Bed open showing battery packsElectric "gas" mileageDash with Tach installedBed tilted!Motor installed.Battery PackFront battery boxFront Battery Box Mounts
OwnerBrian Mathis
Owner's Other EVs1997 Chevrolet S-10
1989 Ford Probe
LocationNew Berlin, Wisconsin US map
Web/EmailWebPage email image
Vehicle1994 Chevrolet S-10
Short bed
MotorNetgain WarP 9 Series Wound DC
9", 160V max, 7000 rpm max.
Drivetrain5 speed manual. Had 3.73 rear end, swapped to what I thought was a 3.08, adjusted the vssb so the speedometer is accurate, found out I swapped it to a 3.73. Changed VSSB back.
ControllerCafe Electric Zilla
Zilla 1K, 1000 amp
Batteries24 Trojan T-105, 6.00 Volt, Lead-Acid, Flooded
225 AH each. Top bolt post design. Should have used automotive style posts. I'm mounting 18 under the bed. Six under the hood.
System Voltage144 Volts
ChargerManzanita Micro PFC-20B With Buck Enhancer Battery Charger
110V or 220V, multi voltage charger
Heaterceramic 1500 watt
DC/DC ConverterSevcon 45
45 amp Max
Instrumentation0-1000 amp meter
0-200 V meter
Pak-Traker battery monitor system
Top Speed78 MPH (125 KPH)
With Curtis 500amp- 77mph!
With KELLY 650 amp- Controller- 40 mph
With Zilla 1000 amp- 78mph on a cold day after driving 10 miles with 3.73 gears
AccelerationKelly- 1000 amp- horrible.
Curtis 1231C 500 amp,- like it was(ICE)
Zilla 1K, - Goes really fast! Adjusted it to only output 500 amps max, due to lead acid batteries not liking the max amp drain plus the pedal was real sensitive.
Range60 Miles (96 Kilometers)
I use it to go to work and back (32 miles) mostly highway.
00-40 MPH - 50-60 miles
40-50 MPH - 40-50 miles
50-65 MPH - 35-40 miles
20 degrees outside - 20 miles!
I coast alot
Watt Hours/Mile18750 Wh/Mile
50 Amps @ 72V = 3600 watts (50X72=3600), at 55 MPH, it would be 65WHper Mile, (3600/55 = 65 Watt Hours per Mile) or .065 KWHM.
My truck did 200 Amps and 125V at 50 MPH. =500WHM. With a 10KWH charge, I should be able to go 20 miles on that charge. In summer I was charging 20 KWHZ and getting up to 60 miles, depended on how much I coasted. Coasting is all extra!
EV Miles
Current:3,300 Miles (5,309 Kilometers)
Seating Capacity3 really close friends!
Curb Weight0
I gotta do this someday.
TiresStreet.
Conversion TimeTwo days to remove ICE. About a week to install tilt bed kit, and weld battery boxes under bed, read dates below...
Conversion CostTruck, motor, controller, batteries, and misc parts- $13,000.00 - Cost of monthly electricity- $30.00 - Driving past the gas station- PRICELESS!!!!
Additional FeaturesTiltable bed, Pak-Traker battery monitor system, coil over shocks, air helper springs, I have a separate wattmeter I have reset to zero to monitor every kilowatt going into the truck. Its wired to a 30 amp breaker.

Front aluminum battery box from E-bay user closertowholesale. Built to exact specs, and for a real nice price, $325 shipped!

Battery warmers (pipe heater tape cut to length) use about 1.5 amps, plugged in at home will heat to 80 degrees, and unplugged, the batteries will be at 70 degrees in 20 degree cold overnight, so I'll check to make sure I can drive 20 miles mostly highway, then sit for 8 hours and drive 20 miles home. If thats good, I might sell my "non-electric" vehicle.

A group of like minded builders meets twice a month in Milwaukee, WI to work on their cars, help each other out, and find materials. Anyone interested in joining us please e-mail me.


I was able to reset the odometer to 000000.0!

01 Jul 08- Engine removed.
02 Jul 08- Ordered parts.
15 Jul 08- Bed removed. Bed is tiltable. Batteries underneath.
Jul -waiting on parts
Aug -waiting on parts
Sep -waiting on parts
22 sep 08- Got the air springs, Pak-Traker.
