Disassembling a Ford Escape Hybrid Battery Pack for the Electric Motorcycle

[@RWGresearch]

One of the best scrap buys ever nice!!!! ~Russ

[@niniliumify]

Very interesting cells/sticks. Excellent breakdown. Thank you.

[@alanboyle2644]

I like the look of these battery sticks configuration, I am planning on something similar using recycle laptop batteries. if i can find tubing and route out ventilation slots all the way down the tubing that may prevent overheating. I realy enjoy your posting Ben keep up the good work mate. ALAN Sheffield, England UK

[@DocMicrowave]

Wow! Great video. Was wondering how that back was setup internally. My 2005 escape hybrid was fairly totaled in an accident while parked. (Heavy body damage). However, it is still drivable and as far as I can tell, the battery pack is still operational as it holds a charge and I can still drive in Electric mode for a couple miles. I am looking to purchase a PHEV to replace it. I had a solar recharge project in mind and was wondering if I could re-task the old hybrid pack into storage for storing the power and aid in recharging the PHEV. The batteries appear to still have some life in them. Maybe I could make use of them until they completely die.

[@FFVoyager]

Really interesting, look forward to more instalments on this!

[@kimsjunk1]

nice recycle/scrapyard haul.

[@hectorisdaman154]

nice find. looking forward to a video on the battery conversion on the electric motorcycle

[@bvisel4558]

Cool project. Hopefully you will put up part 2.

[@dwarf365]

Great Find! Can not wait for future eps!

[@bossassaf]

Dear sir I would like to aske you about battery cell for ford escape if i can use it for solar Energy

[@fakexloser]

Keep them videos coming Ben, I've been watching your videos for years, just got a 2011 Nissan leaf few months ago (:

[@mazdalorean]

Maybe you can use thin pvc pipe to house these cells. That would be pretty sweet to be able to slide them into . Don't know if that would take up too much space though. Just a thought.

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

I hadn't thought about PVC pipe. Right now, I'm sort of leaning towards using plastic and laser-cutting holes in it, and running the plastic sheet vertically. Think swiss cheese with cells in the holes!

[@garylee3551]

The part at 3:52 where you say "it's a little bit of a trick" removing that module blocking the terminals is an understatement! I just cannot figure how to get that dang module out of the way. Been unscrewing things and nudging things for a week now. Mostly just scratching my head. Any suggestions?

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

Hi Gary, Frankly, it was 8 years ago that I did this, so I don't remember some of the details! My trick has always just been to remove every screw or bolt I can find! Sometimes they are hidden under a sticker or another component. Good luck!

[@Nordic_Mechanic]

Nice score !

[@JasonTacheny]

Any way to check voltage on that pack when it's still fully assembled?. Thanks

[@Cocothemechanic]

Love your ideas very innovative

[@haskellXR]

Looks like you are only using the battery. Can I purchase the battery blower fans from you?

[@battonfive]

Looks a great idea and it will give you a mega boost from the lead acids, Nickels really pack some max amp discharge :-) Cant wait to see what the array comes out as, how you planning on charging them? Perhaps 4 x 12v batteries would balance for longer rather than a 48v :-) Its 4 chargers but at least the packs can charge faster simultaneously :-) Its what I did with my little Gio E-Bike and it seemed to turn out pretty well. I will be well keeping a good eye out for a wrote off hybrid now :-D Cheers

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

I'm thinking of 6 x 48V chargers. They are inexpensive, and six of them is still small enough to mount everything on the cycle.

[@battonfive]

sounds awesome :-) I leave my chargers under the couch though and just run the wires in to ports I made from an old tobacco tin :-p Your bike looks pretty big and robust so it makes good sense to get them on there incase you want to charge it out and about :-) Is it confirmed that each of the packs will be 48v25ah? cant remember there :-)

[@battonfive]

Hi Benjamin, you got me thinking earlier with this :-p do you recon these cells could be used for solar systems do you know or recon? I cant see why not right :-D

[@battonfive]

Just incase your not sure you have 50 x 5 D-size nickel-metal hydride cells @ 1.2v10ah :-)

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

battonfive I think they would work fine for solar. You would just need to use a charge controller that can be set for NiHM chemistry. I don't know if that is common or not though.

[@foggiapainting]

How did you remove the terminal bolts without risking getting shocked? Did you use regular Isolated tools plus the rubber gloves?

