1987 Ford Ranger

Pickup Truck

Electric

Manual

1FTCR14T3HPA59981

Clear

Electric

Hello WorldI am selling a 1987 Ford Ranger that has been professionally converted to 100% electric drive. I will get to the specs here in a minute, but first let me tell you about driving around town in a low-cost, no-maintenance electric pickup. There are few things more freeing than never stopping by the gas station ever again. This little pickup will give you that. It comes with the custom designed battery charger for your garage, where you just plug it in and flip the switch, the microprocessor controlled charger keeps the batteries in tip-top shape. Drive around town, grab some groceries or stop by the hardware store and get back home without a drop of fuel. For those who want to know, here are some specifics: 144 Volt system comprised of x24 6 Volt batteries. Most batteries are under the tilt bed for easy access, and there are 4 batteries under the hood. Under the hood you will find a shelf with the electronics mounted to it so you can see how everything is hooked up. The entire power train is driven by the nearly new Curtis controller, and the 12volt vehicle battery (for running interior and exterior lamps) is kept charged with an Astrodyne DC-DC converter. Power braking is accomplished with a regulated vacuum pump, which when running is the only sound this vehicle makes. the vacuum pump only activates when vacuum drops below a pre-set amount and shuts off when the system is fully charged. Under the shelf is the main drive motor, a huge thing with tons of power. There is a quick-disconnect to this motor for full system disable. This motor is custom mounted to the brand new, custom made manual transmission. With the weight of the batteries, the suspension was modified to provide a smooth, from-the-factory driving experience. Inside the cab is a set of 3 gauges to monitor the system; charge status (think fuel gauge) voltage and amperage. There are some oddities I would like to discuss as this is not a normal vehicle. 1st, the batteries used are called Flooded Lead Acid or FLA batteries. when charging, these batteries can "sweat" and over time need to be replenished with distilled water. This is a very simple procedure and I generally do it once a year.2nd oddity is the transmission. There is no clutch, because of the nature of the electric motor, a clutch is not needed. Just like in large Semi-trucks, when you want to shift gears, just let off the accelerator and make the shift, then accelerate again. It takes some getting used to, but is very quickly learned. Also, because of the gearing and the torque of the electric motor, starting off in second gear is no problem at all. This being said, the parking brake is a MUST. When an electric motor is not being given power, the "crankshaft" is able to free-wheel. If you parked on a hill and just left it in gear, the motor would simply turn backwards and the pickup will roll. The parking brake must be set in order to keep the vehicle from rolling. Lets talk about range. I do not have a concrete answer to this like the Nissan Leaf or any Tesla car. The range is dependent on how it is driven. I have had it on the highway at 65 mph and went 15 miles, but she was tired when we got to the destination. If you drive it around town like I do, 20-30 miles of 25mph is the norm before a recharge is required. If you had the time and funding, a li-ion battery pack of the same voltage would greatly increase the vehicles range not just because of the tech, but weight savings as well. Why am I selling? My job, and thus, my commute has changed. A small, efficient car was necessary to get me to work and back. The ranger has been sitting for a while and I don't see it becoming useful to me again. It would be a shame to go to waste so here is your chance to own it. I am listing NO RESERVE so that it will sell quickly and to the right person. I hate it when the invisible reserve price gets in the way of competitive bidding. I would hate to take apart this masterpiece and sell the parts, even though they are worth around $7,000.00. Happy bidding to all, and please use the appropriate button to send me any questions.