Barry, I have an '89 Ford Ranger pickup with automatic transmission that was converted around 1995 but did not get much use until I bought it last year and have put 5,000 miles on since. Indeed, driving an EV with automatic transmission is different and the programmed (usually mechanical in the valve body) switching points might not be the ideal ones for the electric motor, but it works. I find that I need to use the "kickdown" (force the transmission to stay longer in lower gear) quite a lot, but that can also have to do with this truck being under-powered (controller limited: 120V, 300A) so when I am lugging the motor then its acceleration is lackluster.
Anyway, the transmission is exactly original, including the oil cooler behind the grille - the transmission takes care of pumping the oil anyway. To maintain transmission oil pressure, the motor is spun slowly (only a few hundred RPM, so there is not the usual creep that you get with ICE idle speed) and this is done using a bypass resistor on the throttle so it never completely shuts off (adjustable resistor to dial in the idle RPM). I am not familiar with the Zilla, it may be necessary to have the throttle connected by itself only during booting of the hairball as I do not know if it will allow a throttle value that will command some (low) current from the Zilla. If so, then you need to add the bypass on the throttle later, for example by detecting it is taken out of Park and closing a small relay, or find a different way by telling the hairball to idle. Otmar and others will know this since some people use idling to run A/C pumps, alternators, steering pumps and so on. Regarding vacuum: you probably want vacuum for the brake booster anyway, so you can tap off from that to control the transfer box. Let me know if you have more questions about EV with automatic transmission. Success, Cor van de Water Chief Scientist Proxim Wireless Corporation http://www.proxim.com Email: [email protected] Private: http://www.cvandewater.info Skype: cor_van_de_water Tel: +1 408 383 7626 ________________________________ From: Barry <[email protected]> To: Electric Vehicle Discussion List <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, October 8, 2013 12:40 PM Subject: [EVDL] Feasibility question Short version Is an F150 with 4 x4 and automatic transmission possible? Long version My current EV is a Saturn Vue, which I converted myself and have been using as my daily car for almost five years. Given the appearance of OEM EV's I am planning on getting an OEM EV in the next two years. This means I will no longer have a need for my Vue. I could try to sell the Vue but the resale value of DIY EV's does not appear to be high. Another option is I could try to sell off the parts and use the Lithium batteries for my backup solar. But again the market for used EV parts is limited. What I would like to do is re-task all of the EV components to my 1998 F150. I put less that 2000 mile a year on this vehicle and primarily use it for winter plowing and hauling stuff. Really long version So I've looked over the EVDL archives, diyelectriccar.com, and evalbum for similar conversions. Trucks have been done. Automatics less so. Don't see any similar four wheel drives. Question: 1. Will my 9" net gain and 1K Zilla be sufficient? 2. Is it easier to swap the automatic with a manual or keep the automatic and run a separate electric motor for any transmission pumps needed? 3. My understanding is that the hubs are unlocked (2WD) when vacuum is applied and locked (4WD) when the vacuum is interrupted. Is keeping this feature as simple as just having a vacuum pump for the 4WD? 4. Other than this truck I've never had an automatic transmission vehicle. Anything else I might be missing (transmission cooler pumps, differential associated stuff, etc). Thanks in advance, Barry Oppenheim Wrightstown, PA -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20131008/8d6a7f1f/attachment.htm> _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20131008/60c98240/attachment.htm> _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
