They Said DON'T Do It, But We're Giving This 57-Year-Old Truck a New Lease on Life! ChargeZilla Ep.1

[@PokyPops]

I agree. I'm not sure where Tommy got that people weren't interested in this project, but I am stoked to see it. I would absolutely LOVE to do a classic conversion like this!

[@fabulousoffroaddesigns5080]

I think this will be a huge industry. So many good old cars and trucks to be converted.

[@stig120212]

Gotta admit an electric Buhanka would be bad ass too

[@unhandleme]

I know Tommy said there wasn’t much interest in the project, so I was worried we’d never see the series. Glad I was wrong, and looking forward to seeing the process in detail. Always enjoy your videos. I know they’re a lot of work - kudos to the whole team!

[@craigcampbell1843]

If I could have done this to my ‘66 I probably never would have sold it. I loved that truck but I just couldn’t do 6-8 mpg anymore. I had the 352 V8 and it never left me stranded once in the ten years I had it but boy could it drink gas. You could literally watch the needle move as you drove.

[@spcneary]

Yep, I have owned several like that. I love older pickups but these days i don't have room in my driveway for anything that costs that much money to drive. Especially considering we will probably never see sub $2.00 a gallon again.

[@craigcampbell1843]

@@spcneary definitely not. The more people switch to EVs, the more oil companies will raise their prices.

[@jonm7888]

@@craigcampbell1843 I don't think that's how supply and demand works.

[@craigcampbell1843]

@@jonm7888 free market capitalism says private companies can charge whatever they want for their goods or services. Do you think if fewer people buy gas that oil companies will just keep their prices the same or lower them? Or do you think they will keep raising their prices so they can keep making the same amount of money? I know what I’d do.

[@craigcampbell1843]

@@jonm7888 has the last three to four years taught you nothing about how greedy oil companies are?

[@adamrothrock8160]

I love this. That truck was a perfect candidate being that it was cobbled together anyway.

[@shitloveaduck]

Exactly!!

[@dmegahan]

I think this is just one of the coolest things. Makes these old trucks actually fun to Drive.

[@newscoulomb3705]

Nice. I'd really like to see if we could form some sort of association of independent EV shops. There are a number popping up around the United States and Canada, and it seems like it would make a lot of sense for them to collaborate on parts and components. That might make bringing a CCS1 standard for conversions and DIYs to North America, as well as creating a certification standard for those charging systems so that charging networks like EVgo are willing to let owners use them.

[@steveo7819]

That's an awesome idea!

[@christalbert722]

Very Cool. I learned to drive in a '65 F250, 240 six with three-on-the-tree... a simple tough honest truck :) Sadly it's long gone, this project brings back all sorts of memories. It seems like an interesting and practical way to mix technology old and new.

[@WW-wf8tu]

Strange to see sequence of events so out of whack. But for those that have never tuned in and started now, I guess it is on par.

[@eddyer2]

I’m so stoked to see this series! Thank you for continuing to provide content like this!

[@badgerpa9]

Glad you are finally showing this. Hope you keep the engine and tranny for the truck buyer incase they want to put it back in a F700.

[@stringbladestudios]

I love that you are doing this as a series.

[@406Steven]

Gotta love the distinctive rattle of an old truck banging down the road!

[@scubatrucker6806]

With that Factory hood emblem it makes since to Electrictified. I love it. 💪😎💪

[@jayrichards3672]

Been waiting for this series. Not exactly set up the way I would have done it. But curious as to see the outcome capability wise. Thanks TFL for the videos on yalls EV channel. Keep up the good work.

[@TFLEV]

Thank you

[@sdcllc8727]

Perfect. I'm so glad the money is going toward investing in future BEV techs!

[@bendino9016]

amazing project. this is what i want to do with all of my old pickups.

[@scenicrides5951]

Love it! Can't wait for more...

[@joemattes8389]

I think this will be the future for most classics that people want to keep on the road and actually drive.

[@spartanchirho]

It's about time we finally get to see this!!!!! Not interested in EV per se but this is interesting!!!

[@wblchzhd]

This is a really cool project. I'm looking forward to the results. Keep showing the process too!

