Anyone electrifying?

[RonD]

That's why I think Hybrid would be a better conversion
Don't touch the vehicles current powertrain

Add electric wheels to current undriven axle, smaller battery pack and controller
Basically a bolt on conversion
Even if you could get 40-50mile range that would meet most peoples daily need
Maybe cut emissions by 70%, which is the whole point of EV
And still can be used same as it was, using ICE full time if/when needed, "Fill 'er up", lol

As James Morse said, conversion of ICE vehicle to full electric needs to be a frame up undertaking
So its an "Art Project" not a "save the planet" project, lol

 

[Chapap]

The way they presented it on the news would make an average person say "I'm waiting until the conversion shops open then just converting my existing car".

If I posted a thread asking about swapping the Ranger to an F150 tranny for better towing, just imagine how the grief I'd get. I don't think swapping the entire powertrain to something most likely not even from Ford makes much more sense.

People are saying the ev F150 loses a lot of range when towing. Is this a big surprise? ICE vehicles get worse mileage when towing, right?

That problem was solved decades ago. Throw a 460 in it. guaranteed 9 mpg under all conditions.

Edit: Does anyone else do multiple proof reads before posting to avoid editing, then immediately do 3 edits?

 

[superj]

i always have to immediately edit because i don't even look at what is typing on the screen since i have to look at the keyboard.

we didn't have computers in school as kids. didn't even have computers at home till after i got out of the army. they did change our type writers for computers about halfway through my army time though so i got to play mine sweeper and pinball

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

That problem was solved decades ago. Throw a 460 in it. guaranteed 9 mpg under all conditions.

This. That motor is the biggest IDGAF motor I’ve ever had the pleasure to drive. Empty and start in 3rd. No problem. One ton on it and start in second? No worries. Equipment trailer and machine plus a ton in the bed? Is there something back there? Light up the duallies (all 4) by popping the clutch in first? I got this bro… Same mileage everywhere. 8 mpg around town, 9 on the highway. 9.5 if you went downhill with a tailwind enough.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

This. That motor is the biggest IDGAF motor I’ve ever had the pleasure to drive. Empty and start in 3rd. No problem. One ton on it and start in second? No worries. Equipment trailer and machine plus a ton in the bed? Is there something back there? Light up the duallies (all 4) by popping the clutch in first? I got this bro… Same mileage everywhere. 8 mpg around town, 9 on the highway. 9.5 if you went downhill with a tailwind enough.

My 97 460 gets 13 empty if i baby it.

But yes, otherwise accurate description.

 

[don4331]

That's why I think Hybrid would be a better conversion
Don't touch the vehicles current powertrain

Add electric wheels to current undriven axle, smaller battery pack and controller
Basically a bolt on conversion
Even if you could get 40-50mile range that would meet most peoples daily need
Maybe cut emissions by 70%, which is the whole point of EV
And still can be used same as it was, using ICE full time if/when needed, "Fill 'er up", lol

As James Morse said, conversion of ICE vehicle to full electric needs to be a frame up undertaking
So its an "Art Project" not a "save the planet" project, lol

The problem with hybrids is: They don't change the Infrastructure.

As Canadian, I have outlet on the house and at the office at work to plug the car in during winter. Using it year round wouldn't require changing anything.​

If nothing changes, then there is no EV recharge network created, and I need a hybrid forever.​

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And if I have a hybrid, there isn't need to vastly improve battery technology - both storage and recharge times.​

​

Aside: My buddy is building a new house and he is putting some sweat equity in. The house doesn't yet have power. But we connected the thickness planer, the jointer, the chop & table saws to his F-150 Powerboost and were able to thickness, joint and cut the fireplace mantle to size in his garage using the truck. Which was pretty cool and saved numerous trips back to my place. We were also able to vacuum up our mess at the end. Yes, there are cordless tools that would do some of that, but they don't have the power of the corded tools...

p.s. My day job involves changing things with company on daily basis. And I see how much it stresses people (even those not being directly impact).

 

[RonD]

I agree Hybrid is a transition vehicle, has the worse traits of ICE(oil and gas) and Electric(short range)
But we were talking about Conversions of ICE vehicles to Electric, and I think a Hybrid makes the most sense
Don't touch the working ICE system
Add electric to it in as simple a way as possible

Like the early 1900's Hybrid seen here: https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/26th-january-1936-a-motorist-who-had-broken-down-using-a-horse-to-tow-picture-id3272347?s=612x612

Simple solutions

 

[JoshT]

That's why I think Hybrid would be a better conversion
Don't touch the vehicles current powertrain

Add electric wheels to current undriven axle, smaller battery pack and controller
Basically a bolt on conversion
Even if you could get 40-50mile range that would meet most peoples daily need
Maybe cut emissions by 70%, which is the whole point of EV
And still can be used same as it was, using ICE full time if/when needed, "Fill 'er up", lol

As James Morse said, conversion of ICE vehicle to full electric needs to be a frame up undertaking
So its an "Art Project" not a "save the planet" project, lol

Except making a hybrid wouldn't be anywhere near that easy. The packaging alone would make it so much more difficult and impractical than a full EV conversion. Sure, go ahead and attach electric motors to the undriven axle. Wait how are you going to do that? It's going go take a complete redesign of the suspension. Even if you did that your going to need the space occupied by the ICE drivetrain and it's supporting equipment to locate the controllers and batteries. Even if you limit the range to 40-50.miles, it's still going to take a lot of space. By the time you put that much effort into building a hybrid, you're nearly at the work required for a full EV conversion.

