Ford Ranger EV Lithium Conversion and Range Test

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

Please make sure to read the blog entry for more on this project, additional details, and photos! 300mpg.org/2019/08/10/electric-truck-lithium-battery-upgrade/

[@MiniLuv-1984]

That's pretty good result Benjamin. I checked out the blog too. I'm surprised the Lithiums are that heavy, but it is what it is I suppose - they too are a few years old now. How long to charge from empty to full?

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

@@MiniLuv-1984 6 or 7 hours. 24A/240VAC

[@ElectricNed]

@@BenjaminNelsonX Is that limited by the truck or your EVSE? I thought I remembered it having a 6kW charger.

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

​@@ElectricNed 6,000 watts divided by 240 volts is 25A. The ammeter on my home EVSE has always shown it charging at 24A. So, yes, that's just shy of a 6kW charger.

[@ElectricNed]

@@BenjaminNelsonX Do you know what it pulls on a 208v station?

[@pillagethevillage455]

I like how you could see the height of the truck bed change depending on if he was adding or removing batteries

[@anythingoriginal]

solar panel bed cover.

[@Sci-Mon1]

Tim Pape that might melt the bed. Those panels can get really hot.

[@Redbeard42069]

Yes! If nothing else it would help you from totally draining the batteries dead AND if you did happen to run out of juice, parking it a day or two or ten would get you charged up. If you run out of gas you are just out until you go get some....

[@bmw328igearhead]

....That expands/slides/folds out to double the real estate for solar input while stationary. ;)

[@pleasestaysafe2787]

I did the math for the original lead battery Ford ranger EV. You need 28 4 ft long solar panels. To get it charged in a day. No, two panels on the back will do nothing but charge your phone. And I will say in advance go ahead don't believe me.

[@bmw328igearhead]

@@pleasestaysafe2787 hahahaha I very much believe you! Until we start making better panels, there is no way any car would have enough space to apply the required panel square footage to make it viable.

[@Nordic_Mechanic]

That's a sweet upgrade ! I always liked the small pickups like this and the s10. Sadly all the small pickups are extinct.

[@iKingRPG]

same

[@Bonanzaking]

Thoughts on the new Maverick at least size wise? I thinks thats as close as we’ll get to old rangers. I have my 04 and am debating an EV conversion at this point.

[@Nordic_Mechanic]

@@Bonanzaking I havent driven one yet. I'll see when I do. It's still heavier. Just easier to pass crash test that way I guess.

[@samusaran7317]

@@Nordic_Mechanic The days of lightweight vehicles are almost long gone sadly.

[@kristinasullivan9436]

my 2002 ford ranger is still going strong. I bought it in 2005 and paid it in off 2010, have owned it ever since. I don't plan on getting rid of it now. If the engine ever dies I will just do this to it! Genius.

[@otterylexa4499]

Any chance you're going to be able to move the new lithium cells to the original battery compartment? I think you said it was under the truck floor.

[@Rod_Knee]

Ben explains the current difficulties with this on his website, linked above.

[@GroveDog1995]

This is very rare and low mileage congrats on taking care of this gem. I also live in Wisconsin my 2002 Ford ranger just turned 20 and I'm waiting on my blue collector plates to come in the mail.

[@jamesglenn2006]

Now we're getting somewhere Ben, thanks for sharing.

[@ValenteEspinosa]

Thanks for letting us to see your adventure.

[@TACOMASRT5]

Why not build a truck bed cover or cap out of solar pannels?

[@ROGERWALDMAN]

AWESOME VIDEO ! STILL WAITING ON MY TESLA CYBER TRUCK , BUT I WISH I HAD A SMALLER EV TRUCK TO DO MY ESTIMATES IN FOR MY TREE SERVICE !

[@timfulton8519]

Looks great Ben! I've been waiting to see how you used the lithium batteries from the box truck.

[@wolveric0]

This is so cool, i would like to try it my self but in an small old truck, maybe a datsun 620 pickup, just for towing and small to mid loads.

[@dreval9646]

This is pretty awesome to see I wish you best of luck and hope to see so much more

[@4N2IN0JA]

This is awesome! I bet your the first person to go 100 miles with the ranger. Can we get a 0-60 test? 😁Was there a cooling system for the trucks original batteries?

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

The cooling system for the original battery setup was air-cooling. There were fans inside the battery box that's built under the truck. The motor and power electronics are liquid-cooled.

[@glassblastcollision]

Im trying to convince my 23 year out son to convert his ranger to electric. Good stuff !Ben.

