97 Ranger EV conversion

[Jim Martin]

My Grandson and I are converting a 97 Ranger to an electric vehicle. It is a standard shift short bed truck. We have all the gas parts out and have the electric motor installed. The challenge now is to get the speedometer/odometer working. Does anyone know how to do this since the gas engine and computer are not there.

 

[Tbars4]

...Welcome here...

...Sorry I can't be of help but I am interested in your build...Check out the Ranger Forum here and be sure to start a Ranger Registry so you can fill us in on your project...:biggthump

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

welcome jim martin

 

[Dopler174]

I really really want to see this truck.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! Are you using the Advance electric motor? If so, then will you run 144 VDC on it? Do you have the regenerative braking controller? There is an adapter for the speedometer which is either optical or Hall Effect style. C

 

[IZwack]

ALso very interested in this project -- very neat!

 

[BrooklynBay]

You might find this link helpful as well as interesting: http://www.jerryrig.com/convert/

 

[Jim Martin]

We are using a NetGain WarP9 motor at 144 volts. We have a 650 amp Kelly dual controller setup with regen. We designed and machined our own adapter plate for the motor/transmission and the motor/flywheel adapter flange. We are trying to keep our costs as low as possible.

As far as pictures, I do not know how to post pictures yet. Perhaps someone could give us instructions.

I am trying to figure how to get the electronic signal from the transmission to the speedometer in the dash. With the gas engine and the engine computer gone, this may not be possible. I was hoping someone would know how to do it.

Jim

 

[Jim Martin]

We are using a manual transmission.

Thanks for the info on posting pictures. I will try tomorrow.

Jim

 

[Jim Martin]

I am going to try to post some pictures of our winter project of converting a 97 Ranger to electric.

This is the Ranger as it was before starting to convert to electric.

This is removing the gas engine.

This is putting the electric motor and transmission back into the Ranger.

This is where we are at right now in the project.

 

[IZwack]

Wow... thats a uhh, big motor you got there

Did you machine the motor adapter plate yourself?

 

[BrooklynBay]

You will have to use a vacuum pump for the brakes, an electric heater, and an electric pump for the P/S. Do you want to have a working A/C? You could use an electric compressor. The problem is that the more electric accessories you run, the less mileage you will get. I see other vehicles in that picture. Did you convert them too or are they stock?

 

[Tbars4]

......Now that is just to cool...:biggthump

...My first thought is what are you going to do about the front suspension???...I know it's probably planned for later so I will just sit back and anxiously watch your build...

...Thanks for sharing with us...

 

[Jim Martin]

Yes, we machined the adapter plate ourselves. We also machined the flywheel adapter flange ourselves.

The truck does not have power steering but we will have to provide vacuum for the power brakes. I am leaving the heater and/or AC for last, after we see how everything turns out.

The front end is very light now that the heavy gas engine is gone. We plan to add batteries under the hood until we get the proper weight back on the front suspension. The rest of the batteries will go in the bed or perhaps under the bed. There is lots of room under the bed now that the gas tank and exhaust system is gone.

 

[BrooklynBay]

You could probably save money on your registration, and possibly get some sort of exemption for getting an emissions test every year. Did you keep the ABS, and SRS systems?

 

[Tbars4]

Just found another 97 Ranger EV project in the works...
Michael Phillips's 1997 Ford Ranger XL

 

[BrooklynBay]

Do any online or printed manuals have specs for the 98-01 electric Ford models?

 

[Tbars4]

...This link has some info on the suspension and basic specs...
Ranger Data

 

[BrooklynBay]

Did you make any progress on this project? Do you have more pictures to add? How is the NetGain motor compared to the Advance motor?

 

[Trckmagik]

Very cool project