Michael Phillips's 1997 Ford Ranger XL

Owner

Michael Phillips

Location

Burlington, Kentucky United States ^map

Vehicle

1997 Ford Ranger XL
Very Basic Model - Regular Cab - Short Bed - No AC - Manual Steering.

Motor

Advanced DC FB1-4001A Series Wound DC
The largest Advanced DC Motor made for EVs - Rated as 30hp continous at 144V and 100hp peak.

Drivetrain

Advanced DC Motor connected to Ford Clutchless 5 Speed Transmission, via a Precision made Phillips Coupler.

Controller

Curtis 1231C-8601
96 - 144 Volt 500 Amp Limit.

Batteries

24 US Battery Model US 125 XC, 6.00 Volt, Lead-Acid, Flooded
Heavy Deep Cycle

System Voltage

144 Volts

Charger

Zivan NG3
230 VAC Input 144 VDC Output. 2800 Watt

Heater

Electric

DC/DC Converter

Iota DLS55

Instrumentation

Tachometer Speedometer - Odometer - Voltmeter - Ampmeter.

Top Speed

65 MPH (104 KPH)
I will keep it down until I install a Tach, and know what the motor is doing. Need To Get 50 MPH.

Acceleration

I will say poor at this time, untill I learn what I'm doing, and how hard I can get into it on take off. 11/04/2008

Range

50 Miles (80 Kilometers)
46 Miles Is The Best To Date.

EV Miles

Current:	1,839 Miles (2,958 Kilometers)
	As of 5/24/2010

Seating Capacity

2 adults

Curb Weight

2,760 Pounds (1,254 Kilograms)
Before pulling engine, and stripping unwanted weight. To date I have removed 465 LB.

Conversion Time

Started On 06/14/2008

First Drive On 10/26/2008

Conversion Cost

$1975.00 for Truck as is.
-$50.00 Sold Bed Liner.
$1720.00 FB1-400A DC Motor.
$1510.00 1231C-8601 Curtis Controller
$ 95.00 PB-6 Curtis Potbox.
-$35.00 Sold Convertor
$2928.00 24 US Batteries
-$100.00 Sold Engine
$ 1200.00 Charger.
Total: $9243.00

Additional Features

Tilt Bed, with gas lift cylinder assist.
Air Shocks in the rear to help with the weight. Thermostat operated cooling fans on Controller.
Recharge connection under fuel door.
No Run switch on Recharge door.
Red Controller over heat light.
Red Motor over heat light.
Red Recharge door Open light.
Green Power on light.
Volt Meter.
Amp Meter.

