# New Ford Electric Crate Motor — The Eluminator



## gregski (Sep 6, 2011)

I think this is a related article *Ford’s selling electric crate motors based on the one in the Mach-E*

I like to hard attach sum pics in case the main article goes bye bye










a frunk, so Ford guys have a place to hide their purse, oh em gee, I'm only kidding


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## gregski (Sep 6, 2011)

what do you all think of this gauge display I am opinionated so I think it's fugly, ha ha


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## gregski (Sep 6, 2011)

and the obligatory banana in the tailpipe shot


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## MesquiteTim (Sep 30, 2021)

The big screen is being offered in the F150 Lightning next year.


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## brian_ (Feb 7, 2017)

The drive unit is discussed in another thread in the _Electric Motors_ section:
Ford Eluminator - 320ft-lb/280hp crate motor
... and incidentally in other threads, such as Corvair Rampside conversion with a Fiat 500E drivetrain

This particular project looks tidy, but the interior is a disaster. The instrument panel display is stupidly non-functional, and the huge and inappropriate screen is improperly mounted too high (as well as just being stuck in the interior like an afterthought). But it's for SEMA , where a lot of ridiculous crap is shown.


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## brian_ (Feb 7, 2017)

*Ford's Eluminator Electric Crate Motor Is Already Sold Out*

There's no indication of how many were available, but they're gone. With no inverter or technical support I don't know that it matters... just buy a salvage unit from a Mach-E (with inverter and wiring), or a replacement Mach-E unit from a dealership parts department.


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## remy_martian (Feb 4, 2019)

You obviously have not seen what smashed Mach-E's fetch at auction

😬

Cheaper to buy new.

Yes, I looked at both dealer & salvage yard. Then to just buy a crashed one. Non bueno.

That should all settle down, but it is outrageous right now due to the dearth of cars getting bent.


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## mpgMike (Nov 9, 2021)

Since it was sold as a stand-alone motor with no charger, no inverter/controller, and no energy source (battery pack), I bet you'll see them pop up on eBay in a couple months for less-than-retail. Guys think "EV Conversion", then see the Ford release, and then jump without thinking. Put another way, I wonder how many of the sold units are in the hands of folks that know what to do with them.


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## remy_martian (Feb 4, 2019)

I suspect most of these early buys are for teardowns/reverse-engineering/copycatting/patent-protection, maybe even aftermarket partmakers.

The inverter is available. Its documentation is not (that I could find), which makes it an $1800 brick. If Ford was to release a manual for running the inverter, this DU could go viral.

CAN is an anti-repair-rights moat that needs to get filled in with dirt by Congress.


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## brian_ (Feb 7, 2017)

remy_martian said:


> CAN is an anti-repair-rights moat that needs to get filled in with dirt by Congress.


Lack of CAN message documentation is a problem for use of components in projects, but that's very different from repair. Is any more CAN documentation (than Ford has released) needed to repair a Mach-E using this drive unit?


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## remy_martian (Feb 4, 2019)

What CAN documentation? Are you aware of any?


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## brian_ (Feb 7, 2017)

remy_martian said:


> What CAN documentation? Are you aware of any?


Not personally, no. But then I don't have a Mach-E service manual. If you're seriously interested, cough up $20 USD for a one-month subscription to service documentation for this vehicle model from a third-party publisher (such as AllData), or make friends with an employee of a service business (Ford dealership or otherwise) with a subscription to full Ford service documentation, preferably direct from Ford (which published through Working...).

Even if there is none, beyond the diagnostic trouble codes required by federal legislation, do you need them to maintain and repair a Mach-E? Dealerships fix powertrains by replacing large components (such as the entire inverter module) which don't work, and the ability to do that is about all "right to repair" will get you; I don't think there can be a legal argument that the purchaser of a vehicle needs access to the technical information required to use a vehicle's components in a way which was not intended by the manufacturer and not required to operate the vehicle.

Of course it could be argued that the Mach-E rear drive unit sold under the "Eluminator" label is a fraud without supporting components and/or documentation, since it is not fit for the advertised purpose. That's a straightforward civil litigation, not a "right to repair" issue.


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## brian_ (Feb 7, 2017)

AEM Electronics mentioned (as an aside in a YouTube video about an unrelated project) that an Eluminator installation which was at the SEMA show used a Cascadia inverter, borrowed from AEM's project.
See 1:45 in Our '71 Pinzgauer EV Conversion is FINALLY Coming Together!
They mentioned a team working with Ford, so although a consumer probably gets no information or support, a commercial operation building something for a show promoting Ford gets assistance.


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