Anyone electrifying?

[JoshT]

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...​

That "option" excludes anything that isn't a 4x4, rear primary drive, vehicle.

Even then I don't think that's going to work out anything like you imagine. Even if you could install the parts as you suggest, the limited functionality would make it a wasted effort.

Hybrid, or full EV retrofits would be much easier with something like the Magna EBeam:

You can't just split an EV battery easily to fit into an older chassis without giving up a lot of benefits and doing tons of work. That's why lots of these EV conversions that we see use unmodified battery packs from existing EVs. OEMs spend tens of thousands of man hours on controlling temps within EV batteries. The batteries have to be cooled/warmed at different times, under different conditions. Temps during charging and discharging are massively impactful to overall battery life. If you split a battery up to make it easier to package, then you have to set up all of that cooling/heating from scratch. Not just the hardware to do it (battery cases, coolant pumps/lines, etc), but the software as well (charging ramp rates, temperature management, throttling performance back over time, etc).

I've not looked at what Magna offers, but what is pictured is a non steering axle. It could only be used in place of a non steering beam type axle, which means a rear axle. It would work for a full EV conversion, but not much good for a hybrid. Maybe as an electric rear axle in a FWD vehicle, butost if those wouldn't have the room under the rear end for the axle or space for the batteries while the ICE drivetrain is still intact.

As for "splitting the battery pack" I never said it was easy, but it happens all the time in EV conversions. In fact I'd say it is more common to do that than to use the battery packs unmodified.

ICON are the only ones that I've seen who tackled splitting the battery up in their Tesla powered Mercury. They started with an 85kwh battery pack. Not sure if they still have the same capacity or not after splitting it up, but they estimate a 150-200 mile range which would be much lower than the ~260 mile range the Tesla would have with this battery pack. Some of that is worse aero, some of it comes from drivetrain inefficiency (driveshaft and ring/pinion differential) but I'm guessing a chunk of it also comes from splitting the battery up.

ICON4x4 • PAST PROJECTS

Icon4x4 PAST PROJECTS

www.icon4x4.com

Again, they used a full custom chassis to make it all work together:

But they chose to split the battery, with some in the "engine" bay, and some in the trunk/passenger compartment:

That's cool and what I was saying by make the batteries fit. The folks at ICON are hardly the only ones doing it, and they definitely weren't the first. Another example that is a little more practical IMO is the Z car recently built by throtl on YouTube. There have been a bunch more examples I've come across over the years, that's just about the easiest to provide.

As for the reduced range the points you make are valid. I'd say that they likely sacrificed some battery capacity in favor is styling. That car is probably driven 50-100 miles max per outing, probably half that, so they could give up capacity to fit the styling they were after.

 

[Northidahotrailblazer]

I travel to far for work. In my trade I've seen and worked on Diesel electric haul trucks to man lifts and any time you have to deal with the batteries or the control parts things cost money. A EV doesn't work for me. I don't know its not like i'm 100% against it, we have an electric golf cart and I drive that all over the farm. But we have to replace the batteries and its over a $1,000 bucks for them and it was done before we got it 3 years ago. its like it needs an engine every few years. What is the point are EVs going to be the same? are you going to have to put batteries in them every 5 years? What is the point? Everyone is so focused on what is coming out of the tail pipe, that they are missing the picture. To make a EV car is far from green....... A EV car will still need fossil fuels, grease for the bearing, oil for gear boxs. Also the waste thats going to come from them when they need scrapped.... Until we have we have something like the energy cells like from star wars crap, it doesn't make since. Most peoples homes are not set up to have a big charger at there house and most of the countries power grids cant support them..... I feel i have a lot of negatives but to me we are putting the cart before the horse in a lot of ways and by now we should of had flying cars so why don't we shoot for that........ Maybe this is just needed and the tech will grow so fast but i seems there will be a lot EVs in a few years that will need 15K in batteries for sale because people cant afford them.

 

[bobbywalter]

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.


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?

Makes perfect sense to me.

 

[1990RangerinSK]

Gremlin and pacers were before the eagles and were 2wd and just came in two doors

You're right that the Gremlin and Pacer were earlier. Eagle came out in about 1980, as a replacement for the Hornet.

