New Ranger EV Owner

[ajbessinger]

Just picked up this factory 2000 Ford Ranger EV last night. It needs some work, but hopefully I can get this rare gem on the road soon! Less than 7k original miles on the clock! Check out my YouTube channel if you would like to follow along with my progress on getting it resurrected. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaU-YQSlJEvzlIYD6EFYyRw/

 

[Gozi]

Welcome. Really cool ranger. Take tons of pictures and post them.

 

[Dirtman]

I never even knew they made an EV ranger! Very cool.

Is it 4x4? It looks higher than a normal ranger

What are all the specs? What does the fuel and temp guage do? More pics!

 

[OldMan2]

For those who are like me and do not know what EV means:
The Ford Ranger EV is a battery electric vehicle that was produced by Ford. It was produced starting in the 1998 model year through 2002 and is no longer in production. It is built upon a light truck chassis used in the Ford Ranger. A few vehicles with lead-acid batteries were sold, but most units were leased for fleet use.Wikipedia
Manufacturer:Ford
Production:1997–2002
Model years:1998–2002

You've got a very unusual Ranger in immaculate shape. I get a chuckle out of the ON OFF gauge. Reminds me of a trolling motor.

 

[ajbessinger]

I never even knew they made an EV ranger! Very cool.

Is it 4x4? It looks higher than a normal ranger

What are all the specs? What does the fuel and temp guage do? More pics!

It's not a 4x4, but it is built on the 4x4 frame, heavier duty front suspension and more ground clearance for the battery pack. The battery pack in it is also probably about 800lbs lighter than stock, so it's probably riding a bit high...
Uses a 90hp Siemens 3 phase AC motor, and has a governed top speed of 75. It originally had a 2000lb lead acid battery pack at 312v. It was upgraded to LiFePO4 about 6 years ago, but the owner had some issues spoofing the battery control module, and it has been parked ever since, so the "brand new" batteries are more than likely toast.
The temp gauge is for the motor/inverter coolant (which of course runs a much lower temp than engine coolant), and the gas gauge is the battery level (if you look really close the "pump" has a plug on it instead of a fuel nozzle).

 

[RonD]

Yes, it was good in its day

EV Ranger owners website here: http://www.fordrangerev.com/REVolt/REVolt.html

 

[ajbessinger]

More pics as requested

Here's the interior, a bit dusty from sitting, but overall in nice shape. Whoever ordered this truck spec'd it with no options (not that there were many on the Ranger EV's. Most of them were fleet trucks. They were only available as a single cab, short bed.

Here's some of the original sales literature. As you can see, the original payload capacity was only 650lbs for the Lead Acid truck. NiMh powered trucks had more range, and a lighter battery, enabling a payload of almost double (1250lbs.). This truck has had the Lead swapped out for LiFePO4, which may actually make it even lighter than an NiMh truck. I would put it's payload somewhere in the 12-1500 lb range.

And this is a Ford "NGS" diagnostic scan tool that was included for those of you that haven't seen one.

The bed, despite being kinda dusty looks pretty much unused.

The battery pack runs almost the entire wheelbase of the truck between the frame rails. I'll try to get a picture of the whole underside when I can get the truck on a lift. Those coolant hard lines run to the back of the truck to cool the rear mounted traction motor, and it's inverter.

Under the hood. Everything that would normally be belt driven (AC & power steering) each has its own 3 phase AC motor and inverter. It does use the conventional hydraulic power steering, just with a motor to drive the pump, which is hidden underneath everything else under the hood. The DC-DC acts as the "alternator", which steps down the high voltage to power the 12v electronics. The heater has a resistive element in the heater core, no coolant used used for cabin heat. That means no waiting for your engine to warm up, hot air comes out almost instantly!

Nothing to see here.... They literally just blocked off the hole for the filler neck with a piece of plastic.

Instead, you plug in at the front behind this flap in the grille! The plug on this has been updated to the current standard, originally it would've had a big rectangular "Avcon" connector.

 

[8thTon]

Is the radiator cooling the traction motor & inverter?

EDIT: I would think you'd need a significant reprogramming to charge the LiFePO4 batteries? I'm more familiar with stationary lead-acid, but if it tries to trickle charge or equalize it will kill them. Also, because of their very constant discharge voltage it will probably not have any idea how much charge is left in them.

 

[ajbessinger]

Is the radiator cooling the traction motor & inverter?

EDIT: I would think you'd need a significant reprogramming to charge the LiFePO4 batteries? I'm more familiar with stationary lead-acid, but if it tries to trickle charge or equalize it will kill them. Also, because of their very constant discharge voltage it will probably not have any idea how much charge is left in them.

Yes, the radiator is to cool the traction motor and inverter, as well as the DC-DC converter, onboard charger, and the inverters for the A/C compressor and power steering pump.
The Onboard charger will be/was bypassed with another onboard charger more suited for the LiFePO4 (or whichever other chemistry I use).
The “fuel” gauge will not be accurate unfortunately, so I will probably use an android based stereo so that I can run Torque on screen to monitor the pack via the CAN data from the battery management system.

 

[Gozi]

There is little giggle factor in that instrument cluster. Fuel Gauge, what does it do? Hot and Cold Temp, what is it reading? The ON/Off indicator dial? The distance to empty dial, now that's just funny right there. Had to come back and look. Great find.

 

[Ranger850]

Cool Truck. I thought FORD got all of them back. Guess NOT

 

[ajbessinger]

There is little giggle factor in that instrument cluster. Fuel Gauge, what does it do? Hot and Cold Temp, what is it reading? The ON/Off indicator dial? The distance to empty dial, now that's just funny right there. Had to come back and look. Great find.

If you look real close the fuel emblem actually has a plug on the end instead of a fuel nozzle, haha. It basically is just the state of charge meter. The temp gauge is for the coolant just like normal, but runs at a lower temperature, so the gauge is calibrated for lower temps. The rear mounted motor, and inverter are water cooled, as well as the onboard charger, DC-DC converter, AC compressor inverter, etc.

 

[ajbessinger]

Cool Truck. I thought FORD got all of them back. Guess NOT

Nope! There were about 2-300 saved from the crusher thanks to efforts by both the original lessees, and groups like Plug In America. There’s a pretty active community of folks who take a lot of effort to keep these trucks on the road. At this site there’s all kinds info, like the original dealer/shop service manuals, sales documents, etc. fordrangerev.com. They even have access to the original build sheets, and dealer service history, here’s mine...

here

 

[Dirtman]

Why did ford try to crush them all?

 

[RonD]

Ford came out with the EV Ranger in 1998 because Chevy came out with the EV S-10 in late 1996

Chevy only made about 500 of these, and it was FRONT WHEEL DRIVE
Very few are still around

The Ranger and S-10 electrics were just tests which is why most were crushed after the test period

The testing showed the problems with electric vehicles and environmental conditions, which are still the same problems today
In hot weather batteries lose a bit of range but also won't recharge until they cool down a bit after being used, so no fast recharging in hot climates
And in cold weather you can lose as much as 40% of the expected range, and it could even be a bit more because of heated seats and heating the cabin of the vehicle during the cold weather.