[@ShaunDobbie]

Tell him shitebag if ye dinny.

[@michaelbernhardt389]

Are you planning on moving the batteries to the bottom of the truck so you'll be able to use the bed in the future

[@jryer1]

Awesome video, nice conversion, 100 miles is very impressive!

[@trevorwilliams195]

Great content Ben..

[@offgridwanabe]

Totally awesome I would have a two way system with an inverter or a way to run the micro inverter on those batteries that way I could have power at night. 45kwh is a lot of juice and cost so you better have theft insurance lol.

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

I powered my house from my electric motorcycle in a blackout. See more about that at: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y6rHfJymebWah6c Truck is parked in my locked garage and is insured.

[@BushImports]

I apparently missed this, that's great. I finally got an EV, I just bought an electric conversion kit for my mountain bike because the water pump is out on my truck and pedaling the bike got too painful because I have a problem with my legs, I can still walk but my legs hurt like hell when I use them.

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

Electric bikes are a great way to keep people biking who otherwise would not. It really helps open up bicycling to a lot more people.

[@skoto.power.systems]

Am just happy for you, good job done

[@jacobcoulter3705]

How do you find these EV auctions? I really love your channel!

[@christopherw8654]

Thinking about converting my ranger into electric. I know yours came factory electric but Im thinking of making an electric prerunner. I have the prerunner but the engine went out on it

[@Redbeard42069]

Ferdinand Porsche would be proud!

[@cpufreak101]

i'd love to get an original Ranger/S-10 EV and lithium swap it, that'd honestly tick all my boxes in a car i'd want

[@JacksonGarage]

This is great work man.

[@Sharptooth100]

Trunk cover solar panels is a good idea for charging and running the truck longer.

[@mohinderkaur6671]

Dont get any funny ideas that a panel that size can charge it in a reasonable amount of time.

[@stanislavjaracz]

Wonderful. Good job, Ben.

[@h20cycle1]

@BenjaminNelson Having spent some time with this now, would you recommend others take this path if they have the opportunity? I have access to one of these rangers and feel like roughly 100 mile range would be worth the cost to convert to lithium.

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

It's a good truck. The one thing is that it's a little more complicated in that it's all original parts that were designed to work together. If a person did a straight up conversion, it's very straight-forward. MODIFYING the Ford Ranger EV could be a little complicated in that it has a full CANBUS communications and it expects things to be a certain way. As long as you are just putting in different batteries and have a decent way to monitor them, this is a GREAT upgrade for a classic truck. You will also want to have the Star Tester computer for interfacing with the truck and being able to read codes. Upgrading a truck like this would probably be a great project for somebody who already has the experience of doing an EV conversion so that they are comfortable with batteries (especially high-voltage!) and have a good general knowledge base for EVs.

[@h20cycle1]

Thank you very much. This would be my first and a shortcut to the self-build I am planning. Guess I will stay the course. Thanks again for this and all of the other education as well.

[@domesticwolf64]

Will you be replacing the batteries in the "coffin"?

[@AR-zq9hq]

I did not expect the range to improve almost tenfold, that's super impressive! Gotta admit, the distance to empty gauge is rather amusing, is it of any practical use with lithium batteries?

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

The Distance to Empty gauge is designed for the characteristics of lead-acid batteries, NOT lithium, so it's not very accurate. Monitoring the entire battery pack with the Star Tester seemed to give a good indication of battery state of charge.

[@joepasquale4877]

Awesome! You're one handy dude for sure! Thanks for taking us along on these projects. Must have drawn some attention at the local car show. A question: Did you build a J1772 to Ranger Plug adapter so you could use the Clipper Creek EVSE? Curious what that looked like. Thanks for sharing, this is really interesting....

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

Yes, I built an adapter to go between the AVCON "Claw" and J1772 connection. This allows me to use modern public EV charging stations. It's also more convenient at home as I can use a small/simple/cheap EVSE instead of the bulky EVSE that came with the truck.

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

I could swear I shot some footage of building that adapter. Hmmm. I'll have to find that. It's interesting that the connector on the Ford Ranger EV is actually and EARLY VERSION of the J1772 that we use now, so it was actually EASY to build an adapter!

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

The car show was pretty fun. Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of the truck there until the very end of the event. At one point, MOST of the folks there were around the truck looking at it. I got a LOT of "I didn't know Ford made an electric truck!". People now know about electrics, like Teslas, but have no idea how long electric vehicles have been around!

[@ryyanbennet4663]

How much did you get the truck for?