[@adamcnessesq]

I want to do this to my 1953 chevy 3100 pickup. It needs an engine overhaul or a conversion. Considering it's highly unsafe and only drives trips of less than 30 miles, an EV conversion would be optimal.

[@superscort57]

That's gonna be great build

[@MattSchmader]

Very excited for this series!

[@brendanbuster]

I'm excited for this!!

[@dalejones4322]

I've been waiting for this series for a long time. I can't wait to see how all this is done. I hope you tell somewhere along the way how much something like this would have cost. This was a great idea and thanks for taking on such a big project.

[@TFLEV]

Thank you for the comment! We will talk about price in detail in the next episode. We decided to go with a more premium motor/battery kit that costs around $40,000.

[@steveo7819]

@@TFLEV Oh man I'm so excited for this build! I recently purchased a 94 Chevy K1500 regular cab short bed truck that I'm restoring. My dad and I were just talking last week about how cool it would be to see something like this on an older truck. Dreams do come true. Thanks guys this is going to be awesome!!

[@JohnPMiller]

You should tell us the final conversion cost. Maybe someone wants to surprise their spouse by converting the spouse's 100% original or fully-restored early Corvette/Porsche into an EV. That would be a very special gift!😂

[@fastfreeks]

Price varies greatly but expect to pay upwards of 60k for something usable. If ev west does it probably over 100k. It really depends on how much power you want what type of charging capabilities, motor, drive unit, heat, air con the list goes on.

[@marcodm]

I like the idea, it can be 99% reliable, needs a lot of work anyway. Can be a nice ev truck that you can actually use. Just hope who ever buys it doesn't have to replace the battery back in near future cuz we all know what the cost of that is

[@craigcampbell1843]

This battery pack should last at least 10-15 years. Longer than most people keep their cars and now you can replace individual cells if they get weak instead of replacing the whole thing. In 10-15 years they will be much cheaper than they are now too. I had a ‘66 F100 with a 352. It got 6-8 mpg. With today’s gas prices that are only going to keep going up as more people switch to EVs, I would take the EV version of that truck any day. If I could have done this to mine I never would have sold it. I loved that truck.

[@marcodm]

I just see these 5 to 7 yr old Tesla stories that owners are hit with a 25k cost battery pack for their model s, or maybe 3. Y is still recent.

[@craigcampbell1843]

@@marcodm yeah. Everyone hears those horror stories but that’s all they are. You used to have to replace the whole pack. Now you can just replace individual cells if they get weak. That’s why the system in this video monitors each cell individually. And the cost has gone down a lot in the last five years. In another five to ten years it will be even cheaper, just like every other new technology. A flat screen tv used to cost thousands of dollars and now you can get one for $2-300.

[@marcodm]

The cost has to come down. I want a model Y but here in Canada its over 70k. A beautiful e tron or i4 is over 100k. I like what Elon is doing, pushing manufacturers so cars can become afordable.

[@craigcampbell1843]

@@marcodm you can always just get a used Nissan Leaf for now. Or even a new one. Use the savings in gas every month to put toward the Model Y later. Right now you could almost be spending a second car payment just in gas.

[@WhoIsThisGodPersonAnyway]

Can’t wait to see this BEAST!

[@richardnottelmann58]

Seeing Tommy with his glasses on his kind of strange. It shows how long you have kept this awesome truck in your fleet.

[@HoundStuff]

Very cool! Looking forward to seeing the rest of this series and anything similar in the future!

[@marcbee1234]

I'd love to know the total price tag of all the components sitting on those 2 pallets in the truck bed?!

[@Danzilly]

Andre thanks for showing the details of the kit components hope you give us a price on the kit when it's built.

[@TFLEV]

Yes , we will talk about price details in next episode. Please stay tuned.

[@kjburns75]

This project has a sort of ICON Derelict thing going EV vibe to it. I like it!

[@craig8638]

Awesome!!! I have a Suburban I want to convert.

[@joaof1225]

Love this series maybe you could do a full video on price breakdown and what people could expect to pay for something like this

[@jonm7888]

I think they said $40,000.

