Our new commuter vehicle (and my new toy) is a second-hand electric conversion S-10 pickup. We purchased it from the original converter after he had upgraded to a Ford Ranger EV.
It is powered by 20 six-volt lead acid (PbA) golf cart batteries wired in series, giving a nominal 120 volt system. Sixteen of the batteries are stored in boxes under the tilt-up pickup bed. The remaining four batteries are under the hood, where the radiator would be on an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle. It can be charged via either the QuickCharge 120V charger plugged into a standard 15Amp outlet (which takes 13 hours) or the Zivan NG3 high frequency 240V charger (which takes 7 hours and a 240 volt outlet).
The traction batteries power a Curtis 1231C motor controller rated at 500 amps driving an FB1-40001A series wound motor that generates up to 90 HP. Also under the hood is a 12v accessory battery that is continuously recharged from the 120v traction battery pack by a MeanWell SD-350D-12 DC/DC converter.
Future projects include:
- Digital volt meter on the dash
- A 120 volt external plug for the convenience charger.
- Larger capacity vacuum reservoir
- Vacuum Gauge in the instrument cluster
- LED Daytime Running Lights
- Temperature sensing in the battery boxes
- Switch to selectively silence the back-up beeper when reversing in the morning
What happened to your bike?
I decided that the $175 electric bike with solar charging was just too heavy. I replaced it with a lightweight non-electric bicycle which I use in spring and fall in non-rainy weather. The truck is for rainy weather and the heat of the summer and cold of the winter. (Plus picking up groceries, etc…)
Nice looking EV. I’m considering an ev project and would like to take a look at yours sometime if you have the time.
Looks just like mine before I went lithium!
Perhaps once this set of batteries are all used up (hopefully they will last 3-5 years) the price of Lithium batteries and battery management systems (and chargers) will have come down to a more reasonable level. Because it’s hard to beat the $1,700 at Sams Club for flooded lead acid golf cart batteries…
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