# Heavy Vehicle '58



## Jesse67 (May 12, 2009)

Hey! Another Old Truck Guy! I've got a 67 chevy half ton that I'm interested in converting,(my first vehicle too! got it when I was 15). I also just posted on here asking similar questions but didn't get much response. Maybe they don't like our old trucks? Saying that I also drive a "little crappy car" and comments about driving over them will not help you get a positive response, just some friendly advice from another old truck guy. 

I've only found evidence of one other full size truck conversion that was actually done. You'll like this, its a Ford! http://www.evalbum.com/2567 much newer though. 

Read the Sticky post at the top of the forum page I want to build an EV! Where do I start? It has some good info for starters as well as the WIKI, see top right corner of the web page. 

If you want to keep your original tranny you'll probably have to make your own adapter plate, this site http://www.canev.com/KitsComp/Components/Adapter%20page.htm shows a bunch that are comercially available, not cheap but it shown whats out there. I'm not sure of the bellhousing pattern on a 58 ford. 

I would say the big thing is to figure out a budget of how much you can spend on your conversion which will then dictate what components you can afford which has a big effect on range/speed etc. 

I would say something like a warp 9 with a 500 amp controller and 16 8V flooded cells would easily meet your lower requirments although I hear its not worth it to skimp out on your controller to try and save money. 1000 amps would get you to 60 mph but you'll need more than 16 batteries to get 60 miles range. Look at the newer S-10 conversions in the Garage, they are probably not too far off the weight of your truck.

Good luck and have fun!

Jesse


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## Texasslovo (May 29, 2009)

Yeah that f150 is exactly what I wanted to see. I didn't know if the 9" motor would work well or if I needed something larger. I really wanted to go the rout of the forklift motors and see about using the largest one I could find, But it seems like they may not have the actual performance that I wanted. Lots of power at the cost of dead batts or no top end. Not to mention the extra weight. 

so now I am thinking of just buying a warp nine but didn't know if it was strong enough to push me around. 

So from this I can take it that a warp nine with a 1000 amp controller and matching batt. pack will be enough power to move my truck around


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## DavidDymaxion (Dec 1, 2008)

GM did full sized electric vans in the past, Chrysler did the TEVan, and some converters have done large trucks.

Your weight actually isn't much more than a Chevy S10 minitruck, a popular choice. U.S. Body Source sells lightweight fiberglass parts for old cars and trucks.

Aerodynamics, however, will be a killer at 60 mph. You'll either need a huge amount of lead acid batteries (Google on "Red Beastie Wayland") or lithium to go 60 miles at speed.


Texasslovo said:


> What is the minimum amount of power needed to push 3200 lbs worth of truck around? I'm looking for a range of 30-60 miles at 45-60mph.
> 
> Before you reply with comments about finding another car.....I don't care. I don't want another little crappy car that a truck would roll over.
> 
> ...


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## Texasslovo (May 29, 2009)

U.S. Body source actually has a fiberglass front end(fenders, suport and hood) That I am planning on using to reduce weight later on. I would lose another 200 pounds(aprox.) worth of steel just off the front end. 

BTW I didn't mean to talk trash about little cars........they're cute.....LOL. Just kidding

How many batts am I looking at to run a warp nine and 1000 amp controller?


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## Texasslovo (May 29, 2009)

How small of a system can I run if I settle on 35mph with a 15 mile range?

Would I still need the 9 inch motor or can I run an inexpensive forklift motor with a decent controller?


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## dragster (Sep 3, 2008)

Hi
Been their, done that,weight no problem

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=htcracing&view=videos


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## O'Zeeke (Mar 9, 2008)

hey Tex, my 02 Mustang weighs more than that. Im using 18 - 8V and a Warp11 and can squeeze out 40 miles with a 500A curtis. Good luck with your conversion.


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## Texasslovo (May 29, 2009)

Nice set up, its not really what I'm looking at doing but.....it sure does look like a nice install. A little too......Over the top for my taste. But it seems to do a great job on that big Exploder.