06/29/2008 - Spent all day today, with the help of a friend repairing a shock bolt I had twisted off.
07/01/2008 - Today I completed the installation of the tilt bed hinges to the frame, this weekend I plan on mounting the bed to the truck.
07/02/2008 - Started machining my adaptor plate today, half will be made where I work, and I will try to make the other half at home.
07/07/2008 - Received my Advanced DC Motor today, so I finished my adaptor plate, now it's on to the Coupler.
07/21/2008 - Completed the coupler this weekend, now I'm ready to assemble, motor to transmission. Also received my gas lift cylinders for the tilt bed.
07/28/2008 - Motor and Transmission are coupled, and ready for installation. Gas cylinders are also installed on tilt bed, works great. Next the motor mount.
08/03/2008 Finished motor mount, and installed motor into Truck.
08/04/2008 Working on Heat Sink for Controller, with one fan for cooling, and one for backup.
08/11/2008 - Installed accelerator potbox, and built one of four battery boxes.
08/18/2008 - This weekend I replaced the carpet, and started on the second battery box.
08/26/2008 - It's getting diffcult to find room for 24 batteries in this small short bed truck, I'm working on my fourth rack. To date I have 11 behind the rear end. 2 on the left, in front of the rear end. 6 behind the cab, across the top of the frame. 4 in the front, under the hood. Need 1 more somewhere?
08/29/2008 - Looking for batteries - Price on Trojan T125's from $178.00 to $210.00 each without a core. US battery of same size $122.00 each no core needed.
09/08/2008 - Purchased 24 US Batteries -US 125 XC's. Installed Controller with fans.
09/10/2008 - Installed 12 Volt Battery to check out lighting, turn signals, wipers, horn, and everything else needed to be road worthy. Having trouble getting backup lights to work. I also need to come up with a heater, I do not want to take out the dash to get to the heater core.
09/22/08 - Completed last Battery box this past weekend, started installing Batteries. Purchased vacuum pump for brake system, which will be next on my list. Also I am very disappointed, in all of this process I seem to have lost my speedometer, and don't have any ideal why. I'm sure I cut the wrong wire somewhere, or it needs the computer, which is no longer in the truck.
10/01/2008 All batteries are installed, vacuum pump is installed, next is locating a place for the main contactors, and start wiring.
10/02/2008 - Ordered Battery Charger - Zivan NG3.
10/06/2008 - I feel much better now, got my speedometer working again. Started this weekend on my control board, seems like a lot left to do. Sure would like to finish before cold weather.
10/21/2008 - Gauges have been installed, and most of the wiring is finished. Still have a couple of issues to deal with, like heat.
10/23/2008 - Came up short on the 2/0 wire, and am now waiting for it to be delivered. Getting real close to getting on the road.
10/26/2008 - First drive today, just up, and down my street. I still have a lot of things to finish up, before it's ready to drive to work. Once again my speedometer is not working. Odometer works, but no speed. Next on my to do list is mount my charger in my garage, so I can get a good charge on the batteries. Then I try for a longer trip.
10/29/2008 - Wired up Charger today, now ready to charge for the first time.
10/31/2008 - Installed new bed cover (Don't know how to spell Tonneau Cover)looks good. Took the truck out for a drive again, for some reason the Vacuum Pump relay has developed a chatter. I believe there will be more little problems like this in the beginning, I'll just have to deal with them.
11/03/2008 - Put 20 miles on the first charge, and then recharged for fear of hurting the Batteries. I need a better way to track remaining charge. I also need to learn how to drive this truck. I am dissapointed with its acceleration. I don't know if it is normal to peg the ampmeter at 400 Amps when taking off from a stop.
11/05/2008 - I once again have the Speedometer & Odometer working. I now need to install a Tach, to keep a watch on the motor. Still need heat.
11/06/2008 - Took the EV Truck to work this morning for the first time. I do much better with it when there's no traffic.
11/10/2008 - I need to do something about the heat, or I'm not going to be able to drive it much longer without it.
* Note when I started this project, gas was $ 4.19 per gallon, Today it's $ 1.94. I'm not discouraged, I have faith, it will soon go back up.
11/21/2008 - Installed Ceramic 1500 Watt Heater, but do not have it wired yet. I will finish it this weekend. Unlike other people, I did not install my heater in the old heater core. I put it just after the fan, which is infront of the air blend door. I did not want someone to be able to turn down the heat with the air control. This would close the blend door cutting off air flow over the heater element - not a good thing to do.
12/04/2008 - Wired my heater, and it worked until I turned it off. Thats when some dash lights I installed went up in smoke. I still have not figured out what I did wrong. At the same time I have been working on a pickup unit for my tachometer. It bench tested fine, now I just need to get it installed. I hate trying to work in this cold.
01/05/2009 - Heater is working enought to keep the windshield de-iced. I will rework it in the spring, but at least I will be able to drive through the winter.
03/20/2009 - To work and back every day this week. Truck is running good.
05/04/2009 - Added water to the batteries for the first time. No problems with the truck as of this date.
05/15/2009 - Installed Tachometer, and water shield over front of motor. Next I will be looking for lighter wheels, and a DC to DC converter.
05/25/2009 - Lost my 12 Volt DC today. Drove to work with lights on, then had to also use defrost fan, with windshield wipers. Really need that DC to DC Converter.
06/04/2009 - Installed Dc to DC Converter.
08/16/2009 - Yesterday my truck let me down. On my way home from work, doing about 55 mph I started losing power. The motor started to shake. When I got off the road the truck would not pull its self. I took it out of gear , and tried the motor again. It acts like the shaft is broken, or something has come loose. Motor will not turn, and shakes really bad.
08/17/2009 - After I hauled the truck home, I got under it, and tried to turn the motor by hand. Turns freely. Then I tried to run it again, once again it was shaking very badly. On the third try, I heard a snap, or a pop, and the motor started to run. Now there seems to be no problems at all. I am thinking a brush was stuck.
08/18/2009 - Don't know what to do now - I can't trust the truck on getting me back home. I'm going to talk to the people that built the motor. I'll let you know what they say.
09/02/2009 - EV America wanted me to remove the motor and send it back to be checked out, but that's just too involved at this point. I did remove the front motor guard, and brush cover. I can see nothing wrong, no damage, nor anything loose. I guess I'm going to start driving it again, and keep my fingers crossed.
09/08/2009 - Once again I broke down - Same problem, lost power, motor real jurky when trying to run.
09/13/2009 - I disconnected the controller from the motor, and tried to run it on a 12 volt battery. Same problem. I then removed the motor from the truck, and boxed up for shipping back to EV America. I will post what they find. I am one month out of warranty, with 9 months run time on the motor.
10/16/2009 - With EV America acting as go between for Advance Motors, and myself. I was informed this week that my motor would be covered under warranty. This was great news for me, and I thank Bob, and Bryan for their help in bring about such favorable results.
10/23/2009 - Received my new motor today - Now I just need to find the time to get it installed.
10/28/2009 - New motor is in, and I'm back on the road.

code by jerry