[@harrycash8713]

Would like to buy a older used Ford ranger and converted to electric. Do I need an automatic or manual

[@marcusaurelius49]

0:43 get the Led out ! 🤘

[@falconkrause9324]

great video

[@Peterjk94210]

Love to see new life crammed into it! I’ve been looking to purchase a Ranger EV for about 6 months now but can’t find any for sale at all. Do you know anywhere I could look to find one that I might not be aware of? Any help would be greatly appreciated

[@danp762]

Hey, do you have any idea how many Kw's it takes to drive your truck at 70 ish mph on level road? I'm trying to select a car or truck to convert.

[@SixThousandMono]

Why not rebuild the battery box under the car? I think the handling and vehicle dynamics would be a lot better (lower roll-over risk!) and you could still use the box! Just a suggestion, Great job Ben! Will we see some tow capability testing later? :D

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

I'm just still testing right now. Getting the box off the bottom of the truck is quite a bit of work. In fact, the box is taller than the clearance on the bottom of the truck. A person has to simultaneously drop the box AND raise the truck. The other issue is that the box under the truck is an irregular shape, and these lithium batteries that I'm using are a different size and shape than the batteries that would have been originally in the truck. It's unlikely that these batteries would fit. People HAVE done conversions of these trucks with Nissan Leaf batteries as those cells are flat and modular.

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

We'll show some more towing in another video.

[@yumcha16]

Rapatap give it a go ben, you'll feel so much better for it. Will make some good videos aswell

[@frankz1125]

Id work on a dc charger. Very cool .

[@TOAD7464]

It's a ranger truck bed.. why didn't you bash it with a sledge till it fit?

[@jasonwilke2703]

I would say make a solar powered travel trailer that could charge the truck

[@lindseyunderwood2092]

Do you know how much this would cost?

[@Tore_Lund]

Nice to learn that you finally got rid of the past death lead acid batteries. What about the original batteries under the bed? You aren't hauling them around still?

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

No, there’s no lead acid batteries under the truck.

[@Tore_Lund]

@@BenjaminNelsonX You told me there were some original batteries under it when you got it, but the previous owner had disconnected them and installed lead acid batteries in the bedb but lraving the original ones. From the Wiki: "Batteries are contained in one big battery box that is bolted to the underside of the vehicle. It can be removed using specialized shop equipment"???

[@peterbradley4916]

Great stuff!

[@TheBionic40]

Awsome. I stumbled on to your channel looking for swap information to do a conversion from gas to electric in my old ranger. One question I have to ask is have you considered doing led conversions to improve battery consumption? do you still have comforts like heat or air conditioning?

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

This truck has electric heat and electric air-conditioning. It came standard with sealed-beam headlights, which were the typical on the gas trucks. Yes, in theory, LED headlights use less energy and thus allow for more energy remaining to move the vehicle down the road. However, the incandescent headlights use SO much less power than the electric motor that simple changes like less aggressive driving or making sure the tires have proper air-pressure will have more of an effect than a change in headlights every would.

[@32BitLink]

Hi, are you the person that converted a car to an event back in 2008 on instructables?

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

I converted a Geo Metro to electric about 10 years ago. www.instructables.com/id/Build-your-own-Electric-Car/

[@Randomadventurelife]

So was it necessary to go to 332v dc? Would it not be the same amount of energy in 48v in a series and parallel configuration? I've just never heard of anything running on 332 volts that's why I'm curious? Was the voltage stepped down?

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

Most electric vehicles run between 300-400VDC. One of the reasons is that it keeps current low. At 48V the amount of current needed to power a vehicle down the road would be VERY high and require heavy and expensive cabling and other components.

[@feirox-dot-comwholesame-do3]

How much kw is the motor? And more details about the controller.

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

90HP 3-phase AC Induction Motor. Liquid cooled controller. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Ranger_EV

[@Adam-rp2fi]

What is the towing capacity?

[@skyhappy]

Looks good. Make sure you charge batteries to 80% every time to maximize battery life.

[@Randomadventurelife]

Why 80%? 100% on those batteries is 85% he told us

[@skyhappy]

@@Randomadventurelife How is 100% 85%? Did he do that on purpose?

[@davidchristian8473]

is it correct says the power of your motor is nearly 45900/746?

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

No. Don't confuse capacity of the battery with power of the motor. Those are two different things. This truck has about a 90HP electric motor in it. I believe it's rated at 200A continuous.

[@codyclouse6316]

What was the average range after this upgrade?

[@vahagnmelikyan2906]

How do you know how much energy you have left

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

Just like a typical gas vehicle has a gas gauge, an electric vehicle has a gauge to show how much battery you have remaining.