24 Sep 08- All but motor and either controller showed up.
30 Sep 08- Welding battery boxes frame under bed.
4 Oct 08- Welded in left side battery box.
5 Oct 08- Fabricated right side battery box.
8 Oct 08- Installed rear air helper springs.
8 Oct 08- Welded in right side battery box.
11 Oct 08- Tested Pak Traker, worked fine.
12 Oct 08- Installed motor and trans.
14 Oct 08- Fixed throwout bearing, wired truck power, tested motor in 5th gear with a 12V batt, odometer reads 000000.1, more welding in rear.
16 Oct 08- Welded bumper on bed, more to go...
17 Oct 08- Made half of the 2/0 cables.
18 Oct 08- Finished welding on bumper, mounted the brakes air pump.
19 Oct 08- Finished cables, connected charger and Pak-Traker.
20 Oct 08- Pulled bed to move it closer to original position.
21 Oct 08- Re-installed bed and welded hinges, now I can bolt it down.
26 Oct 08- Made a wood battery box for the bed for winter, insulated and heated.
28 Oct 08- put 24 batteries in box in bed. Front battery box showed up! It fits!
29 Oct 08- Fit foam in front battery box, added batteries, cables.
30 Oct 08- Welded mounts for the front battery box, mounted box, main contactor, throttle POT.
2 Nov 08- Started wiring main battery pack. Connected one row of batteries in a loop and killed 6 batteries. Fire, molten lead, sparks....
3 Nov 08- Replaced batteries, finished wiring HV pack.
4 Nov 08- Completed wiring, tested and blew the Kelly controller. Sparks, flames, engine going to who knows what speed,, .6 miles on odometer! Talking to Kelly to see about a fix. (fix was to use a precharge resistor to charge capacitors in controller slowly. Instant cap charge causes short)
10 Nov 08- Went to Illinios and picked up a new controller. Faster than shipping.
11 Nov 08- Installed new (used) Kelly controller. Will check wiring before running it.
12 Nov 08- Ran it 2 miles using 36V worth of batteries. POT is bad, bought one at Radio Shack. Will shoot for 144V tomorrow.
13 Nov 08- 144V tested good, had to use old POT which was good, bad meter.
14 Nov 08- installed batt charger and dc/dc converter. Wiring them up tomorrow.
15 Nov 08- FINISHED! Sort of... everything is done, took it for a test drive and with the kelly controller (KDH4500B), only got up to 40 MPH, same as the other truck with the earlier version Kelly (KDH4500). Wont go up any sort of a hill in anything other than 1st gear.
16 Nov 08- Blew up the DC/DC converter by using the manzanita battery pack charger and adjusted the "amps" too high. Apparently the AMPS knob also increases the voltage! Ordered new dc/dc converter.
17 Nov 08- Went to Kelly support and swapped the 500 amp for a 650 amp controller
18 Nov 08- Installed new 650 Amp Kelly (KDH4650B), road tested slightly faster than the 500 amp, but not anything I'd try and take on the highway. Top speed is 44 mph downhill.
24 Nov 08- Informed Curtis 1231C is in mail!
03 Dec 08- Installed Curtis
08 Dec 08- Wired Curtis "on" 144V signal to the POT input. Blew the throttle card! Sending it out, ordering another Curtis.... Will try and wire it correctly next time. Wish they didn't put all those male spades for the throttle and "on" signal right next to each other. Also, two different versions of how to wire the HV and LV, throttle in the same manual. Wonder which one is correct, one shows 12V to the "on signal, other shows 144V to "on" signal...
10 Dec 08- Opened the Curtis 1231C. It was easy, remove the two rubber covers on each of the 8 holes, remove the mounting screws and plastic inserts. I used a kerosene heater I use to heat the garage to warm the top of the controller. I had a coat hangar tied through two of the lugs, B+ and B-, heated the top, turning constantly, and used a rasor knife to go along the edge of the case where the black rubber seal is, and then heated again, and pulled it right out!
11 Dec 08- Installed new Curtis, Connected properly. Good to go! Sent old one for repair.
12 dec 08- made 110V adapter plug for charging away from home. Need to bring an extension cord also.
13 DEC 08- drove 20 miles to an EV event. Barely made it home! Cold batteries suck. Didn't use the adapter plug I just made! Didn't bring an extension cord. Will wire battery warmer (gutter wire) next.
