# 1995 Chevy 2500 conversion



## TEV (Nov 25, 2011)

It's not about hours. How many miles do you need to be able to drive and at what speed.


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## Ziggythewiz (May 16, 2010)

Probably not feasible unless you're spending half that time not driving, and the other half doing 30.

Just to give you a ballpark, what's your average daily mileage? x $100-$150 = battery cost.


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## TEV (Nov 25, 2011)

Probably $25000 only for the batteries.


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## mattg6007 (Nov 24, 2012)

i drive about 100 to 150 miles a day and i drive in town and on the freeways depending on where the delivery goes but the things i need to know and learn are what kind of motor do i need and what kind of batteries should i use to???

anything will help thanks


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## TEV (Nov 25, 2011)

My opinion is that for a such a heavy truck and 150 miles range , you will end with a $45000 invested. My Ranger will be ~ $30000 when will be done and I hope for 75 miles range.


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## mattg6007 (Nov 24, 2012)

what kind of motor will i need to use???

and how do you tell how many batteries you will need to fuel it 150 - 200 miles???


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## Ziggythewiz (May 16, 2010)

You probably need a couple warp 9s, or maybe 1 11" or 13" could do it.

You didn't need to put anything in the truck, did you? (for that range you're better off with a car that would cut all the costs in half, or a hybrid or high MPG truck)

About 85 of these ought to do it for just $42,000 and 2500 lbs in batteries:










http://www.calibpower.com/Product.aspx


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## mattg6007 (Nov 24, 2012)

I put anything from 1 lb to 3000 lbs in the bed of my truck


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## mattg6007 (Nov 24, 2012)

What kind of battery is that I was thinking
Of makin my own battery packs unless that
Is extremly complicated


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## subcooledheatpump (Mar 5, 2012)

Without getting too technical, just consider some existing electric vehicles. 

Like a Model S. Technically, it can go over 500 miles at the right speed, but on average it can go about 260 miles on one charge with an 85 kWhr battery. This vehicle has a weight around 4000 lb and a very low resistance to air (low drag coefficient). Now consider a Chevy pickup truck with "anywhere from 1 to 3000 pounds" in it. The weight of the truck is probably already around 5000 lb, add 3000 lb and you have 8000 lb. Then consider it has the aerodynamics of a brick... I'd say the previous estimates of a $42000 battery pack are correct for the given requirements.

Making your own batteries... well many have tried and many have failed. Never the less, you will need to be able to make very thin foils and have the ability to roll them into battery cells. Then make those cells into batteries, then make those batteries into battery packs. Not only is the equipment expensive but the materials are as well. 
Don't get me wrong though, I like the idea of an electric truck. I have an electric van myself. It gets nowhere near 150 miles a charge and holds nowhere near 3000 lbs during normal driving. 

I'm surprised Ivan hasn't posted yet....


Good luck and post your results


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## Jesse67 (May 12, 2009)

As a hot shot driver you would probably be a lot better off buying something like a sprinter van which can still take that payload but will likely use less than half the fuel. It would probably pay for itself in fuel savings within a couple years and immediately if you're looking at it from a monthly payment perspective. 

What you're talking about with your truck is absolutely possible but it would be incredibly expensive. If you lower your range expectations to 100 miles and your payload to 1000lbs you could use a compact pickup and have a very usable vehicle for probably $30-40,000. Now ask yourself, do you really want to put that kind of money into an 18 year old truck?


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## Ziggythewiz (May 16, 2010)

mattg6007 said:


> What kind of battery is that I was thinking
> Of makin my own battery packs unless that
> Is extremely complicated


Sorry, forgot to post the link: http://www.calibpower.com/Product.aspx

It's a 400 AH LiFePO4 CALB cell.

Battery packs are only as complicated as you make them. We generally assume a DIY pack using COTS LiFePO4 cells. Anything else is an anomaly and gets complicated. LiFePO4 is safe enough that anyone can make a pack and with proper handling it will last them well. The cells are pretty expensive though, especially if you have many lbs to carry many miles.


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## mattg6007 (Nov 24, 2012)

Jesse67 said:


> As a hot shot driver you would probably be a lot better off buying something like a sprinter van which can still take that payload but will likely use less than half the fuel. It would probably pay for itself in fuel savings within a couple years and immediately if you're looking at it from a monthly payment perspective.
> 
> What you're talking about with your truck is absolutely possible but it would be incredibly expensive. If you lower your range expectations to 100 miles and your payload to 1000lbs you could use a compact pickup and have a very usable vehicle for probably $30-40,000. Now ask yourself, do you really want to put that kind of money into an 18 year old truck?


I already have another truck i have a 2009 crew cab 3500HD dually i'm not worried about the milage that much i haul 5000 lbs in the bed alone in that truck and i also have a 22 ft flat deck goose neck trailer the only thing my 95 truck is going to be is a toy for me to tinker around with just to see if its possible


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## mattg6007 (Nov 24, 2012)

I personally have never seen a van to deliver a pallet of material and the only other way i could even see myself in a van is if it had a removable top on it cause alot of the stuff that i deliver goes to all of the chemical plants in the houston area


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## mattg6007 (Nov 24, 2012)

how much is the 400Ah battery pack?

and also its lithium ion is that better than liFEPO4 batteries???


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## mizlplix (May 1, 2011)

> I'm surprised Ivan hasn't posted yet....


ROFLMFAO......