[@michaelhenry-hurst2787]

although im looking forward to watch this bit by bit, i still remember Tommy already showing off the final result a few weeks back as a 10min preview

[@mcdadcoleman]

Awesome project! Thanks for doing this. (One of the electric motors is $5k, so this is going to be pricey)

[@drnick40]

Yeah Andrei, do the Buhanka too.

[@tonys9413]

Great project guys 🤘🤘 I re-subscribed to this channel to follow the work and transformation; very much into electrification now ……. One of the first subscribers to Roman’s original channel way back ……

[@TFLEV]

Welcome back and thanks for watching for so long!

[@marcbee1234]

@@TFLEV It would be helpful if you could go into detail on each single item involved in the build, some of us are new to this and would like to know what makes it tick, love what you're doing!

[@FrankySilverFace]

I forgot how loud these old trucks were. Had a 66 with a 390 in it. Didn't have it for long tho.

[@PathosBedlam]

Bugger the Patina, this truck needs a full body re-spray. Nobody wants to buy a rusty EV. If you're going to spend this much on the Ev parts, the least you could do for the next owner, is stop it from rusting away for at least 20 years by giving it a bit of new metal to fill in the holes, and a new paint-job and truck bed liner. Make it look as nice as the blue truck at the first shop he was standing next to with the LED headlights and you'll raise way more money to train EV techs. Good Luck. I'm looking forward to see how she turns out.

[@fgialcgorge7392]

It probably was going close to 50mph. I'm guessing the speedometer wasn't adjusted when it was lifted and had the bigger tires put on. I have a wrong-bed 4x4 myself, the "highboy" in original configuration and it's not near that tall. And who knows, maybe someone did a trans swap and didn't do a speedo gear. Theres a bunch of things that people don't often realize when you lift and mess with older rigs. Speedometer is definitely a big one.

[@KalleSWBeck]

Can’t wait to do this to my 69 Pontiac lemans someday

[@Chris-ut6eq]

Hope all those molex plugs get waterproofed to IP67/8/9/9k. The bare wire harness was scary too. How much water intrusion is tolerable? Doing any offroad water fording or driving in the rain?

[@sparkywatts3072]

I've been a retromod fan for years. This is a fabulous modern retromod! I think this will become a fad. I hope so!

[@markwitkop7022]

Why only 60kwh battery. That's like buying a full size F250 ICE Truck with a 10 gal gas tank.

[@KevIsOffGrid]

Mount the motor in the bed of the truck, as the "load", complete with tie-down straps type look. Would just be the entire story. Please :) At least for when you give it away.

[@Cloud30000]

I just noticed Toby lists the famous German auto maker “Subaru” on the door to his shop.

[@doublebackagain4311]

Looking forward to the project, I hope you upgrade the brakes, as regen braking will not be enough. Also COST?

[@amazingjason455]

If you have to ask, you can’t afford it.

[@gregferris9378]

No one in my area would do a front end alignment on the twin I-beam. We had to travel 80 miles to a frame shop.

[@vineetmadan204]

Any chance Tommy or Roman could do a quick Zoom interview with my car nut 6th grader, who watches all your videos, for his class project?

[@TFLEV]

Please reach out to us via [e-mail]

[@MrGMawson2438]

Great video guys👌

[@anthonyc1883]

24:20 Unwraps plastic and styrofoam "Now that is a good looking motor." Funny how guys used to lift the hoods of Mustangs, Camaros, etc. and say the same thing as they gazed upon a beautifully built big-block. Oh, how times have changed! ;-)

[@dr.projectx5142]

Was this filmed yesterday. That a neat truck

[@allentoyokawa9068]

So they are using Panasonic batteries

[@poolfixerdude]

I want to do this to my '77 f150. What motor did you use? What was the overall cost? I have a video of my truck on my channel

[@jemtec1]

Love it!

[@brianrice6993]

I believe ford has a ev drop in system. Would make sense

[@TFLEV]

Yes, Ford has an electric motor , but it’s not a drop in.

