Ed Thorpe's 1998 Ford Ranger EV

Owner

Ed Thorpe

Owner's Other EVs

1998 Honda EVplus
2000 Corbin Sparrow
2001 Xootr eX3
1993 Kewet EL-JET3
1973 Aurenthetic Charger
1974 Fiat Bertone X1/9
2012 Yikebike Fusion

Location

Alameda, California United States ^map

Vehicle

1998 Ford Ranger EV
OEM Lead-Acid Battery Pickup, production
vehicle by Ford. Originally part of the
Alabama Freeway Maintenance fleet.
2017: upgraded to Lithium battery pack.

Motor

Siemens Type 1 PV5133-4WS20W11 3-Phase AC
90 HP 67 kW 3 phase 13,000 RPM max

Drivetrain

Single speed ratio 12.518:1, RWD, Rear
Motor

Controller

Siemens Mfg. By Siemens A.G. for Ford
300 Amp with regen, up to about 350v.

Batteries

540 Enersys Enerdel, 0.00 Volt, Lithium Iron Phosphate
2017: upgraded to lithium LiMn2O4 pack. 540 cells arranged in 90S6P for 105ah x 368v fully charged pack. 34kwh pack.

System Voltage

324 Volts

Charger

Elcon HF/PFC 5000
Replaced the OEM 4-5KW on-board Avcon 240 VAC inlet with a new Elcon 5KW with J1772 inlet. With Orion BMS.

Heater

2 stage electric resistance (PTC) with
automatic climate control

DC/DC Converter

Lambda Ford OEM Mfg. by Lambda
100 Amp output, liquid cooled

Instrumentation

a) speedometer
b) miles to empty
c) "fuel" gauge
d) system temperature
e) warning lights for: "on" indicator,
low charge, power limit, malfunction,
charging, etc.
f) Torque app on DVD media system for monitoring v/a/% but not actual aHr or KWH usage.

Top Speed

86 MPH (138 KPH)
computer limited.

Acceleration

reasonable

Range

80 Miles (128 Kilometers)
Increased for original 50 miles with lead acid batteries to 70-80 miles per charge.

Watt Hours/Mile

400 Wh/Mile
Presently can only calc efficiency after
recharging from the outlet. Including fan
loads and balancing, a full-range charge
typically averages 400 whr/m.

EV Miles

Start:	10 Miles (16 Kilometers)
Current:	29 Miles (46 Kilometers)
Total:	19 Miles (30 Kilometers)
	As of 8/19/2017

Seating Capacity

2 adults or 3 people max, bench seat.

Curb Weight

3,750 Pounds (1,704 Kilograms)
1650 pound payload
(gas model 1998 is 3,060 lb curb)
vehicle lost 1000 lb curb weight when upgraded to Lithium pack.

Tires

Originally Uniroyal Tigerpaw LRR (50 psi) P225-70R15 (originally 12 years ago).

Conversion Time

OEM, only conversion time is for replacing
with alternative batteries. Time over the years upgrading batteries from 8v lead acid to 12v lead acid to finally lithium.

Conversion Cost

Only for batteries, depending on battery
cost. 2007 pack cost ~$6k, 2010 pack cost
~$4k, 2017 upgrade to lithium plus ~$15k

Additional Features

Economy mode to increase range
Variable regenerative braking
Variable assist electro-hydraulic power steering
Sanden 3-phase electric air conditioning
Battery thermal managment (warmers and fan)
Four wheel power ABS disc brakes
Tilt steering
dual 2nd generation air bags
alloy wheels
Explorer suspension components and frame rails
heat rejecting glass
Composite leaf springs & Watts linkage
aluminum hood
Really cool looking aluminum dropped real axle to which
the traction motor is mounted.
tonneau cover
full ODB2 diagnastics

start 2005 - Basically gas pickup with a City 15-22 mpg,
Highway 20-27 mpg(epa) purpose-built as all-electric,
with raised ground clearance due to the battery box.
Performing at better than 75 mpge (miles per gal.
equivalence) when measured from the wall (AC input).

Original battery pack was: 39 8v East Penn VRLA AGM 85
ahr special-built battery for Ford, measuring 15.28"
(388mm) x 4.1" (112mm) x 6.94" (176.25mm), weighing 42.5
lb (19.3Kg) each. Together combines into a 2000 lb VRLA
battery pack with heaters mounted in composite box
between frame rails (Explorer frame, Ranger cab & body).
Original pack allowed range of about 50 miles per charge.
Have driven 6 65+ miles trips with 10% warning < 1 mile
from end with about 5,000 miles on OEM pack. But OEM pack
only warrantied for about 12,000 miles under Ford's
original program.

June 2007 - After 2 versions of the OEM pack, changed
with Lanny's help (many thanks!) to Hawker PC-2150 Odyssey 12v batteries. Worked well until one battery in
the box started failing after a year. Limped along for a
couple of years and finally dropped the box to
investigate and replace the pack.

June 2010 - installed new pack and working great.
Installed 1-5/16" trailer ball and pulled class-3 dual-
axle trailer in July 4th parade, with 4-person jazz band.
Increasing reliability by installing additional
monitoring - paktrakr w/ Woodward Display + Data Logger;
Emeter/Link-10 with isolated output to EVdash on a Palm;
2 Battery Life Savers (156v each). All extra equipment
lives in battery box in truck bed, with all the high
voltage (remember, 312v nominal pack voltage, which
charges up to 390-420v).

Feb 2017 - upgraded to Enerdel lithium pack (finally) for returning to daily commuting. Has about a Leaf range with strong regen. Charges in about 5 hrs from empty and taking to various car/truck shows to show as a 20 year old electric pickup. Gets around just fine but looking to reduce the charging time with a second charger. Upgrade battery pack process documented at: WebPage

code by jerry