 

[stmitch]

I travel to far for work. In my trade I've seen and worked on Diesel electric haul trucks to man lifts and any time you have to deal with the batteries or the control parts things cost money. A EV doesn't work for me. I don't know its not like i'm 100% against it, we have an electric golf cart and I drive that all over the farm. But we have to replace the batteries and its over a $1,000 bucks for them and it was done before we got it 3 years ago. its like it needs an engine every few years. What is the point are EVs going to be the same? are you going to have to put batteries in them every 5 years? What is the point? Everyone is so focused on what is coming out of the tail pipe, that they are missing the picture. To make a EV car is far from green....... A EV car will still need fossil fuels, grease for the bearing, oil for gear boxs. Also the waste thats going to come from them when they need scrapped.... Until we have we have something like the energy cells like from star wars crap, it doesn't make since. Most peoples homes are not set up to have a big charger at there house and most of the countries power grids cant support them..... I feel i have a lot of negatives but to me we are putting the cart before the horse in a lot of ways and by now we should of had flying cars so why don't we shoot for that........ Maybe this is just needed and the tech will grow so fast but i seems there will be a lot EVs in a few years that will need 15K in batteries for sale because people cant afford them.

It's fine if an EV won't work for you, but I think some of your concerns are unfounded.

We've had mainstream EVs on the road for a decade now. The batteries last hundreds of thousands of miles. It's not like the lead acid batteries in your golf cart. EV batteries are different chemistries, and most have very well designed and controlled temperature management to prevent damage that can shorten life.

Also, you don't need a "big charger"at home to have an EV. A regular 120v outlet will add 3-5 miles of range per hour it's plugged in. A 240V outlet like an oven, electric clothes dryer, or large welder in your shop might use will add 20-30 miles of range per hour. For the way that 95% of people live, the big, expensive fast chargers are only necessary for long distance travel, or those who cannot charge where they park and have to rely on public charging

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

95% might be a little inflated...

 

[19Walt93]

Wanted one ever since I was a kid. I saw a couple of whatever the 2 door ones are called over the summer.. so jelous.

They're Ramblers, you're wasting your jealousy.

 

[stmitch]

95% might be a little inflated...

You think more than 5% would need a fast charger at home?

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

You think more than 5% would need a fast charger at home?

Drive decent miies, don't have access to a charging point either at home or at work or in public in general.

 

[superj]

more than 5% of people travel long distances for work? maybe that is why? i know anyone who does construction travels more than a slow charger could handle.

the good thing about those eagles is they have the jeep inline six as their motor.

 

[don4331]

You think more than 5% would need a fast charger at home?

I think more than 5% need a fast charger:

All 3 of my kids live in apartment complexes - that's 3 vehicles that need a fast charger at least a couple times a week. So, for our extended family that would be 60% need fast charger/40% that can trickle charge at home.​

 

[RonD]

US national average of miles driven per year is 13,500, highest its ever been
260 miles per week
37 miles per day

Obviously there will be people that drive more and people that drive less miles per year, that why its called an Average, lol

And lets say that 260 miles/week is mostly 5 work days, so 52 miles a day

Level 1 charging, 120volt 15/20amp 4-6 miles per hour to charge, 10 hour for 50 miles
Level 2 charging, 240volt 40/50amp 12-15 miles per hour to charge, 4 hours for 50 miles
Level 3 charging, 480volt 200amps 10 miles a MINUTE, 5 min for 50 miles

 

[superj]

Thats good for city dwellers, like new york, chicago, etc, but here in texas, 50 miles is nothing in austin and san antonio. Same for the small town i live in.

Its ok though, we got time till we are handicappd by forced into electric cars. Hopefully they are better by then.

 

[DeathRanger]

not a city dweller. Closest grocery store is 30+ minutes away. I drive 100+ miles a day for work. Wife drives 200+. she's put 152,000 miles on her EV in 3.5 years. Quite higher than the average and only had level 2 charging at home. Original setup was plugging charger into welding outlet in my garage which yielded about 30-35 miles per hour recharge on a 240v 50amp circuit. Recently upgraded to the wall charger and 60amp. now we get up to 45miles recharge per hour.

I've got an old 2000 ranger with blown engine and would love the idea of dropping the body on a prebuilt electric chassis. Canoo has been developing an EV chassis for their vehicles but no word if they'll ever sell it https://www.canoo.com/platform/

 

[rusty ol ranger]

US national average of miles driven per year is 13,500, highest its ever been
260 miles per week
37 miles per day

Obviously there will be people that drive more and people that drive less miles per year, that why its called an Average, lol

And lets say that 260 miles/week is mostly 5 work days, so 52 miles a day

Level 1 charging, 120volt 15/20amp 4-6 miles per hour to charge, 10 hour for 50 miles
Level 2 charging, 240volt 40/50amp 12-15 miles per hour to charge, 4 hours for 50 miles
Level 3 charging, 480volt 200amps 10 miles a MINUTE, 5 min for 50 miles

Gas- 20 miles every 30 seconds.