[@dannelson6980]

Hopefully Ford and GM will both offer bolt in EV power trains for classic trucks. Right now the amount of engineering required makes it difficult for most hobbyists.

[@fastfreeks]

@@dannelson6980 The recipe for the engineering is already out there. Battery availability, cost, and packaging is a big issue right now.

[@shitloveaduck]

This kit itself is not going to be hard. Finding the right mounting points will be a factor, but beyond that the system already has the wiring harness designed and it’s plug and play. The programming may be more challenging, but once they do a few similar installations they will develop a programming solution that will be simple. You need mechanical skills and the tools to do some proper fabrication, but even a guy like myself has that. I know I will do something like this on my own I. The future. I currently have a few different vehicles that are not numbers matching classics, so pulling the powertrain is no big deal and it can be used in another, or sold, in some cases, for 50% or more of the cost of the EV power system. That wound always be the case for builders, mind you.

[@dannelson6980]

@@fastfreeks The battery is 40% of the engineering on a conversion, cooling is another 50%.The motor and the inverter are easy, adapters are off the shelf for many vehicles. You have 3 to 4 cooling loops in an EV all with different temperature ranges, with hoses, valves, pumps and heat exchangers all over the place. It is never going to be cheap to do a powertrain swap.

[@mattbrew11]

Ford has a crate ev program stay inside the brand

[@dannelson6980]

Did they only install one charger? You can install up four chargers in parallel for faster charger. I run two in my much smaller cars which it pretty close the charge rate of the typical level 2 public charger, though I am now seeing ones installed with higher rates.

[@marcbee1234]

Are the chargers 'only' to charge the drive battery or are they needed for any other purpose?

[@dannelson6980]

@@marcbee1234 In most cases they only charge the high voltage traction battery. A few have a DC to DC convertor incorporated to run your 12 volt systems.

[@ColeSpolaric]

I wish I could afford to buy this and put it back to forest service green

[@fred993a]

What a shame the FORD electric motor (Eluminator) is not used.

[@toronado455]

Maybe they will restore it to that original turquoise color?

[@stevesls6]

2022-1965= 57...........thats closer to 60 years old. Don't sell yourself short. You are saving the planet by updating an old poluting vehicle and using "clean" electric.

[@MichaelMcFearin]

OMG you hauled all the EV parts in the truck, that’s just wrong. You made the strait 6 offer and give a ride for its own firing squad. 😅

[@henryford2736]

Sell the RAM 2500 and keep this Ford as Thumbleweed shop truck!!!!!

[@wilmarbarrick3194]

So it's like a trans-truck getting reassignment surgery?

[@ronaldking1054]

It's more like getting pacemaker with heart transplant in someone with a terminal heart condition.

[@garysarratt1]

Those mirrors are from the 70’s+

[@whidbeyhiker4364]

I'm looking for that old elcamino or belair to do this to.

[@lutomson3496]

the truck was fine before no its a unreliable toy

[@danthompson1467]

A crying shame 😥😥😥😥

[@goomgoom5504]

let me get this straight. Proceeds of the auction is for scholarships to a program offered by the company that modifies the truck? It’s kind of like paying yourself.

[@D-AGB]

Even if EVs are the future, for me this is a big no no.

[@reallyemptypockets6509]

The one vehicle in Boulder,CO that could have survived a EMP and you throw it away, great timing🎉

[@TFLEV]

Hmmmm, lots of bikes in Boulder🤔

[@kennethjinkins8967]

electric is a joke ... complete waste of time and money

[@Digikidthevoiceofreason]

Much like yourself apparently.

[@jonm7888]

Why?

[@myinterests5573]

It's the future.

[@DarknessAlchemist00]

People in the late 1890s and early 1900s probably said the same thing about gas engines.

[@WW-wf8tu]

@@DarknessAlchemist00 And they were right. At the time it was far more problematic to have a gas vehicle than a horse and buggy. Infrastructure was harder and slower to put in place than it is today. Now, horses are a luxury and treated as such. (as opposed to back in the day they were mostly a means to an end) At some point, ICE will be the horse. Already seeing examples of classic vehicles being considered a high priced commodity.