20 Dec 08- Wired front battery heater, took two days, but got it from 20 degrees to 60!
23 Dec 08- Wired rear battery heater. Plugged in, pulls 1.75 +/- amps. gets them to 60 degrees in 20 degree temp.
28 Dec 08- Got the Pak-Traker installed. Found a 4.2V 6V battery, tried charging it, replaced it.
6 Jan 09- 2nd battery termial fried, this time while driving home. I was able to move the cable and get a good connection, enabling me to make it home. I drove slow to keep amps down, to help not melt it again. My Pak Traker has numerous burnt wires in the same battery box, no-where near the burnt batt post?????
7 Jan 09- Replaced bad battery, replaced ALL 48 terminal nuts with nuts that have a knurl on the bottom. Torqued. Found two more loose terminals.
8 Jan 09- warmed batts to 70 degrees, drove 20+ miles, leaving it overnight with no charging, drove another 20 miles the next day = I have the range in cold weather to make it to work and back.
24 Jan 09- Took batteries out of the bed and started finishing the battery boxes under the bed.
01 Feb 09- Spent all weekend forming battery box for rear. Need to find space for two more, probably under hood.
8 Feb 09- Added a electric cylinder to raise and lower the bed, installed a manual steering gearbox. Installed all but two batteries.
12 Feb 09- Installed the last two batteries above the frame and cut a hole in the bed so it will lower over the batteries.
14 Feb 09- Wired batteries and started driving again!
5 Mar 09- Re-wired half of Pak Traker, using spade connectors soldered to 2/0 HV lugs instead of the lugs that come with Pak Traker (HV lugs loosened up with Pak Traker lugs)
14 Mar 09- Installed Zilla 1K
16 Mar 09- Took first drive with Zilla! Way faster than with the ICE!!!
18 Mar 09- windshield wiper fluid pump failed, Zilla eventually overheated, limited to under 45mph.
19 Mar 09- Aquarium pump installed, got 78 mph...30 degrees outside...
20 Mar 09- re-routed Pak-Traker wires away from the HV wires, works now. Drove 20 miles in 20+ degree weather, Pak-Traker says I still have 38% left. Still had good accel even uphill.
21 Mar 09- Replaced bad Pak-Traker remote.
22 Mar 09- Batteries at 60 degrees in 40 degree weather, got 30 miles range today.
4 Apr 09- Found out I have 3:73 gears in the rear, would like to swap for 3:08 or better for range and speed. Charged between driving, fully charged in less than 3 hours.
9 Apr 09- Wired 220 connector for stby generator to charge port.
12 Apr 09- Blew the Manzanita 20 by using a generator to power it. Looks like the CAP on the PSA25L-150 board, $25 for a new one.
16 Apr 09- The $25 regulator board fixed it! (Thank God!)
19 Apr 09- Found leaking, rusted Left Rear brake line.
23 Apr 09- Replaced the rear axle with a 3:08 gearset. Found how to adjust the speedometer using jumpers in the DRAC. Pulled the DRAC.
25 Apr 09- With new gear ratio in rear end, it humms only in 4th and 5th gears under any acceleration, but nothing in 3rd at full accel. Might be the Zilla's running of the motor.
27 Apr 09- Decided to pull the Zilla and go back to the Curtis. Better for the range I need, and the batteries, but I loved the acceleration! Zilla removed, Curtis installed, still needs to be wired.
28 Apr 09- Curtis installed. Only got 16 miles. Still vibrates above 40 MPH... Might just have to keep the Zilla.
29 Apr 09- Range is down to 14 miles even with the Curtis. Debating putting the Zilla back in...
6 May 09- Reset battery charger to higher charge, got 20.5 miles. Will keep increasing till I get 6.5V per battery. Zilla is going back in.
7 May 09- Found the charger set incorrect to fully charge the batteries, 6.25V VS 6.50V per battery. I'm performing a equalization charge and resetting the "full" charge.
8 May 09- Still needs to charge more (6.40V) but got 25.1 miles, could've gone a little more, batteries getting pretty low.
21 May 09- Charged all night and day, and still showed it need a charge, so I considered it fully charged, adjusted the Manzanita to show a full charge. Batteries read 6.4V, still shy of the 6.5 after a day of sitting, I was used to, but drove it today and got 41.6 miles with headlights on half the trip, and had some more left, but why push it!?!!!