[@presidenteldermarkhoffman8304]

Wish you were my neighbor we could make kick ass bow trolling motor battery pack

[@erikrummel6277]

I saw someone posting about not putting these Ford Escape NiMH cells/sticks in parallel because of the full charge voltage dip which will cause thermal runaway. Is that a real concern or just someone being alarmist.

[@murraymadness4674]

real concern, but these are all in series, 150v + 150v -> 300v

[@shion728]

hola amigo una pregunta cual es la entrada de carga de la batería y que voltaje?? lo que pasa es que tengo una batería nimh cylindrical cell ford escape y no quiere cargarse

[@holnrew]

Great stuff!

[@FutureAirways2]

Very cool thanks for sharing

[@MichaelMayfield-m1p]

How many amps is one of sticks of 5?

[@charlesfitton9677]

Look at the shape of the terminals - one is a Cross (pos) and the other is a Tee (neg)...

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

As always, click the link in the description to see the blog entry and photos.

[@benjaminbaird1978]

BenjaminNelson hi Ben my name is Ben to lol but is there anyway I can give you my number can have a couple mins of your time you seem to know a lot about these hybrid battery's and I wanna figure out a way to use 1 for use in a normal car for a car audio system

[@benjaminbaird1978]

BenjaminNelson if so plz give me a call at 952 232 9800 thank you

[@RaptorRotorHead]

BenjaminNelson hi I was curious what is the amp hour capacity on each of those cells

[@snoobler]

@@RaptorRotorHead 5.5Ah

[@makesaveinccomm]

hi, is this battery is NiMH ? did you use the bms controller thing? thank

[@en2oh]

what year was this from?

[@facebreakeralqaisi]

HI, i have 2009 Ford Escape Hybrid, and i have the same battery you opened in the video, my battery working good but the battery has 0% charge and now the car dose not start how can i charge the battery with out opening the battery or starting the car ? thanks

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

I can't think of any simple way of charging the battery WITHOUT opening it or starting the car. Typically, hybrid car battery packs have an internal contactor, which must be activated to complete the circuit. Even if the battery was OUT of the car, at a minimum, you would still have to be able to activate the contactor to even hook up an external charger. It's pretty likely that one or more of the cells in the battery are bad and have to be replaced. Probably your best approach would be to get your car to a mechanic (or the mechanic to your car) who specializes in Hybrid Battery Packs. For example, www.evpowers.com in Madison, Wisconsin deals with this sort of thing all the time. Do a search and see if you can find somebody locally who specializes in hybrid batteries. Good Luck!

[@facebreakeralqaisi]

why i am saying the battery it still good just because the car has been left for over 8 month.

[@kinster02]

Don't know it you already have the answer but your Escape has a button in a panel near your left foot. It uses you 12v battery to charge the Hybrid battery so you can start the car.

[@Pimpmedown]

Cant you put the car in neutral, push it to a certain speed (running does great for motorbikes) and then let the first gear clutch in? Should work as far as i know

[@snoobler]

@@Pimpmedown Absolutely not. It's a CVT.

[@p.deanlueck7869]

Can I have modules please my escape is down I an not afford the modules in the battery

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

That was 8 years ago. I no longer have them.

[@usfootman]

How do you get your DIY electric bike inspected? How to get title for that converted motorcycle?

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

+usfootman The motorcycle already has a title. There is no reason to get a new title just because it now runs on electricity. Motor vehicle inspection policies vary GREATLY from one area to another. Simply check what would apply to you BEFORE you start a project, so you can make sure you can legally operate your vehicle when you are done.

[@usfootman]

Thank you

[@17GabrielR]

You could put the leftover cells in your daughters power wheels, maybe make her a bike two.

[@ormonddude]

Dude that battery was worth like $800 on ebay

[@shion728]

si puedes añadirle subtitulos al vídeo de lo agradeciera mucho

[@batteryanalyser1729]

Hi Ben, you may wish to compliment your skills and experience with our state of the art High Voltage Battery Testing Complex: Battery Analyser / Charger / Load. See www.hybrids.co.nz. Our Analyser has already been deployed in USA, Europe, and New Zealand. It is affordable for any Small Business. Hands-on training is available in our Lab in Auckland, New Zealand or via SKYPE. This pack from Ford Escape could be easily fast tested on one of our Analysers for Remaining Capacity - up to 40 modules at a time!

[@presidenteldermarkhoffman8304]

$150 in gold on them terminals

[@thunderkat77]

how do you know

[@shion728]

please help me my english is bad :/