators", basically, a large lithium battery with an inverter, and patch it into the 120v charging circuit and see if you can increase the range on the car using it!!

I totally get your love of the EV-1. I was able to drive them in the late 90s while working for Saturn in Spring Hill, TN. I believe it had around 75 miles of range. It sounded cool when accelerating (my kids said it sounded like the 1966 Batmobile). Good luck with the Metro!

That A/C system....nice!

My brand new 97 Geo Metro 2-door with the 3 banger 1 barrel got 50 MPG if I drove it like I stole it. If I drove normally I'd get about 55 MPG. If I hypermiled it I could get over 60 MPG. Even though it had a pretty small gas tank. It felt like it would drive forever on a tank of gas.

Just an FYI, Jehu Garcia has an EV battery channel with lots of amazing battery technologies. I'd love to see this car get upgraded from the primitive lead acid battery technology to one of the newer technologies (less weight, more energy, more range). No idea if those old school, twenty six year old electric motors can handle the increased outputs from newer technology batteries.

I found the vehicle test report from the US Dept of Energy, they had a '95 Force on test TEST NOTES: 1. Full charge may not occur when charging in ambient temperatures of >100°F 2. To charge in less than 12 hour, charging should occur in ambient temperatures

Awesome find! I remember a lot of people were interested in these back when it was cool to ruin your old diesel Mercedes with a french fry oil conversion. Haven't thought about them in years. Interest in all the weird 90s EVs evaporated after the Tesla and Leaf came out. Solectria also made a big delivery van and I used to see one driving around New York City -- think it was a USPS vehicle but I don't remember for sure. Last time I saw it was about 10 years ago.

2:00 about 1998 Saw couple of EV1 in San Jose area. And At the Fry's (or some electronics store) at front of parking lot they had free EV chargers with the Paddle Puck thing for FREE EV charging.

I imagine 100% Jake loves the car too. I'm really sorry you lost your grandfather to

I'd like to see the suspension fixed, aligned and refreshed. Adjust the pedal so it's more active and you don't have to floor the pedal. Shouldn't be too hard. And probably a battery upgrade.

i wish all your videos were this long. i really like your channel.

I worked for Solectria when it had changed over to a solar grid-tie inverter company. It was still run by the same owners and founders from the vehicle days, James and Anita Worden. They were true entrepreneurs, passionate about grid-tie solar and electric vehicles. Anita and James commuted in Forces most days, 15+ years after the Forces came out. We would have company parties at their house and visit James' barn with old vehicle prototypes and his projects of all kinds. It's funny, some of the older grid-tie inverters that were born out of the vehicle inverters still had variables / PIDs for things like taillights. Good memories!

What a neat little car. I wondered how they managed the air conditioning, being an HVACR Service Technician. It is going to be interesting to see what it can do. Thanks for the videos.

This is really informative! Has made me gain some respect for Geo!

I'm excited to see where this goes! Geo cars are so cool and one thats an EV is awesome!

I’m not into electric cars but I love this channel so I gave it a watch, keep rocking the awesome vids!!

Been waiting on this Video! Cool Car!

I'd heard of Solectria before, since I'm from the Boston area...but had no idea they converted Geo Metro's/S10's. Hilarious!

Something is wrong with the throttle. It should not take pushing the pedal 75% down to get it to move. If i remember correctly from driving those ones that were brought to the dealership i worked at for brakes and suspension work, these did not take much pedal pressure to move them from stop. Check the throttle cable for correct adjustment. Also check the potentiometer for the throttle for dirty contacts or cracks

The EV is a sight to behold. These guys just put together an EV with whatever tech they had. And they made it work to the best. Kudos to them. I remember about 12 years back in my first job trying to get a portable serial-printer to work. It was real pain in the behind! Anyway as usual JR will fix a bunch of stuff and just make this better! Cheers!

I still have a Force that I regularly drive, I have put 60k on it and I have done two lithium conversions on it. Currently running half of a Nissan leaf 40kWh pack. I can share info if you are ever interested. I have service manuals, spare parts etc... As well as a bunch of info about the conversions. The car is much faster with lithium due to weight savings. I worked with Solectria in the 90's on NiMh versions of the car.

JR should see if Rich Rebuilds would be interested in that EV Car

There’s a new shirt for either you or Jake…..”My Reverb’s not wet enough!”😂😂😂

Appreciate you showing all the quirks and features of this car I never know existed. I’d like to see it get fixed up.

So straight to bingo for grandma and straight back. No stopping. NO STOPPING. I SAID NO STOPPING!

Been waiting for this video. Would be a great car for me to drive back and forth to work. I'm only 8 miles from work.

In 1996, the four door Metro only came with the 1.3 liter four cylinder. The automatic was a three speed without overdrive (30 mpg’s at best). The five speed was with both fourth and fifth gears being overdrive (40 mpg’s). The 1.0 liter was only in the two door hatchback.50 mpg’s with the five speed.

Now you got me feeling bad for Jake, he needs this car!!!!!!!!!

It’s a very cool piece of tech and history.

I wonder how this car would do with a lithium battery pack. And also could a bigger motor be installed for more power? I think I saw an article in an old Trucking' magazine a long time ago about the S-10 conversion. I'm sure Rich Rebuilds would love to see this car. I bet if you get the front end fixed and alinged, power steering working and the AC compressor fixed, this would probably be a lot easier to drive. Too bad the 3 cyl. cars rusted out so bad or there would probably be a lot more around.