Contrary to what someone posted previously, you do not have to start from the frame up, that's how Ford (or who ever built that truck) opted to do it. Generally you would reconfigure battery packs to fit into the existing frame and structure of the recieving vehicle. Actually on a full frame vehicle like a truck, once you remove the original drivetrain and associated equipment, you'll have a whole lot of space for batteries and controllers. The challenge would be figuring out how you were going to do motors. The most practical being an electric motor driving original axle, or swap in a Tesla style motor and axle assembly.

 

[Roert42]

Stupid question.

What's stopping us from bolting an electric motor to the existing transmission, using a VFD to control the motor, and linear pot to send reference signal to the drive. Put a battery where the gas tank was or in the trunk.


That's old as dirt tech that's been in place in industrial machines for 50 years.


Seems like we're over complicating things with all thr computer and special motors and what have you.


Is that old tech just way too inefficient?

 

[Chapap]

I agree Hybrid is a transition vehicle, has the worse traits of ICE(oil and gas) and Electric(short range)
But we were talking about Conversions of ICE vehicles to Electric, and I think a Hybrid makes the most sense
Don't touch the working ICE system
Add electric to it in as simple a way as possible

Like the early 1900's Hybrid seen here: https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/26th-january-1936-a-motorist-who-had-broken-down-using-a-horse-to-tow-picture-id3272347?s=612x612

Simple solutions

I’d argue that hybrids aren’t technically hybrids. Plug in hybrids might be. A regular hybrid is 100% gas powered and just uses electric stuff to harness wasted energy.

Stupid question.

What's stopping us from bolting an electric motor to the existing transmission, using a VFD to control the motor, and linear pot to send reference signal to the drive. Put a battery where the gas tank was or in the trunk.


That's old as dirt tech that's been in place in industrial machines for 50 years.


Seems like we're over complicating things with all thr computer and special motors and what have you.


Is that old tech just way too inefficient?

How much efficiency loss comes from the transmission. Range is an issue already, why exacerbate it? If an elec motor can be practicable from 0 to 2000 (or whatever) rpm, why complicate it with a transmission? They definitely could use less computerization tho.

 

[don4331]

Except making a hybrid wouldn't be anywhere near that easy. The packaging alone would make it so much more difficult and impractical than a full EV conversion. Sure, go ahead and attach electric motors to the undriven axle. Wait how are you going to do that? It's going go take a complete redesign of the suspension. Even if you did that your going to need the space occupied by the ICE drivetrain and it's supporting equipment to locate the controllers and batteries. Even if you limit the range to 40-50.miles, it's still going to take a lot of space. By the time you put that much effort into building a hybrid, you're nearly at the work required for a full EV conversion.

It is almost that easy to do in a Ranger 4x4 (actually any 4x4 with part time transfer case works, easiest with automatic - less software to support shifting of manual):

Remove 4x4 transmission and transfer case (theoretically, we replace the 4.0 with 2.3 Duratec; a 1.5l Ecoboost Dragon would be even lighter/more compact but there might be some bellhousing issues, to save some weight/as we don't need power of 4.0. In place of transfer case we put a splitter to allow disconnecting rear axle when running in EV mode (might want to retain the low range gears for the box).​

Install electric motor where transfer case was, connect it to front axle driveshaft.​

Remove spare tire and carrier - install battery pack where the spare was. Install spare tire carrier in box ala Gen 2 Rangers with rear tank. If you want to get cute, put a charging jack where the rear tank filler would be so you can charge battery anywhere there is 110v power. (Really fancy you can set it up for Tesla chargers).​

Replace throttle pedal/cable with throttle by Wire, Replace the brake cylinder pin with spring/resistor one (needed for regenerative braking).​

You want electric a/c and steering, and hydro boost brakes. If I need heat in the morning, I'll run the ICE - using battery to heat coolant is extravagant use of electricity (but it might have advantage of keeping engine warm to reduce start up losses).​

Wire up black box under hood linking battery, motor, engine, throttle and brakes. The more you spend on software, the closer it will feel to OEM.​

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The Ranger will start as front wheel drive EV, back out of the drive and quietly take you to work and back for pennies per km. If you need to drive clear across town, the ICE will kick in when battery gets low.​

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When you're hauling load/towing trailer, you thumb the switch into tow/haul mode and Ranger runs primarily on ICE, with electric motor to assist in accelerating, hills, etc.​

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In Sport mode, you get ICE and electric motor together (its also 4x4 mode).​

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Performance and capability is more/less identical to the historic ICE truck.​

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The challenge - the "conversion" is probably over $10k (maybe double that these days; I haven't actually costed it) - long time for payback...​

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Stupid question.

What's stopping us from bolting an electric motor to the existing transmission, using a VFD to control the motor, and linear pot to send reference signal to the drive. Put a battery where the gas tank was or in the trunk.


That's old as dirt tech that's been in place in industrial machines for 50 years.


Seems like we're over complicating things with all thr computer and special motors and what have you.


Is that old tech just way too inefficient?

They make kits to do that already.

The charger srt Daytona thing has a transmission as well.

 

[Blmpkn]

Toyota recently filed a patent on an electric car that has a manual transmission iirc.

 

[Chapap]

Or start with a 4x4, disconnect one of the driveshafts, hook up an elec motor… bam… mild hybrid

 

[don4331]

I’d argue that hybrids aren’t technically hybrids. Plug in hybrids might be. A regular hybrid is 100% gas powered and just uses electric stuff to harness wasted energy.



How much efficiency loss comes from the transmission. Range is an issue already, why exacerbate it? If an elec motor can be practicable from 0 to 2000 (or whatever) rpm, why complicate it with a transmission? They definitely could use less computerization tho.

Or start with a 4x4, disconnect one of the driveshafts, hook up an elec motor… bam… mild hybrid

Obviously, you just read my post above.