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## Texasslovo (May 29, 2009)

O'Zeeke said:


> hey Tex, my 02 Mustang weighs more than that. Im using 18 - 8V and a Warp11 and can squeeze out 40 miles with a 500A curtis. Good luck with your conversion.


warp11??? that just sounds nice. but your running a 500a controller? what are the benifits to that? 40 miles seems like a perfect middle ground, what would the diference be between a warp9 and warp11 with same controller?


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## dimitri (May 16, 2008)

With your requirements Warp9 is perfect,, why spend more money on 11" ?

3200 Lb is not bad at all for a truck, so no issue there. Stick with 6V golf cart batteries ( assuming you won't spring for Lithium on this project ) and see how many you can fit, you want at least 20, preferrably 24 batteries for 120-144V system. Controller wise, I would recommend either Curtis or Logisystems, sounds like they fixed their issues from what I hear, so its a decent controller for the job. You can get a discounted one from Chris, look in Classified section on this forum.

With this pretty standard setup you should expect 35-40 miles range or even more and probably up to 60mph speed.

Hope this helps.


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## Texasslovo (May 29, 2009)

dimitri said:


> With your requirements Warp9 is perfect,, why spend more money on 11" ?
> 
> 3200 Lb is not bad at all for a truck, so no issue there. Stick with 6V golf cart batteries ( assuming you won't spring for Lithium on this project ) and see how many you can fit, you want at least 20, preferrably 24 batteries for 120-144V system. Controller wise, I would recommend either Curtis or Logisystems, sounds like they fixed their issues from what I hear, so its a decent controller for the job. You can get a discounted one from Chris, look in Classified section on this forum.
> 
> ...


That more than helps, thanks alot now I have a good idea of where I'm going.


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## madderscience (Jun 28, 2008)

We always recommend little cars as it is much easier to get the range most people want out of them and keep the costs down. But yes, not everybody wants/can use a small car. 

I suspect you could get at least 30 miles, maybe 40 miles at 55 or 60 out of this setup:

24 Trojan T-145 or equivalent (1500lbs of batteries) Your '58 ought to be able to handle that easily, especially with the lightweight bed and some fiberglass body panel replacements.

Curtis 500A controller or maybe a Logisystems controller with a higher rating. (they go up to 1000A) keep in mind these are intermittent, motor amps ratings, and the FLA batteries won't be able to deliver that much continuously anyway. 

Warp or ADC 9" motor or 11" motor

Set up your gearing and tire size for near motor redline in 3rd gear at 60mph. Electric motors like to spin. Use 80PSI highway tread light truck tires and pump them up to the max. ensure everything is aligned, the brakes don't drag, and all that other good stuff. If you don't need the clearance, lower the truck and/or add a belly pan or air dam to help with the highway cruising. Use light sythetic oil in the tranny. It won't be getting warm enough to thin out the 90wt that is probably in there now.

Hey, some of us little car guys also have big old crappy trucks too  In my case, a 1962 series IIA land rover. About as non-green as you can get....

Good luck.


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## Texasslovo (May 29, 2009)

Hey Madder thanks for the input. I had not read that about the controllers being intermittent. Is that just the higher amped ones or is it the same for the 500amp model too? The '58 is getting lowered with a four link rear and mustang 2 front clip. but I had not thought about slapping a belly pan under it. the body hangs a good amount lower than the frame and the batts are bolted up to the frame so a belly pan would be perfect for less drag and some Batt. protection from debris , water..... 

A 30 mile rang at 60mph would be unbeliable, I wonder how far it would go if you back pedaled it to 45mph with the same set up?

24 batts, Man that is going to be a pain in the pocket. I still have alot of research to do on batteries(everything else too but I havn't even strated with batteries)

I have somehow convinced my wife to let me purchace the higher end system components. I took a while and a buch of info that she knew nothing about but after everything she agrees that the Warp 9 is the motor to go with, I keep leaning towards the curtis 500amp controller but didn't know if it was exactly what I needed. 

whats a charger going to run for a set up like this?



madderscience said:


> We always recommend little cars as it is much easier to get the range most people want out of them and keep the costs down. But yes, not everybody wants/can use a small car.
> 
> I suspect you could get at least 30 miles, maybe 40 miles at 55 or 60 out of this setup:
> 
> ...