Thank you for this video I love geos not enough content on YT!

I test drove an EV1 back in 97. It was at a Saturn dealership. It drove really well from what I remember, and the salesman said you only lease them. Way ahead of its time.

I worked for Rays Electric outboard motors in Cape Coral FL. We used all the same connections for our batteries. I'm pretty sure they can supply you with parts if you want them.

Hey neighbor! Looks like a fun project! The ball-shaped vacuum reservoir is very likely for the HVAC system which probably uses vacuum diaphragm actuators. The power brake booster is its own vacuum reservoir and doesn’t need any additional reservoir to function. Looked sorta like the hose from the booster went to a vacuum pump maybe… Am guessing that pump is not working but you already have more than enough experience and knowledge to fix that. Keep up the good videos!

This is neat. My dad used to have a 91 metro. It was a great car. I owned a 91 geo tracker soft top 4x4. It was so much fun

I was at the college near LaGuardia airport when James Warden inventor of your car, arrived on one charge from Boston using the NiMh batteries loaned from the inventor . It was a world record range. The car was called the sunrise . Professor Wouk of NYU, brother of famous author Herman of Caine Mutiny fame, organized it. They were late due to traffic ….

When I lived in Bartlesville Oklahoma just south of you my neighbor had one except his was turquoise. He loved it

That's such a cool car - I'm really hoping this sticks around with lots of neat mods 😁

This has to be your best “before I show you”the car tease 8:00 min mark wow that’s some work class prattling.

I love this thing! It would be really cool if you could find an identical 3-cylinder Metro and drag race them. It would be hilarious and I am genuinely curious which would be quicker.

I think I could see all sorts of equations flowing out of 100% Jake's ears. He's so hooked...

my 96 had the same interior lmao these videos making me nostalgic for 2003

You might try to adjust the throttle position sensor... if it takes so much throttle pedal travel to even start moving the car, you may be losing the top end power too... maybe why it's so sluggish.

Wow, love the $500 JVC tape deck. What a cool retro EV. If you extend the range, it would be awesome. Teslas are so common now, no one even looks twice at them but everybody would want to stop and ask about this. Love it.

JR: "I'm REALLY EXCITED TO OWN THIS!" Also JR: "I sold it, because I need to make room for the Volt".

Your coolest project yet!

That's the nicest four seat forklift I've ever seen seriously though I love it with you and Jake's knowledge I want to see you build an EV out of something like a Volkswagen bug that would be a great series

This rang a bell, I had a look through my files and found some pictures of one of these at a Vancouver Electric Vehicle Association event in 2009. The sign on it said it had been refitted with lithium ion batteries and had double the original range. I assume the car (BC License 411 CGV) is long since scrapped...

I am surprised that they made an EV Metro, these were sold here in Europe as the Suzuki Swift/Alto. Alongside it the Tracker was also sold as the Vitara! I hope you find the Geo Storm one day, that's such a cool little car-

This summer I was at the Heart of Route 66 Auto Museum in Sapulpa, OK they had one. I think it was a permanent display. It is worth the 2 1/2 hour drive from Wichita to see their whole collection.

The “way back machine” lol! Do you use AOL as your internet provider through a dial up modem? 😂🤣😄😆

I’d imagine the dry or slippery relates to the road conditions. Great content 👍

That's so cool. Part of me says lithium swap, but honestly it's a historic car at this point, drive it on flat ground and at car shows or sell it to someone with no hills between them and the grocery store (I could take the kids to school! They'd hate it, they complain my Saturn is too small and bumpy compared to the Subaru Outback). So cool seeing something that looks much more repairable than the drive train of a Tesla. In my mind, all EVs, especially EV swaps, are like the Solectria S10 I saw back in the 90s...

To help you find a GM EV1 there is one on display at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke, Virginia.

My aunt actually worked on the line at GM in Lansing, Michigan and was part of the assembly team for the EV1. There is a GM stock report one year that showed off the EV1 and there's a lady sitting down next to it and that's my aunt! If you want to see another EV1 in person, you can go to the Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan.

There used to be an EV1 at University of Missouri Rolla (Missouri S&T)! I walked past it so many times as an undergrad! It was a neat piece of history to see! Not sure if it is still there though, it was in 2012!

I wonder what kind of profit margins Solectria made on these? The optional volt meter made some profit for them, that's for sure. Battle Born Li-Ion would be a cool upgrade. Looks like Deka Marine Deep Cycles in there now which are a good battery. Have fun with it!

We actually had the E10 at our high school back in 2012, don't know what ever happened to it, but it ran then and they lifted the bed up backwards and we got to put it on the lift in automotive class to see underneath it. Really cool stuff.

JR you need to find a Renault Fuego !! Those were a classic. Owned one in 1984 !! You could have an entire series on that one !!!

It kind of reminds me of the electric fork lift I drove in a factory in the late 80’s. Even sounds like it. I think the throttle worked the same as well lol

The Suspension is probably worn.. new shocks etc. I would love to see you do a battery upgrade of some sort. I had a 92 Metro 3cyl 5spd. Car was a POS on the inside.. But mechanically it was fantastic. I used it for delivery work.. I put 100K on it on ONE year. It never let me down. Never had any engine issues. Around town it was plenty quick, climbing the highway on ramp.. took some time. But once at speed it was ok too. Had no trouble running 85 MPH..

Increase range, by reducing drag, make a tail, install a underplate. Test this thing out!