Tuscola Technology Center
Project vehicles.....even the title brings back memories of our time spent in shop class. We give each and every one of them an A+ for creativeness!
Jumping ahead of the sequence below, this image shows that the project is approaching the "fun" stage where you can start seeing things come together. This class has chosen to follow the LionEV heater solution approach. By using the radiator overflow container as a fluid reservoir, and heating that fluid, you can pump it through the heater core to heat your passanger compartment. Aside from being a very neat solution, and an effective one, it saves about 8 hours of time that would be required to remove the dash to install a less effective ceramic style heater in the cores place. This solution also allows for heater "coast" that closely mimics the functionality of the original passenger heating system.
updated Feb 2010.
This motor is going in to a Ford Ranger. The battery packs on the vehicle are going to be
AGM LA technology.
Additional pictures will be added as the project progresses.
This parts kit makes up the majority of the conversion components.
Transmission Bell Housing, vacuum pump, drive flanges, pot box, contactors,
fuse blocks, current sensor loop, disconnect, motor, and the PakTrakr.
Nice clean work area. These guys are doing it right!
Conveniently, all of the old stuff fits in the bed of the truck.
You know....if you throw any of that stuff away you will need it the very next day for something.
The NetGain Warp 9 motor is framed at this point.
This is a very solid looking construction.
Engines and battery packs are efficient enough to now
allow for pulley assemblies to be included in the EV conversion.
This allows the power steering, alternator, and AC to be re-installed in the EV.
The load on the traction battery pack is minimal.
The primary objective of framing the motor is to provide a stable structure for delivering the torque to the drive train.
I don't believe that this motor will ever be listed as "one of the ones that got away".
It's going to stay exactly where it is put!
The old radiator overflow/fill reservoir is reused to hold coolant. The coolant is
heated by the heater probes and then circulated through the heater core in the
dash to produce cabin heat. This is a very efficient use of old parts, and it works very well.
View larger image
This is the point where most people decide that they really didn't want to convert a car anyway. It's not quite as bad as it looks. Click on the above image and you will see that the mass of wires is actually very cleverly color coded by a system of solid base colors and stripes or bands. The start/run contactor signals have to be picked up from this fuse block and distribution area. The electrical wiring drawings for the Ford Ranger are readily available online, so once you figure out how the coding system works you are good to go. One more thing to note. Autmotive signals don't go high, in most cases they go low, or sink current. That can make finding that control line a little tricky if you don't have the diagram.
Ask questions of the Tuscola Technology Center team here!