[@vahagnmelikyan2906]

@@BenjaminNelsonX does it has to have a transmission?

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

This truck has simple gear-reduction and then differential to split the power to the two rear wheels. In general, electric vehicles do NOT have traditional transmissions. DIY projects converting a gas vehicle to an electric typically re-use the original manual transmission, as it's an appropriate place to mount the electric motor and provides gear reduction, although often only one or two gears are used. Transverse-mounted front-wheel drive cars usually have the transmission and differential built together in a single unit, so the transaxle also provides the differential to split power to the wheels. 300mpg.org/projects/electro-metro/transmission-for-an-electric-car/

[@011CJ]

I want to build a home solar charging station on a big property

[@blackterminal]

Not to be too critical but I think you should have done at least a basic dent and paint repair on the rear of the truck before showing it to people. I cant talk with my own project as it needs paint work but I also wont be showing it off beyond a video at some point. I wont be taking it places to show anyone face to face until the pain looks nicer.

[@ryanhline2424]

Aloha! What ever happened to the Ranger???

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

It didn’t really fit my needs. It was sold to somebody who had been looking for one.

[@prof.heinous191]

Brilliant...

[@jessperez477]

You should get in touch with uncle Rich on KZbin and get a Tesla battery in that truck maybe a model 3 motor and get a good 200 miles of range

[@denniscady2268]

I have a 2009 Ranger, 4cyl, auto. Can this be converted to electric and what would a conversion cost? I imagine the truck loses all load carrying capabilities.

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

Small pickup trucks have always been very popular for conversions. Batteries are typically installed UNDER the bed along the frame in a custom box. How much load carrying (weight) would depend on how heavy the batteries are. Keep in mind that you are also removing the engine, gas tank, exhaust system, etc, all of which reduces weight. Modern lithium batteries are much lighter than older lead acid batteries. Take a look at the EV Album for some ideas about trucks. www.evalbum.com/type/TRCK

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

As for cost, it's a bit like asking "How much does a house cost to build" - there are MANY variables. I built the Electric Geo Metro for $1,300, using mostly used parts. A person could also spend money on top of the line components and spend a small fortune. One of the other things I like about the EVAlbum is that many people list how much money and TIME they put into their projects, so you can at least get a ball-park number of what you might expect to spend.

[@kinganthony2909]

Can I converted BMW car to electric

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

Any brand of car can be converted to electric.

[@kinganthony2909]

@@BenjaminNelsonX thank u so much, what kind of item u think I need for my BMW 750??? I ready appreciate you u opinion

[@stephenhilton4665]

I feel a 100 miles isnt nothing for the cost of the build. Hell a diesel can get 400 per tank. Wait is this in mpg or km

[@mattmopar440]

this truck is currently for sale right ?

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

I sold this truck a while back. If it's for sale right now, it's not by me.

[@mattmopar440]

@@BenjaminNelsonX ahhh ok I saw a few of these for sale by my local utility company for a few thousand dollars close to a decade ago wish I would have picked one up

[@kennyoldrid8084]

I purchased this truck on behalf of my friend a few months ago. I figured I can relocate half of the 26 valance batteries into the coffin shaped battery box that lives under the truck. Still will have half a truck bed full of batteries but gain some functionality. The problem I am figuring out now is how to extend the BMS wiring to reach from below the truck to the truck bed. Have a 3 ft BMS cord, but will need one at least 6 ft long for that. Hoping to buy one online. Otherwise I will have to cut and splice one. The truck does 75 mph easily with decent acceleration. Have done 85 miles on a charge so far. The on board charger recently stopped working so that is the next hurdle to overcome...

[@SirTragain]

How much of a savings did you get by buying that box truck vs what you got off of it including any profit you might have made?

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

I wasn't actually the one who bought the truck. However, I can tell you that those batteries sell new for about $1,000 each, and there were 48 of them in the Smith truck. Those batteries are ideal for off-grid solar systems.

[@Super_Charged4life]

do you still have this? just came across the channel

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

No, I didn’t have the truck for a real long time. It wasn’t the right vehicle for what I needed. I have a few videos about this truck though.

[@dcdelis]

How much were the batteries

[@ThePlaterHater]

Do you still own this truck? Id love to restore one in my shop some day.

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

No, I sold this truck. It's sort of a long story of how I got it, I didn't really have storage/workspace for it, and I passed it on to somebody else who previously owned one and has worked on them before. Very neat vehicle though. The "EV-1"-era vehicles were all ahead of their time.

