The bed lift makes maintenance easyRear two battery boxesProper orange high voltage cablesLow voltage junction boxUnder hood layoutFuel storageWiring boxesBaby brother--the Smart ElectricLow voltage junction box wiring harness
OwnerRick Beebe
LocationHamden, Connecticut United States map
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Vehicle1998 Ford Ranger XLT Supercab (White)
extended cab. 6' bed. 5
speed manual. Bed lift installed for easy
access to under-bed battery boxes.
MotorAdvanced DC 1231 Series Wound DC 9.1 Series Wound DC
DrivetrainStandard 4+OD transmission for 2.5L engine.
ControllerDC Power Systems Raptor 600
Refurbished (new caps, etc). Modified to
work on pot-box throttle.
Batteries45 CALB/Skyenergy CA100FI, 3.20 Volt, Lithium Iron Phosphate
System Voltage144 Volts
ChargerElcon 4Kw CANBus control
TCCH or Elcon charger with a CANBus
controller from EVTV
HeaterElectric water heater kit from
electriccarpartscompany.com
DC/DC ConverterIota 45 Amp model
InstrumentationJLD404 Volt/Amp/Ah meter under dash.
RechargeCar "AutoBlock AMP" current meter
which drives the tach as an ammeter and
shows SOC on the factory fuel gauge.
Top Speed75 MPH (120 KPH)
Range40 Miles (64 Kilometers)
Watt Hours/Mile300 Wh/Mile
This is my target. Unverified at the moment
EV Miles
Start:147,100 Miles (236,683 Kilometers)
Current:149,200 Miles (240,062 Kilometers)
Total:2,100 Miles (3,378 Kilometers)
 
    As of 10/25/2016
Seating Capacity4. Two comfortably with two jumpseats behind
in extended cab.
Curb Weight3,100 Pounds (1,409 Kilograms)
The change from lead-acid to LiFePo4 removed
1300 pounds from the truck!
TiresStock
Conversion TimeSo far September 2013 - July 2014. Hopefully
done by the end of August.
Conversion Cost$6000 for the truck. $8000 budgeted for the
conversion
Additional FeaturesBattery boxes are insulated and contain battery heaters
(Farnham heaters from KTA-EV). A custom arduino-based
controller turns the heater on if the temperature in that box
is below a threshold and also inhibits charging if any of the
boxes is too cold. CALB says don't charge their batteries if
they're below freezing.
Converted by Dave Oliveria with help from Bob Rice in 2007.
Bought by Rick Beebe in 2013 and re-converted from Lead-acid
to Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePo4) cells starting in
September 2013. The original conversion is in the EVAlbum at
#1355. Because so much of the truck was changed for this re-
conversion I decided to add a new page for it.

Sept 2013 - Stripped out the Lead-acid cells and designed new
aluminum boxes to fit in the existing steel frames. Bought
welded aluminum boxes from www.customaluminumboxes.com.
They're sized to sit in the existing steel racks under the
bed. Also had to buy a new charger--bought a TCCH 30 AMP
120/240v charger with CANbus control and a J-1772 inlet.

Oct 13 - The large rack at the rear of the truck had a T-
shaped support rib in the middle. That needed to be flipped
over and re-welded to give the aluminum box a flat place to
sit. 45 CALB CA100FI cells arrive. Begin the long process of
bottom balancing.

Nov 13 - The front 2 steel frames aren't going to work so I
cut them out and fabricated aluminum supports for those
battery boxes.

Dec 13 - Mar 14 -- very long and cold winter and not much
progress other than ordering more components and tinkering in
the basement. Decided to replace all the high-voltage black
welding cable with "proper" orange cable. In March I removed
the front 2 battery racks from under the hood and brought
them inside so I could play with placement for the
controller, charger and wiring.

Mar 14 - Jun 14 -- Racks all cleaned and repainted. Battery
boxes installed. New high voltage wiring run. Under the hood
all the low-voltage connections are now in a weather-proof
box and the contactors and high voltage connectors are in
another weather-proof box.

Jul 14 -- Re-installed the components removed last Fall. Vacuum
pump, power steering pump. Installed a new water-based cabin
heater and pump. Built a new bracket for the vacuum pump pressure
switch.

Aug 14 -- Completed wiring everything. Installed the batteries and
connected them together. Cobbled together the AVC2 to get a first
charge on the batteries. First full charge on August 6. First
drive on August 10! EV Grin again!

code by jerry