22 May 09- Another 37 mile day, cooler weather, didn't push it too far, save batteries...I need 38 miles, mostly highway to get to work and back.
28 May 09- Started installing the Zilla again.
29 May 09- Finished installing the Zilla. Put a 12V water pump for cooling, made it turn on with pedal, off without. Drove 30 miles, I think the Zilla cuts out when the battery voltage goes too low. Was running just below 126V. Might have also been too hot. The water pump really pushes the water fast. My Pak-Traker kept reseting again and showed full charge after 30 miles...
31 May 09- Water pump lasted 30 miles. The pump was mounted up high, lost water and overheated and melted. Installed my spare down low. Found out to program Zilla, just use the esc button to start things! Lowered amps so I don't kill my pack.
6 Jun 09- Replaced 3:08 rear end with the original. The 3:08 was from a 4x4 causing the angle to the tranny to be off, caused a vibration above 40mph. Took it on the highway 20 miles.
13 Jun 09- Test drove 40.5 miles batteries were very low, about 120V at 200 amps, but it made it. Might take it to work Monday (will take the generator just in case!)
16 Jun 09- Tried it on the highway, only get 32 miles, but thats what I need. I'm driving it to work tomorrow.
17 Jun 09- Made it work and back (32 miles), and still had some left. The Zilla is set so at 125V it limits the available current.
22 Jun 09- Zilla cooling 12V water pump died on highway. I'll install a motor controller on the next pump to limit the speed.
30 Jun 09- Installed motor controller, works great! Limits flow of cooling water to the Zilla. Need to put a 3:08 ratio back in, range is 32 miles, enough to get to work and back, mostly highway.
12 Jul 09- Installed 3:08 rear end, drove 2 miles, about tp get on highway and the pinion bearing went, locked up the rear tires as I was driving 30 MPH. One step forward, two steps back...
18 Jul 09- It dont get better... bought two rear ends, a 3.08 gear set, gave back a 4x4 3.08 rear end as a core, removed and installed the rear end several times, and spent almost $800, and I end up with my original ratio!
20 Jul 09- Range sucks, almost 33 miles. Need to rethink the 3.08's, check batts, motor brushes, connections...
28 Jul 08- Weather finally warmed up past 65 degrees. Took the truck to work and back highway all the way! Was Doing 55 to 60, coasting to the rush hour bunch!
13 Aug 09- Installed the Zivan charger in the Probe, and found it charging more than what the Manzanita in the S10 was charging the batteries, which means, I have not been charging the s10's batteries all the way. Also found my 220V is really 110...
16 Aug 09- Used a liquid battery charge guage and found that the full charge was barely at the low end of the scale. Adjusted the charger, and I'm half way there, adjusted again, still charging. Also, reduced Zilla motor battery current from 500 to 300 amps. It helped the throttle jerky response, but acceleration sucked. Adjusted it up another 50 amps, will test after full charge.
17 Aug 09- Woo Hoo!!! Went to work, hit every red light, went home, they closed the darn street! ended up going 41 miles, and still had plenty left!!! All this time, I wasn't fully charging the batteries. Even though a meter says 6.5V, it appears only a specific gravity meter will tell you if its really at full capacity.
23 Aug 09- Charger set properly, drove 60 miles today! Made a 220V adapter plug. Can now charge 110 or 220.
29 Aug 09- Barely made it home, batteries weren't fully charged after charging overnight... Adjusted charger again! Hitting close to 190V while charging. May swap the Zivan in the 89 Probe and see if its any better...
09 Sep 09- Why does the amps go down as the speed goes up, with a constant pedal travel? Voltage has to be going up. I'm testing going 65-70 on the way to work, see if range is better. Coasting longer...
10 Sep 09- It seems to work, faster is better! Did 60-65 32 miles, had plenty of juice left over.
10 Oct 09- Cold is here, limited to 20 miles...
17 Oct 09- Limited to 14 miles... Installed tach.
1 Nov 09- Tach is nice to see as I shift gears without tach, I was shifting at about 5500-6500 rpm. 4th to 5th is not that big a drop in rpm, so I'm keeping it in 4th longer. Yes, I use all the gears! I don't see wher these people come up with "lock it in third and drive like an automatic" You'd have no acceleration at first, and would blow the motor at about 50 mph!
7 Nov 09- Installed Curtis fuel gage, started insulating rear battery boxes.

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