He is probably tired of people busting his chops quoting all sorts of math and claiming his opinions are meaningless.(or something similar)

He never , even once, claimed Kevin's truck was a AA Fuel Dragster or some sort of supercar.

It is what they wanted. A normal driving shop truck capable of parts hauling traffic duties without being embarrassed. It also cost a TON of money and would not have been possible without a costly battery pack and a year of Baldor's time to help it along.

Miz


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## Ziggythewiz (May 16, 2010)

mattg6007 said:


> how much is the 400Ah battery pack?
> 
> and also its lithium ion is that better than liFEPO4 batteries???





Ziggythewiz said:


> About 85 of these ought to do it for just $42,000 and 2500 lbs in batteries


All lithium batteries, including LiFePO4 are Lithium ion. LiFePO4 is a specific chemistry that is great for DIY as it is safer and needs less care and handling that older forms of li-ion and gives much longer cycle life.


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## Tesseract (Sep 27, 2008)

mizlplix said:


> He is probably tired of people busting his chops quoting all sorts of math and claiming his opinions are meaningless.(or something similar)
> 
> He never , even once, claimed Kevin's truck was a AA Fuel Dragster or some sort of supercar...


Nah, I never said Ivan's opinions were meaningless, I just said I disagreed with them. If he thinks 75hp is enough power for a 6000# truck then who am I to argue, so long as he mentions that he is, indeed, recommending a 75hp system.


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## GizmoEV (Nov 28, 2009)

Matt,

You might want to go to evalbum.com and see what other people have converted. Use the search feature to find things specific to what you want. You might also check out http://www.casadelgato.com/Gallery/index.php?cat=22 which is an F250 that was converted. Another place to check out is evtv.me. Look in the archives for the Cadillac Escelade that was converted. What Jack Rickard found is that at highway speeds the dual 11" motors could overheat. He talks about it in one of the episodes. 

Definitely do your homework and also read the WIKI on this site by clicking the WIKI tab in the upper right hand corner. You need to learn the terminology so you know what people are saying. You have already been given answers to some of your questions but you didn't know that they were answers because you didn't understand what was said. Spend some time reading and then you will know how to ask your questions and have a better understanding of the answers.


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## Jesse67 (May 12, 2009)

They do make the sprinter van as a chassis cab which can be equipped with a flat deck, but the vans can easily take a pallet in the back. But it sounds like you need to do some serious towing as well so the truck is probably best for you.

If you're just looking for a toy then start small with a smaller battery pack and lower range expectations so you can get your feet wet without breaking the bank. Just make sure your motor and controller can handle any upgrades down the road if you need. That's what I did and I ended up with better range then expected. It also turns out it's more range than I usually ever need in a day.

Say $1.50/Ah gives you $600 for one 400Ah cell, 50 cells gives you $30,000 which is a ~66kwh pack. That should take you 150+ km at city speeds but looking at this F250 which is getting 1040Wh/mile at 60mph that's barely a 100 km max range at highways speed. 
http://www.evalbum.com/2898

Jesse


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## mattg6007 (Nov 24, 2012)

well i have an update on my project.

I have been doing some research and i'm going to convert my truck into a flatbed dually with a tilt back bed so that i have access to all of the batteries without a problem

i'm also thinking of using the warp 13 or 2 warp 11s but i'm not to sure yet i would like to know what yall think about it 

I haven't figured out what controller or anything else to use just yet 

I am thinking of having some kind of idle mode on the setup but i'm not to sure yet

I'm going to put some pics on here soon to show yall what i have to work with


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## Ivansgarage (Sep 3, 2011)

mattg6007 said:


> well i have an update on my project.
> 
> I have been doing some research and i'm going to convert my truck into a flatbed dually with a tilt back bed so that i have access to all of the batteries without a problem
> 
> ...


Take a look at this before you decide on dirty DC brushed motors.
http://topekaelectricmotor.com/electric-vehicles/ac-project

Or you can read what I have said about Kevins truck.
http://ivanbennett.com/forum/index.php?topic=16.0

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## mattg6007 (Nov 24, 2012)

well i know that i want to use a AC motor in my project


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## mattg6007 (Nov 24, 2012)

does anyone know why you can't use dual warp 13s?


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## Ivansgarage (Sep 3, 2011)

mattg6007 said:


> does anyone know why you can't use dual warp 13s?


Its against the laws, subject to severe penalties.



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## mattg6007 (Nov 24, 2012)

but for me I don't understand why you can't run dual 13's what laws are you talking about?


since i am using a truck do you think the it would offset some of the cost to use a big generator or not?


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## mattg6007 (Nov 24, 2012)

another thing i was thinking about is how much does regenerative braking charge the batteries???


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## TEV (Nov 25, 2011)

mattg6007 said:


> another thing i was thinking about is how much does regenerative braking charge the batteries???


It depends, but just think about regeneration being a very efficient way to slow/stop. My system has regeneration and I love it.


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## subcooledheatpump (Mar 5, 2012)

It's a matter of how much energy is available to recapture. The faster you're going, the more energy you can technically recover, although going faster uses more energy... but regenerative braking works well. I also have it in my van. Saves on the brake hardware as well. 

You know that a warp 13 is a DC motor right? you said you wanted AC but then you said you wanted dual warp 13s?


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## mattg6007 (Nov 24, 2012)

i didn't know that i must have missed that thanks for the info


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