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## madderscience (Jun 28, 2008)

Texasslovo said:


> Hey Madder thanks for the input. I had not read that about the controllers being intermittent. Is that just the higher amped ones or is it the same for the 500amp model too? The '58 is getting lowered with a four link rear and mustang 2 front clip. but I had not thought about slapping a belly pan under it. the body hangs a good amount lower than the frame and the batts are bolted up to the frame so a belly pan would be perfect for less drag and some Batt. protection from debris , water.....
> 
> A 30 mile rang at 60mph would be unbeliable, I wonder how far it would go if you back pedaled it to 45mph with the same set up?
> 
> ...


All the controllers are that way (intermittent rated). The logisystem controller theoretically would allow better acceleration on the low end. At the high end, there would not be a whole lot of difference. I've only ever run a 500 amp controller, so I can't be much more specific than that, but basically at the low RPM amps are limited by the controller. At higher RPM, amps (and thus torque, and acceleration) are limited by how fast your motor is already turning, and your system voltage. given the weight of the proposed vehicle (a bit under 5000lbs, probably) I might be inclined to try the logisystems controller, but they are a new kid on the block, and occasionally people have issues with them. BTW stay away from kelly controllers. 

As an exercise for the reader, one watt is one volt at one amp. 746 watts is one horsepower. You will probably need about 20 hp continuous at the wheels to sustain 55mph in that truck. do the math for your expected system voltage to get amps and KW. You will need several multiples of that for acceleration and hills.

You have a large, not very aero vehicle. That is why you need a big battery for any distance on the freeway and yes, that costs. Remember that aerodynamic drag increases with the square of speed. at 60mph, it is four times what it is at 30mph and double what it is at about 40mph. This why at lower speeds, aerodynamics don't matter so much. f you were to keep it to 45mph, your range is going to be WAY better. that same setup at a steady 45mph with minimal hills could probably go 50 miles or more. 

You can use a russco charger + boost transformer for 144V, but with the size of your battery if you go with the 24 T-145s it will take quite a while to charge. In your case, I would guess 2.5 to 3 miles of driving would be 1 hour of charging. (I have the same charger, but with my smaller car, it is regularly about 5 miles of driving to one hour charging). The russco + boost transformer will run 1200 to 1500 or so. You can get a very nice Manzanita PFC-20 or PFC-30 and charge from 220 much faster, but they cost more of course. Zivan makes 220 volt, high current chargers as well, but they are difficult to reconfigure so I tend to not want to recommend them.

When you start to research lead acid batteries, look up the "peukert effect". it is the bane of all of us running lead acid. Know that most all lead acid battery AH ratings are given at a 20-hour rate. You will be using your batteries at more like a 1 hour rate.

Do your research, and Good luck.


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## Texasslovo (May 29, 2009)

OK so now I know the systme I need for the high side I was looking for....
What about the low side. What is the smallest set up I could run to push 3000 pounds around at 30mph with a 10-15 mile range?


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## dimitri (May 16, 2008)

You could get 12 6V batteries for 72V system, but you have to carefully pick the controller so it can run at 72V and go up to 120-144, so you don't have to change the controller when you add more batteries later. Otherwise, you can get a cheaper 72-96V controller, but then you'd have to swap it when adding batteries later.


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## Texasslovo (May 29, 2009)

So Basicly I have to run the larger motors? (9in and over) No hope for a low buck "forklift" conversion? Not that I want th esmaller set up....I am just wandering if it would be possible


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## dimitri (May 16, 2008)

I'm not an expert in motors, but I think smaller motors will struggle at accelerating 4000Lb EV, motor will probably get too hot, so you'd have to worry about cooling it, etc.

Try searching EVAlbum by motor type/size and see how many pickups sport less than 9" motors.


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