[@jjackson3240]

How much weight loss Ben?

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

These batteries use small cylindrical cells inside the cases. (Think something along the lines of 18650s...) Because of that, there's not as much of a weight savings as some other lithium batteries. These batteries weigh about 2/3rds what the lead did. All while having significantly more capacity and the other advantages of lithium. Battery upgrade would have taken off about 442 pounds.

[@SwirlyJoe]

Has anyone tried this on a 2002-2005 Ford Thunderbird?

[@davidchristian8473]

there are some equation to know if this car will or not go up some hill?

[@punker4Real]

electrical motors have plenty of power my OLD 11 year old battery can still pull my 5500 (5800 with stuff and me)pound tahoe up the hill in EV mode it's a 25% grade (old steep road before the standard) but is limited to 29mph in EV mode i can get 15mph before it turns on the ICE though. it has a 60KW/80HP motor in the Tahoe hybrid the ford EV has a 90HP motor or 67kw

[@dustins5487]

You can see the truck rise and sink as you remove/add batteries lol

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

Yeah. Fun the things you see in time lapse that you don't normally see at regular speed!

[@spankyranger8842]

Is it fast ?

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

The truck seemed to perform about the same as my Chevy S10 with a 2.2L engine. The difference is that I didn't have to rev an engine or go through the gears. It really does just drive the way you expect a compact pickup truck to.

[@ronniehugh7905]

Hydrobox it then you can have constant charging energy

[@jasonwilke2703]

Would you consider selling it

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

Hi Jason, this truck has already been sold.

[@johnsavage8873]

Why don't you simply make the truck self charging like three kids did with a go-cart.

[@dh2360]

Extremely low range is why I will stick with gas engines, isn't worth the conversion.

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

Keep in mind that modern electric vehicles now have fast charging and ranges exceeding 300 miles per charge.

[@sharonbraselton3135]

Saves 35. oozes hgh then 26 foter

[@sharonbraselton3135]

Searcy dundcer 15 fore zero rbg dsilers

[@SteveP-vm1uc]

I am rather new to this, but can't you put lithium batteries on their side without issues?? How about upside down? I ask because it's kind of crappy that you are using the entire bed for batteries rather than the hauling capacity that a truck is made for. So under the bed??? With no gas tank and exhaust system it seems to me there would be a lot of usable space under the box and than you would have a TRUCK!! Even if you could fit most of them under, you could buy an aluminum tool box and put the rest inside of it. Plus you would also benefit from the batteries being under the bed with a much lower center of gravity. I saw a conversion S-10 PU that they made the box tilt up to get to the batteries, but those were lead acid and had to stand upright. Did you weigh the truck before and after or at least measure the height before and after??

[@SteveP-vm1uc]

Just read your blog and see you've answered these questions in there. But why not in the video??

[@AbcXyz-rn2lz]

Figure out tesla cell charging and make it get 400 miles using custom controllers

[@AnDyity]

Add small wind turbines to the truck.

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

300mpg.org/projects/electro-metro/perpetual-motion/

[@ElectricNed]

How did no one think of this until now?!

[@karierogers5112]

Nice truck but I’ll stick with my 99 4 cylinder 5 speed ranger

[@Patrick-nw9bt]

I'll stick to my 7.3 diesels before I go to a crappy electric truck or car

[@samusaran7317]

Are you a cross country driver?

[@Patrick-nw9bt]

@@samusaran7317 nope

[@andrewcabrera5936]

first¿

[@pn8024]

Goes to show how useless electric cars are. I got an electric truck oh wait, can't put anything into the bed! Swap a proper Vulcan V6 in it and stop being such a tree hugger. Never understood people who weren't excited by the fact that their car is powered by exploding remains of dinosaurs. Gasoline for the win!

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

Haters gonna hate.

[@MiniLuv-1984]

Your argument Shawn is good but only for right now and for the one person. A broader view shows us that we are having an detrimental impact on climate and one substantial, but not the only contributor, is the internal combustion engine. By making efforts like this, *Benjamin is making a difference to you and your future as well as the rest of us.* Oil is a magnificent and finite resource for making all sorts of stuff and it seems absolutely ludicrous to burn it! "When the last tree has been cut down, the last fish caught, the last river poisoned, only then will we realize that one cannot eat money." _Native American saying._

[@ElectricNed]

Your grandkids are going to love you for burning up all that gas.

[@samusaran7317]

@@MiniLuv-1984 Not worth feeding the trolls. Personally I dont think BEVs are the answer either.